The Last of the Kennedys

The majority of Americans strongly believe that thanks to Edward Kennedy’s support of Barack Obama, he was able to become the U.S. president.

On Wednesday, America closed another page of its history, a period that stretches for almost a century. The last member of the famous Kennedy family has passed away. Most members of this clan were not just a part of the political elite, but were the Democratic Party’s symbols, and they were the root or the central nervous system.

The family of 77-year-old Sen. Edward Kennedy announced his death. No one has any doubts why the brother of President John F. Kennedy, who was killed in 1963, has died. In 2003, Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer. In 2008, the public learned that he had gone through a very complicated operation, but he still wasn’t able to beat his illness. Edward knew that he was dying. On inauguration day in January, the senator fainted at President Obama’s celebratory dinner.

Nevertheless, despite his progressing illness, Edward Kennedy continued to be an active member of the Democratic Party until his final day and he remained the center of the party. Just one week prior to his death, he was doing all that he could to try to minimize consequences of his departure.

It is well known that in Washington, Obama’s administration is currently trying to convince the Republicans of the need for public healthcare reform. In this situation the voice of each senator is literally worth its weight in gold. For this reason on August 20, knowing he had little time, Edward Kennedy, who was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Health Services and Education, asked the state of Massachusetts, which he represented in the Senate, to appoint a new senator in case of his death.

“We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress towards justice, fairness and opportunity for all,” stated Kennedy’s family members.

Edward was born on February 22, 1932. He was one of nine children born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy. The destiny of Edward’s brothers was so tragic that everyone in America talks about the Kennedy curse. The eldest son, Joseph, died in an airplane crash during the Second World War. John F. Kennedy, the 35th U.S. president, was assassinated in 1963. And in 1968 another one of Edward’s brothers, Sen. Robert Kennedy, was assassinated.

In the following year, 1969, Edward himself almost died. The car that he was driving went off a bridge and sank into a river. The politician managed to get out of the sinking car. His friend, sitting next to him, died. This incident became the number one scandal in American society at that time. Despite the fact that Kennedy insisted that he was not drunk and tried to rescue his companion to the end, it became known that Edward contacted the police only after some time had passed.

The analysts are certain that it is because of this incident that Sen. Kennedy did not try to run for president. However, there are experts who believe that the tragedy helped him survive – presumably at that time there was a hunt on the Kennedys, who were headed for an American triumph. It was believed that if Edward had decided to run for president, he too would have been killed.

Nevertheless, 11 years later he tried to take the presidential seat. But in 1980 the Democrats gave their preference to Jimmy Carter, who subsequently became the U.S. president. Since then, Edward Kennedy took on supporting roles. In the remaining years he continued to be “the gray cardinal” of the Democratic Party. Many are certain that because of Edward Kennedy’s position during the last pre-election race, the Democrats chose Barack Obama, losing their faith in Hillary Clinton.

The Family Curse

In 2008, when it became known that Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with a brain tumor, the American newspapers declared: “The Kennedy curse lives on.”

It all began in Texas in 1850. The stagecoach carrying Sir McNorman, his wife and their young daughter through the prairie drew near to the state’s capital. Suddenly the women felt something.

“What is it, Bill?” cried out Lady McNorman to the driver. But he did not answer – he was already dead. Soon after, Lady McNorman and her daughter Jill were also killed. “Kill them all!” – cried out the only sober bandit. It was Patrick Joseph Kennedy.

This history, which is retold by old Texas residents, seems to be the beginning of the terrible chain of events for the Kennedys. It is as though the following generations paid for Patrick’s sins. The eldest of the Kennedy brothers, Joseph, died in an airplane crash in 1944. President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. His brother Robert was shot by an Arab fanatic in 1968.

The ill fate followed those who were connected to the family. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, after her husband’s murder, became the wife of prominent Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Some years later, they mourned the sudden death of his sister-in-law and mysterious death of his first wife. Together they also buried his favorite son, Alexander.

And not so long ago, the son of President Kennedy, John Fitzgerald Jr., passed away. The plane, which he was operating, dropped into the ocean, taking his life along with his wife Carolyn and his sister-in-law Lauren.