Senator Edward Kennedy dies at age 77

BOSTON — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in a political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, ...

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26 Aug 2009 ... Senator Edward Kennedy, stalwart of liberal US politics and brother of JFK, dies at 77 after battling a brain tumour.
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Obituary: Edward Kennedy

Edward Kennedy, who has died following a battle with a brain tumour at the age of 77, possessed the full mixture of the virtues, and the vices, that defined America's most famous political dynasty.
Edward Kennedy in a photo from January 2009
Edward Kennedy - one of the most influential politicians of his generation

The assassination of his brothers, John and Robert, placed a massive burden of expectation on his shoulders which he found difficult to live up to.

Yet, despite the shadow of Chappaquiddick, he became a respected elder statesman of the Democratic Party, and a champion of liberal causes in the US Senate.

Edward Moore Kennedy was born in the Boston suburb of Brookline on 22 February 1932, the youngest of nine children of Joseph P Kennedy and his wife Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy.

His Irish American parents were both from wealthy political families and his father served as the US ambassador to the UK prior to World War II.

After attending private schools in Boston, Kennedy went on to Harvard in 1950, but was expelled a year later after it was discovered that he had cheated in a Spanish exam.
Edward, John & Robert Kennedy
He was the youngest of a political dynasty which fascinated America

He joined the army, serving at the SHAPE headquarters in Paris, before being readmitted to Harvard and graduating in 1956.

In 1960 his brother John was elected US president, vacating his Massachusetts seat in the Senate.

Edward was unable to stand for the seat until he was 30, so his brother asked the state governor to allow a Kennedy family friend to see out the end of John's term.

Although perfectly legal under the constitution, it gave rise to the accusation that Ted Kennedy had been gifted his Senate seat.

Edward was duly elected senator for Massachusetts in a special election in 1962, a post to which he would be consistently re-elected until the end of his career.

Tragedy stalked the Kennedy family; Edward's oldest brother Joe was killed during the war and, in 1963, John was assassinated as he drove through Dallas.

The following year Ted Kennedy himself was badly injured in a plane crash, leaving a legacy of back problems which dogged the rest of his life.

In 1968, Ted's brother, Robert, to whom he was particularly close, was assassinated in Los Angeles in the middle of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Chappaquiddick

There were expectations that Ted would take on his brother's mantle as a presidential candidate but his political career was about to be dealt a major blow.
Chappaquiddick
Chappaquiddick ended his hopes of the White House

On July 18 1969, he was at a party on the small Massachusetts island of Chappaquiddick with a group, including six women known as the boiler room girls, who had worked in his brother Robert's presidential campaign.

Kennedy left the party, supposedly to drive his brother's former secretary, Mary Jo Kopechene, to catch the last ferry back to the mainland but, instead, the car turned onto a side road and crashed off a bridge into a tidal creek.

Kennedy pulled himself from the upturned car and, after swimming across a narrow creek, returned to his hotel without reporting the accident.

It was the following morning before local fishermen found the sunken car and discovered the body of Mary Jo Kopechne still inside.

Evidence given at the subsequent inquest suggested that she had probably remained alive in an air pocket for several hours and might well have been saved had the alarm been raised at the time.

Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, claiming that he had been in shock, and was given a two-month suspended jail sentence.

Kennedy on Chappaquiddick

An inquest, held in secret at the request of Kennedy family lawyers, cast serious doubts on Kennedy's story, but no further action was taken.

This led to suspicions of a cover-up and the incident effectively ended any hopes Kennedy had of attaining the White House.

Chappaquiddick did not prevent his supporters urging him to run for both the 1972 and 1976 presidential nominations but he refused, citing family concerns about his personal safety.

Democratic candidate

He finally took the plunge in 1980, standing for the Democratic nomination against the incumbent president, and fellow Democrat, Jimmy Carter.

Kennedy's presidential bid

Kennedy hoped to capitalise on the country's economic woes, which had seen Carter's approval ratings slide.

But a poorly-managed campaign and a lacklustre appearance in a major TV interview ended Kennedy's hopes.

His refusal to concede the contest led to the divisive 1980 Democratic Convention where Kennedy tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade delegates committed to Carter to swap sides.

With his presidential hopes over, Kennedy began to rebuild his political career as a champion of liberal causes.

His mastery of senate procedure and his growing status in the Democratic Party made him a formidable voice in any debate, and his support was sought by political friends and opponents alike.


This is the cause of my life... Now the issue has more meaning for me - and more urgency - than ever before, but it's always been deeply personal, because the importance of healthcare has been a recurrent lesson throughout most of my 77 years
Edward Kennedy

Senator Kennedy's Newsweek article on healthcare, July 2009

He became a master of coalitions, a pragmatist who would often work with his Republican opponents to get legislation through Congress, for example, the Quayle-Kennedy Training for Jobs Bill.

Despite his Catholic background, he abandoned his previous opposition to abortion and advocated a woman's right to choose.

He was also one of a handful of senators who supported the concept of same-sex marriages, his own state of Massachusetts becoming the first to give a legal framework to such unions.

He campaigned in support of better rights for immigrants to the US and was a consistent advocate of tighter gun control.

Mindful of his strong base of Irish American support, he originally backed the concept of a united Ireland and, in 1971, called for the withdrawal of British troops.

However his views had moderated by 2005, when he publicly snubbed the Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams following the murder of Robert McCartney, and hosted a visit to Washington by the sisters of the dead man.

In 2006, Time magazine named him as one of America's "Ten Best Senators", saying that he had "amassed a titanic record of legislation affecting the lives of virtually every man, woman and child in the country".
Edward Kennedy in the Senate
He was a master of senate procedure

Such was his standing as the elder statesman of the Democratic Party that his endorsement was eagerly sought by aspiring presidential candidates.

In 2004 he supported his fellow Massachusetts senator, John Kerry, who went on to lose to Republican George W Bush.

Kennedy cited Barack Obama's opposition to the invasion of Iraq as one of the main reasons he endorsed the young senator from Illinois for the 2008 nomination, a statement seen as a direct snub to Mr Obama's chief rival, Hillary Clinton.

He was also reported to have been angry at some of the more outspoken comments by former President Bill Clinton in support of his wife Hillary's campaign, and he ignored pleas from the Clinton camp to remain neutral.

Kennedy said that he had always planned to support the candidate "who inspires me, who inspires all of us, who can lift our vision and summon our hopes and renew our belief that our country's best days are still to come."

Kennedy saw the young senator he backed triumph in the presidential election and was present on 20 January 2009 when Mr Obama was sworn in as the 44th US president.

Under the new administration, one of his most cherished causes took centre stage. The senator was seen as a key dealmaker in Mr Obama's efforts to push through his flagship healthcare reform plan.

The issue had become especially poignant for Kennedy, who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour in May 2008.

A week before his death, he wrote to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick asking him to change the law so that a replacement could be found for him immediately after his death.

Analysts suggest that he feared a lengthy gap could deny Democrats a crucial vote on the reforms.

Edward Kennedy sometimes failed to meet the huge expectations placed upon him following the deaths of his older brothers.

But his commitment to what he called their "justice, excellence and courage" ensured he guarded their memory fiercely and, despite his flaws, he left a substantial political legacy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1517548.stm

Beside the one sentence obituary we wrote at AKS after being requested that we need to be more forwarding if that is the "proper English" We had written an important obituary to Senator Edward Kennedy - suddenly the whole power system blackout and obviously lost everything we had thoughtfully written. We are now endevouring to rewrite this obituary article - being more mindful what we state in the process. So we do not cause another blackout.

Very many will ask/may ask why did/have we waited after the person an important person like Senator Edward Kennedy died for us to write what we are about to. It is not proper.

In certain Circles, jargons to take a page from Sir James Mancham several years ago - there is a time for everything.

Our connection to the Kennedy family relates to archaic, fraternal - Christian, the election in the USA then, War issues, the Kennedy young politicians. The election of John F Kennedy. Political events, the tragic assassination of the President and events which ensued until I was compel to go onto exile with my Austrian wife - who had worked a Pirate's Arms recruited by the Von Oswald family - Austria.

The next important moment/time this link - connection was used was my decision to research the concept for an Indian ocean Industrial Investment and promotion Center. The position of those we had discussed the Seychelles then political situation, the state of things in the Indian Ocean, the region, the world and events related to our exile community in Britain and France.

The research had been based upon the working of the CARICOM system then and the Pacific Group of small nations, many discussions in Vienna - then Vienna Interdisciplinary Management Institute, Professor Micheal Hoffman, other important government officials, the media. other government representation in Vienna. Important businessman in Vienna with important business working connection around the world and Africa.

There were/are a few who knew and were aware of certain workings and connections individuals associated in the USA, the UN, Africa, India and the middle East.

Equally important, the election of Pope John Paul ll and events in the Communist/Socialist world, the COMECON, USSR and OAU - the Dockers Strike. development. The failed attempt in Seychelles and London. My involvement in more complex - problematic, challenging issues of Seychelles beside Economic, management and diplomacy. One needs important personalities in the given places. Those who knew and were aware of our connections then.

From a different prospective, again for those who have known certain important USA working system in high politic, diplomacy, economy, scientific sphere, religious matters, ethnic issues. The working of the UN Institutions, those appointed - how one get appointed by whom and for what reasons.

Many have asked - question how we managed to communicate such issues we have to very important and influential USA personalities and politicians, economist and Presidents. They require special training and knowledge. Hence when over the years we have presented the topics of the then Communist/COMECON, events, the then situation in the USSR, development and Perestroika, the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Germany reunification. The privatization of Russian economy. On our part the important connections with certain high parties in the USA - these included Senator Edward Kennedy.

Equally the very many important issues we have lent a hand, contributed in EU since 1977, then President Francois Mitterrand, his knowledge of what was going on and who was involved. Later President Jacques Chirac and numerous leading EU politicians and the Commission officials.

We have mentioned our important relation with the Irish people in Australia, USA, France and elsewhere - those who know and have known how they work - the many important crises and our relation.

During the sometime bitter relation between Lady Tacther Ministers, Officials - the important support we got from those parties in the USA. Including the Office time of John Major and later Prime Minister Blair.

In any given crises one need strong and influential personalities on can rely/relate - the Balkan wars, the Kuwait invasion, the last Iraq war, Lebanon conflicts, other regional conflicts.

Equally important, given our belief - the situation - issues which led to the first Live Aid - Ethiopia famine, Bod Geldof, the important relation of the Kennedy family involvement from our side to get things working.

Most important the SIROP etc exile return program - who were those important USA politicians involved and gave us their support, from the UN - Senator Edward Kennedy was one of those important personality. Even when those from the USA, UN, EU and the Commonwealth tried by all means to take the Program from us and share it with other Seychelles exile politicians, Sir James Mancham and others. Individual like Senator Edward Kennedy knew they would fail - because of long working relation, knowledge of certain abilities, expertise.

From our prospective the past 18 years, since multi party have returned to Seychelles, changes in South Africa, the Arab Region, Central Europe and the EU itself - the importance of this connection and relation. There have been moment when we have been alone - the early years of President Bush, what took place and the last two years of Prime minister Blair turn of Office.

Hence over the years our Sechelles - Seychelles EU community have been building and reinforcing this special working relation and the important goodwill involved. They have not always bee rosy.

We do trust the younger Kennedy generation would have been informed of such issues, the special good will and how they have come about. For those of you reading these for the first time - be it Russia, China, the Arab world, African Union - we have endevoured to state very briefly for hose who wants to question how our important relation with the Kennedy family.

The very many important tribute and obituary coming in via the global TV station, radio and web. The need on our part to mention just a few issues.

There are very many important issues we have omitted to mention.