Teddy Kennedy Dies at 77

Born into a Fabled Family

Born February 22, 1932, Edward Moore Kennedy was the youngest of the famous Kennedy clan. His father was billionaire businessman Joseph P. Kennedy, his mother, the former Rose Fitzgerald. He and his three brothers were being groomed fro greatness. His five sisters were simply expected to marry well, as any wealthy daughters of the Boston Irish should.

Joseph had plans for one of his sons to become the first Catholic to be president. He himself would later be appointed ambassador to Great Britain by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He has often been rumored to have built his fortune by bootlegging during prohibition, and was a well known womanizer, rumored to have been dallying with actresses such as Gloria Swanson while his wife giving birth to his children as the proverbial brood mare.

The “Kennedy Curse”

The Kennedy name would be coupled with tragedy. In 1944, his oldest son Joseph Jr. was killed while flying a Navy bombing run during WWII.

In 1960 John F. Kennedy fulfilled his father’s dream of a Catholic President, but the dream was short lived. JFK may have won the presidency his father lusted after,  but was cut down by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.Bobby Kennedy was the next choice. However, he was also assassinated on June 4th 1968.

By this time Teddy was ensconced in the U.S. Senate as one of the two Senators from Massachusetts. He was not to be immune to the “Kennedy Curse” In July of 1969, while partying with staffers; Kennedy gave a ride to a young aide, Mary Jo Kopechne. Somehow his car went off the pier on Chappaquiddick Island, and Ms. Kopechne drowned. There were rumors, and questions that have not been fully answered to this day. Teddy’s aspirations for president were never to be realized largely, many feel because of the incident.

The Lion of the Senate

In 1962 Teddy Kennedy became Massachusetts Junior Senator when he was elected to the Senate seat his brother John had vacated when he became president. He was re-elected to that seat nine times and held many important Senate Posts including; Chairman of the Judiciary, Health, Education, and Welfare, and Labor and Human Resource Committees.

He finally tossed his hat in the presidential ring by seeking to wrest the 1980 Democratic nomination away from a beleaguered President Jimmy Carter. Even though Carter was largely blamed for the mishandling of the Iranian Hostage crisis, Carter had said in the summer of 1979 that “if Kennedy runs, I’ll whip his ass!”  While Carter was able to secure the Democratic nomination, he was soundly defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in a landslide.

Death of Edward Kennedy

Kennedy had been diagnosed last year with brain cancer. He fought bravely but knew that his death would cause the Democrats to lose the majority of 60 in the Senate. Within the last couple of weeks he was attempting to convince Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and the Legislature to change the state laws pertaining to U.S. Senate vacancies. Kennedy wanted the Governor to be able to appoint a successor. The legislature and Governor Patrick never had time to make the change in the law in the hopes that a temporary replacement would vote in accordance with Kennedy’s wishes regarding the Obama Health Reform bill. Kennedy’s successor will be chosen by special election within 160 days, in accordance with current state law.

Kennedy himself had been so ill; he was unable to attend the funeral of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver two weeks ago.

End of an Era

Teddy Kennedy’s passing is the end of an era. While there are Kennedy grandchildren, none seem interested or even able to vie for his Senate Seat. The only son of Joseph P. Kennedy to live into his seventies, Teddy Kennedy, love him or hate him will be long remembered, and missed by many.

Much of this information comes for a Reuters News story

Additional sources:

"On Who Will Whip Whom". Time. 1979-06-25. http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,912449,00.html.

^ Phillips, Frank (2009-08-19). "Kennedy looks to set stage for successor". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/08/kennedy_headlin.html. Retrieved 2009-08-20.