![26kennedy5_600 Mr. Kennedy on Capitol Hill in 2007](https://suzieqq.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/26kennedy5_600.jpg?w=500&h=275)
Mr. Kennedy on Capitol Hill in 2007
August 27, 2009
By JOHN M. BRODER
Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew triumph and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died late Tuesday night. He was 77.
The death of Mr. Kennedy, who had been battling brain cancer, was announced Wednesday morning in a statement by the Kennedy family, which was already mourning the death of the Senator’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver two weeks earlier.
Kennedy dead at 77
Liberal lion of the Senate, symbol of family dynasty succumbs to brain cancer
By Martin F. Nolan
Globe Correspondent / August 26, 2009
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who carried aloft the torch of a Massachusetts dynasty and a liberal ideology to the citadel of Senate power, but whose personal and political failings may have prevented him from realizing the ultimate prize of the presidency, died at his home in Hyannis Port last night after a battle with brain cancer. He was 77.
TED KENNEDY
A seven-part series on the Massachusetts Senator from The Boston Globe
Chapter 1 TEDDY
![2__1234429564_9167 A Kennedy family portrait taken in Bronxville, NY. Seated (left to right): Eunice, Jean, Edward, Joseph Sr., Patricia, and Kathleen. Standing: Rosemary, Robert, John, Rose, and Joseph Jr.](https://suzieqq.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2__1234429564_91671.jpg?w=500)
A Kennedy family portrait taken in Bronxville, NY. Seated (left to right): Eunice, Jean, Edward, Joseph Sr., Patricia, and Kathleen. Standing: Rosemary, Robert, John, Rose, and Joseph Jr.
On a spring day nearly two years ago, Senator Edward Kennedy sat on the porch of his sprawling Hyannis Port home with a friend of five decades, Edmund Reggie, who is also his father-in-law. The two men gazed out at the ocean that has been such an anchor in Kennedy’s life, and talked about the future.“ You’re nuts to beat yourself to death like this on the Senate floor,” Reggie said. “Passing a new law won’t be any more glorious for you than the reputation you’ve made. Some people say you and Daniel Webster are the greatest senators of all time.” Kennedy looked at the older man and deadpanned: “What did Webster do?” It was a telling line, typical of the competitive Kennedys. But Reggie persisted.
Remembering the Real Deal
Robert Scheer
Posted on Aug 25, 2009
The light has gone out, and with it that infectious warm laugh and intensely progressive commitment of the best of the Kennedys. Not, at this point, to take anything away from the memory of his siblings—Bobby, whom I also got to know, was pretty terrific in his last years—but Senator Ted Kennedy was the real deal.
The lion sleeps….
“….to speak for those who have no voice; to remember those who are forgotten; to respond to the frustration and fulfill the aspiration of all Americans seeking a better life in a better land….for all those whose cares have been our concern, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.”
Edward Moore Kennedy, August 12, 1980
I’ll never forget the night Ted Kennedy gave that speech at the Democratic National Convention after failing to win his party’s nomination for the presidency. I was staying in a one-room kitchenette in Liverpool, NY, just outside of Syracuse. It was – and remains – the greatest political oration of my lifetime. Watching the event on a small, black and white TV I instinctively knew I was witnessing one of those sublime moments in American history that would be remembered a century into the future.
Teddy Kennedy died late last night at the age of seventy-seven. In a life that is littered with ironies, here’s the biggest one of all: His three older brothers – Joe, Jack and Bobby – are eternally frozen in our imagination as the personifications of youth. How poignant that our final image of the baby of that family will be as an old man, frail and mortally ill.
An incredible realization just came to me: Teddy represented the state of Massachusetts for forty-six years, eight months and nineteen days. That is nearly three months longer than all the years his older brother Jack lived on earth. Forgive the cliche that is so overused it has become trite through repetition, but this really is the end of an era.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Thanks for your comment, Tom.
I’ve just read the complete post on your blog and found it very moving.
And thanks for the quote from his DNC 1980 address. I’ve found it on YouTUbe and will be adding it to this post.