EDWARD KENNEDY DIES A TOWERING FIGURE IN US SENATE

By Scott Malone
Reuters
Wednesday, August 26, 2009

HYANNIS PORT, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in the Democratic Party who took the helm of one of America's most fabled political families after two older brothers were assassinated, died at age 77.

Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2008. After a funeral mass in Boston on Saturday, he will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, near the graves of his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

One of the most influential and longest-serving senators in U.S. history, Kennedy was a liberal standard-bearer who recovered politically from a string of personal scandals to become known as a consummate congressional dealmaker.

His death marked the twilight of a political dynasty and dealt a blow to Democrats who lost their chief champion of President Barack Obama's call for an overhaul of the healthcare system. The issue is a pillar of Obama's presidency.

"Edward M. Kennedy, the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply, died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port (Massachusetts)," the Kennedy family said in a statement early on Wednesday.

Obama said on Wednesday he was heartbroken to hear of the death of Kennedy, a key backer of his presidential candidacy.

"I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the presidency," said Obama, who is expected to speak at the funeral on Saturday. "And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've profited as president from his encouragement and wisdom."

Kennedy's endorsement last year was seen as pivotal in Obama's winning of the Democratic presidential nomination, and many saw it as the passing of the political torch to a new generation.

Kennedy, the senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts, recently urged lawmakers in his home state to change the law so the Democratic governor, if necessary, could quickly fill a Senate vacancy.

FROM LIGHTWEIGHT TO LION

Known as "Teddy," he was the brother of John Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, Robert Kennedy, fatally shot while campaigning for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination, and Joseph Kennedy Jr., a pilot killed in World War Two.

When he first took the Senate seat previously held by John Kennedy in 1962, he was seen as something of a political lightweight who owed his ascent to his famous name.

Yet during his nearly half century in the chamber, Kennedy became known as one of Washington's most effective senators, crafting legislation by working with lawmakers and presidents of both parties, and finding unlikely allies.

He held fast to liberal causes and was a lightning rod for conservative ire.

"The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party, and at times Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks. But in the United States Senate I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection," Obama said.

Kennedy helped enact measures to protect civil and labor rights, expand healthcare, upgrade schools, increase student aid and contain the spread of nuclear weapons.

"There's a lot to do," Kennedy told Reuters in 2006. "I think most of all it's the injustice that I continue to see and the opportunity to have some impact on it."

A Roman Catholic, Kennedy was nonetheless a staunch supporter of abortion rights, a fact noted by the Vatican's official newspaper in an article about his death.

The newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, praised Kennedy for fighting for immigrant rights, gun control and higher minimum wages, but regretted his "unfortunate" support of abortion.

After Robert Kennedy's death, Edward was expected to run for the presidency. But in 1969, a young woman drowned after a car Kennedy was driving plunged off a bridge on the Massachusetts resort island of Chappaquiddick after a night of partying.

Kennedy's image was tarnished after it emerged he had failed to report the accident to authorities. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and received a suspended sentence.

He eventually ran for his party's presidential nomination in 1980 but lost to then-President Jimmy Carter.

His presidential ambitions thwarted, Kennedy devoted himself to his Senate career.

A 2009 survey by The Hill, a publication that covers Congress, found that Senate Republicans believed Kennedy was the chamber's easiest Democrat to work with and most bipartisan.

Republican Senator John McCain called him "the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results."

HEALTHCARE ADVOCATE

Kennedy had been largely sidelined in Congress since becoming ill. The "Lion of the Senate" began to use a cane and looked drained as he mixed work with treatment. He also tried to finish a 650-page autobiography, "True Compass," which is scheduled to be released September 14.

Colleagues and staff said he remained determined to fulfill what he called "the cause of my life," providing health insurance to all Americans. He helped draft legislation to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

"From the moment he got sick, he was not worried about himself, he was worried about, 'how do I continue to do this job and represent the people of Massachusetts?'" U.S. Senator John Kerry said after visiting with the Kennedy family.

Kennedy's interest in healthcare dated from a 1964 plane crash that damaged his spine and left him with persistent pain. It was also fueled by his son's bout with cancer in the 1970s.

"I've benefited from the best of medicine but I've also witnessed the frustration and outrage of patients and doctors alike as they face the challenges of a system that shortchanges millions of Americans," he wrote in the Boston Globe earlier this year.

Kennedy, however, never fully escaped the cloud of Chappaquiddick. A decades-long argument arose about whether the senator, who was married to Joan Kennedy at the time, tried to cover up his involvement by leaving the scene while Mary Jo Kopechne's body remained submerged and whether police helped sweep questions under the rug. All involved denied a cover-up.

Kennedy was divorced from Joan in 1983.

The 1991 Palm Beach rape trial of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, also hurt Kennedy's image. Reports of heavy drinking and womanizing led to a public apology for "the faults in the conduct of my private life."

Kennedy was remarried soon after that to Victoria Reggie, a 38-year-old lawyer with two young children from her first marriage. He poured renewed energy into the Senate, where he would become the third-longest serving senator in history.

Born on February 22, 1932 in Boston, Edward Moore Kennedy was the last of four sons and five daughters born to millionaire businessman Joseph Kennedy, who was later ambassador to Britain, and his wife, Rose. Jean Kennedy Smith is the only surviving sibling.

The American Irish family combined the competitive spirit of nouveau riche immigrants with acquired polish and natural charm. The sons were expected to mature into presidential timber and were groomed for that purpose.

"I think about my brothers every day," Kennedy told Reuters. "They set high standards. Sometimes you measure up, sometimes you don't."

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro and Bill Trott in Washington and Patricia Zengerle in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts; Editing by Alan Elsner and Jackie Frank and Paul Simao)