Ted Kennedy, in the end the biggest Kennedy of them all
Ted Kennedy was a spoiled rich kid whose mischief ended up killing a girl one night, and only his family’s wealth and connections saved him from prison.
That’s one way to tell the story, and as far as it goes, it’s tragically accurate. That’s also the one-sentence version of a complex life that many of his bitter enemies preferred to tell and would still prefer today, at Kennedy’s passing at the age of 77.
But Kennedy, to his credit, refused to let that sentence or that night confine him, and the country is a better place as a result.
In a strange way, the accident on Chappaquiddick may even have magnified Kennedy’s place in the history books. If it prevented him from becoming president, the supposed pinnacle of political achievement, well, presidents come and go. Even while in office, their impact on the country’s course is often exaggerated, and once their term ends, their power ends and they wander off into a long anti-climax.
Chappaquiddick helped ensure that Kennedy’s life played out in the Senate instead, where over the decades he would accumulate power, build relationships and craft legislation that affected millions of his fellow Americans. Today, Barack Obama is vacationing as president on Martha’s Vineyard — the site of Chappaquiddick — in part because at a critical point in the ‘08 campaign, the Kennedy stamp of approval was placed upon him. Just a few days ago, John McCain mused publicly that the current health-care debate would be playing out very differently had Kennedy been around to guide the behind-the-scenes politics.
Kennedy did make one major grab for the presidency, and it was not his finest moment. His behavior in the 1980 presidential primaries, when he tried and failed to unseat Jimmy Carter as the Democratic nominee, was petty and vindictive. But it also reflected who he was: Beneath the glamor and the glitz, the Kennedys played to win, and politics ain’t for the faint-hearted. They may have played games of touch football on the lawn at Hyannisport, but when it came time for politics, they strapped on the helmets and pads and they would hit you hard. The aristocratic, New England veneer could not always disguise the striving of a hard-nosed immigrant clan.
My grandmother, an Irish Catholic herself, for years kept a shrine of sorts on the fireplace mantle for the sainted John Kennedy. And when I was a kid, my dad was stationed for several years at an Air Force base on Cape Cod, not far from the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport. Whenever a dark-windowed limousine was spotted traveling on Route 3, the only highway from Boston onto the Cape, someone would inevitably nod and say, “Must be a Kennedy.” Limousines were much more rare back then, and the only people anyone could conceive of traveling that way were the local aristocracy, the Kennedys.
Years later, early in my journalism travels when I was working at a small newspaper in western Massachusetts, I ended up meeting Kennedy. What I remember most was not the man but the impact he had on other people. It was my first up-close look at the power of charisma. People came from all over the plant and all over town — secretaries, drivers, ad salesmen, even the gruff, cynical printers — they lined the walls of the newsroom in hopes of seeing a Kennedy, and they became giddy in his presence. That taught me something you can’t find in a poli sci textbook.
The most convincing testament to Kennedy’s aura, however, comes from his fellow senators. They’re an egotistical bunch, 100 would-be presidents in waiting, and they’re not easily impressed with each other. But over the past couple of decades, even Kennedy’s most conservative colleagues would speak of him with respect, even reverence. Given enough time, he had grown into himself, and he left a legacy that far outweighs those of the brothers in whose shadow he struggled.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
453 comments Add your comment
Hef
August 26th, 2009
1:14 pm
DeepEnd-one thing I’ve seen in my short time here is in my opinion his total disdain for any that see things differently than he. He appears to believe he is on a much higher intelligence level, and love’s to belittle others.Other than that I rather enjoy his rhetoric.
E.C. Davis
August 26th, 2009
1:15 pm
The constant tragedies of the Kennedy family are overshadowed only by their triumphs for us, yes, us, Americans. They have paid the ultimate price for this country and it’s citizens, despite being born to wealth. How many other wealthy families can say the same. What a great example Senator Kennedy is to all those born into wealth. He was trying, in essence, to help me and my family.R.I.P. Senator.
get a grip
August 26th, 2009
1:18 pm
I posted a retort and you erased it. It was no worse than any con hating garbage that you allow all the time. Milder than most. You can dish it out, but can’t take it. Just shows me that libs are only for free speech if it agrees with them.
AmVet
August 26th, 2009
1:19 pm
Joey, having watched the people in Washington DC closely for nearly forty years, I assert that it was one of the darlings of the far right-wing, our very own Newt, who laid the siege on civility.
Under his bright but otherwise pedantic, say nothing, sophistry he perfected the art of venomous, personal attacks.
Granted, it is irrefutable that many before him had tried, but you simply have to stand in awe of the greatest BS artist and mean-spirited little pr1ck in the history of American politics.
And I agree that most of the blind mice and apparatchiks on both “sides of the aisle” were only too eager to follow his repugnant lead.
And so now, we not only have mental lightweights in blogdom acting like petulant 12 year old brats an abused animals that strike out at everybody and everything, we can acknowledge that the unthinking and immoral here are merely aping their “heroes” in DC.
What a republic…
Taxpayer
August 26th, 2009
1:19 pm
Paul
August 26th, 2009
11:50 am
Kamchak
Last night you wondered whether Democrats picked certain words and avoided others to curry favorable responses. Taxpayer brought up the other side this morning – Luntz’s work with Democrats.
No, Paul. You are bringing up your own topics.
atlpaddy
August 26th, 2009
1:22 pm
The Christian sentiment among the jackboots is heartwarming indeed. With Ted Kennedy’s passing they’ll have a little pep in their goose step at militia drills. Good job birthbaggers!
Paul
August 26th, 2009
1:22 pm
Kamchak 12:42
It was there on the slide – The Herndon Alliance – a healthcare reform polling group.
He seems to think he has a go it alone magic touch? Isn’t the evidence in the results? So you’re dissing him because he’s effective?!!? And his opponents aren’t?!!?
Marc 1:02
[[what’s the death count under Obama]]
If you mean Afghanistan, it’s higher now, in August, than it was for all of 2008. Every month is a new record high for deaths of Americans.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
1:26 pm
Hef – Amvet talks of the moral high ground, yet uses the same tactics he so detests, to describe the bloggers.
I guess that’s what senility does to you. Was he in Vietnam? Maybe the Agent Orange got to him. I don’t wish that on anyone.
SARA
August 26th, 2009
1:29 pm
Rick 9:06
You need to clarify your post — What did you mean by that post? I hope it is not what I think it said — if it is — you a$$ better go and hide — maybe in HELL with the rest of the insensitive folk like you! I can’t believe “you people”!! Hey “Redneck”! I did not want to go to school or eat with you nasty-a$$ people either — you all don’t wash your hands — MMMMMMmmmm! maybe all your kind will get the “Swine Flu” and good ridance!!! You bunch of “sick puppies”
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
1:34 pm
What Ted Kennedys life can teach us is definitely Dont drink and drive.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
1:36 pm
Kennedy’s accident would be a good case story for MADD.
jconservative
August 26th, 2009
1:39 pm
“…I ended up meeting Kennedy. What I remember most was not the man but the impact he had on other people. It was my first up-close look at the power of charisma.”
Yeah I met Bobby Kennedy in 1964. He made a speech to a small segretated all white southern college. Over 500 people went into auditorium so they could boo & hiss at the man responsible for interragation & ruining a way of life. Bobby Kennedy started talking. When he finished he received a standing ovation. The students were still applauding as he left the auditorium.
Chrisma. You either have it or not. The 3 Kennedy brothers had it.
Reagan had it. Obama has it.
I met Bobby Kennedy a couple of hours after the speech. Physically a little short skinny guy. Chrisma-wise, the largest man I have ever met.
Teddy Kennedy – very profolic senator, more legislation introduced & passed (& I opposed them all as I recall) than any senator in history.
Ironic that George W Bush touts 5 major domestic accomplishments of his presidency. Teddy Kennedy wrote 2 of them, No Child & Medicare Part D.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
1:44 pm
No Child Left Behind is not an accomplishment.
pat
August 26th, 2009
1:44 pm
The man’s a murderer, he should have died in prison not in any honor what so ever. I’d rather Michael Vick be a senator than Toastied ted.
The country is better off with out him.
The people who are mourning the most? Vodka makers.
Paul
August 26th, 2009
1:44 pm
Taxpayer 1:19
My mistake. That was Dave R who accused you of intellectual dishonesty for not admitting Dems do the same thing as Luntz.
Do you think Dave R had a point?
AtlantaBlue
August 26th, 2009
1:46 pm
I think that is is truly sad that so many people posting here don’t understand what we’ve lost today. We lost a man who was not beholden to special interests, he didn’t need big pharma’s money or big oil’s money or any other big “insert your euphamism here” to get reelected. He was concerned with the US citizen. Remember citizenship? Have a little respect for a man that devoted almost all of his entire adult life to public service, without thought for his own enrichment. Can you say that about other senators and congressmen and women? Didn’t think so. We have lost a great man today, one who in the future will be canonized by history. Try to show a little respect, if you can…
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
1:49 pm
We lost a drunken murdering fool…thats about it.
AmVet
August 26th, 2009
1:49 pm
“Other than that I rather enjoy his rhetoric.”
Hef, I am relatively poorly educated, in the classical sense. I lack three hours of an Associates Degree. And like my heroes Truman and Eisenhower come from very humble beginnings.
What separates me from the apparently not-named people you champion is that they’ve seemingly spent their entire live reading Us and People magazines. And little else.
Characterized by abysmal vocabularies, which is merely a sing of a lack of evolved thinking. Atrociously incapable of presenting a detailed and cogent analysis of the issues of today.
I choose to discuss ideas such as:
The health and sustainability of the planet and environment.
The role of war for profit.
The legitimacy of justice.
And common human decency toward s one’s fellow countrymen.
To which the unread and completely un-self disciplined louts like goner respond like a Pavlovian dog and who finds intellectual stimulation by p!ssing on Kennedy’s grave.
Not really newsworthy, I agree, but you are correct, enjoyable.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
1:59 pm
AmVet – you know what assuming does for you? Right?
Angry Black Man
August 26th, 2009
2:11 pm
Wow, just when I think I’ve seen and read the worst possible things ever. It would be interesting to see some of you in front of St. Peter when your time comes. I don’t think anyone here was a personal confidant of Mr. Kennedy, so no one knows what kind of penance he’s done here on earth. Unless any of you are related to Mary Jo, I don’t think you have the right to assume what the family thinks of Ted’s death.
If it were Cheny, Bush, Limbaugh, Obama, Pelosi, Reed, or anyone else, I’d have the same thing to say for them. May God have mercy on their soul. It’s amazing how people want to judge each other without judging themselves first.
Ms. Dusty, who has absolutely nothing to fear from me, that was by far the most eloquent thing that could have been said. Even if you didn’t respect the person in life, show a little respect when they’re dead. That’s why we true Southerners pull off the road or remove our hats when a funeral procession passes by.
Geez, I hope those of you who are just spiteful of Ted in life and death don’t get the same treatment when your time is up.
Gone off the Deep End
August 26th, 2009
2:18 pm
When my time is up, I won’t give a damn what people say about me. Shoot… I don’t give a damn now.
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
2:24 pm
Angry Black Man
August 26th, 2009
2:11 pm
We arent talking about Bush, Cheney etc. Please try to stay on track. The subject is a drunkard by the name of Ted Kennedy. Pls conform or leave this discussion thread.
pat
August 26th, 2009
2:24 pm
There are lots of people who are dying today who deserve far more recognition. Ted should have died peacefully in his prison cell. Where the rest of us would die if we did what he did. He’s no better than John Gotti in my book. Where were the tears for Mr. Gotti?
I love the holier than thou statements around here…Let’s see what what you say when the late Bush Jr. is the topic. I am certain all the sudden, the venom would be a-ok.
Ted did an awful lot of damage to a awful lot of people in 40 years. Sadly it took death to get him out of office because the idiots in Mass. were to stupid to vote him out….”Oh my God a Kennedy! Quick bow down!”
Bummagumma
August 26th, 2009
2:25 pm
I hear one of the Buckhead restaurants is giving free caviar to Cadillac drivers.
Hoops McCann
August 26th, 2009
2:27 pm
Ted Kennedy is probably below us burning up as we speak. I guarantee his name or money couldn’t help him as he met his judgment last night. Mary Jo can finally rest in peace, while Drunk Ted rests in Hades. Good riddance.
Chappaquiddick Shaped Kennedy's Legacy
August 26th, 2009
2:31 pm
[...] in public life, the incident will be raised," Kennedy once acknowledged. Chappaquiddick "may even have magnified Kennedy
Angry Black Man
August 26th, 2009
2:32 pm
Turd Ferguson
August 26th, 2009
2:24 pm
Or should I call you Mr. Lemonade? Someone made the comment a few pages ago about what the libs would say if it were Bush, Cheney, or Palin who had died or something to that effect.
I was commenting on what was on the thread. Anything else? And since when have you always conformed to what the thread was about? Last time I checked, this was the Jay Bookman Blog not the Turd Ferguson Blog.
N.J.
August 26th, 2009
3:04 pm
Tax and spend liberals are the only ones who make sure that the American taxpayer benefits from his tax dollar. No Republican has ever done anything that has benefited the average working taxpayer. They just fund sneakier ways to make sure that the average taxpayer doesn’t keep more of his own money.
They give a 300 dollar tax cut publicly and then steal back 3000 dollars by picking pockets in other ways. No working person has ever kept more of his own money under Republican control.
TnGelding
August 26th, 2009
3:10 pm
Buried at Arlington? I don’t think so. The family should know better.
Miss Obvious
August 26th, 2009
3:29 pm
Throughout his life, Ted Kennedy never believed in an Eternal Lake of Fire or Satan.
He sure does now.
Dr. R.
August 26th, 2009
3:33 pm
I’m not so clouded by ideology that I fail to see a man’s attributes despite the fact that I disagree with him politically. I’d like to think we can still admire a man and agree to disagree. Anyone who served his country as long and as passionately as Teddy deserves respect. He clearly was an effective senator, or else he never would have become the pariah of conservatives (just as Reagan was for liberals). And the people of Massachusetts thought enough of him to send him back to Washington for 40-plus years, so that counts for something. Last I saw, however odd they may speak up there and however strange their ideas may be, they’re still one of the 50 states in my country. So RIP, Teddy. He’ll be missed by the tired, the poor, the Boston hoi polloi and the DC barkeeps alike.
The Anti-Kennedy
August 26th, 2009
3:35 pm
[ This comment is awaiting moderation (aka "censorship") by Progressive AJC Editors who will prevent it from ever being publicly posted. ]
TnGelding
August 26th, 2009
3:42 pm
Dr. R.
August 26th, 2009
3:33 pm
Nice tribute.
RollerGirl
August 26th, 2009
4:01 pm
Purveyors of Distilled spirits across the world mourn the loss of Teddy “the keg” Kennedy.
I, on the other hand, DO NOT!
Adios fatso!
RollerGirl
August 26th, 2009
4:03 pm
Does this mean they can build that “green” wind farm off cape code, now?
The “NIMBY” kennedy is dead! A great day for renewable energy!
RollerGirl
August 26th, 2009
4:03 pm
cape cod
NOBAMA12
August 26th, 2009
4:07 pm
TED WAS A SLIMMY STAIN OF THE FABRIC OF AMERICAN POLITICS. FINALLY HE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED SO MANY YEARS AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vidalia Venny
August 26th, 2009
4:51 pm
I did not teach school today. I blogged alllllllllllllllllllllll day long! I need help.
pat
August 26th, 2009
4:52 pm
I can respect differing opinions but this man was contemptable at every level. He deserves zero respect.
Dr. R.
August 26th, 2009
5:28 pm
Watching Orrin Hatch on with Wolf Blitzer saying nice things about Ted. Man, he looks rough. Either he’s Botoxed to a fare-thee-well or he nodded off in a tanning bed and singed off his eyebrows. He looks like a cigar-store Indian.
Producer
August 26th, 2009
6:21 pm
The coverage this guy is getting is sickening. He was a a murderer, yes, that’s right, a murderer. He killed that girl by his inaction or making even the most modest attempt to save her. Waiting 10 hours before alerting the police? He was more scared about saving his on sorry political backside. A man of no character whatsoever. Gets kicked out of school for cheating. What a shining example of humankind. He gives all of his effort to the creation of the modern welfare state. He crafted laws that robbed our parents of the money they earned to pay for votes from the lesser of our citizens. What if we want to provide better educations for our kids? Move to a better and safer neighborhood? Have our wives stay home and raise our kids as opposed to having to put them in daycare because mom has to work to pay the ever increasing tax bills this creep help craft? This guy was just great a legalizing the theft of resources from the folks who worked for them. The robbing has only increased and magnified over this “lion’s” service to this country. Give me a break. I still have trouble believing the good people of Massachusetts continued to return him to the senate term after term. He should have been sent to jail. His success can be viewed as the beginning of the “celebrity worship” that has engulfed our present day society.
emjay
August 26th, 2009
7:32 pm
There’s a correlation between “Redneck’s” comments and the headline focusing on the steady decline of Georgia’s SAT scores. ‘Nuff said.
LeftWingHata
August 26th, 2009
10:17 pm
Ole’ Kennedy was quite the drunkard. Yes, let us not forget the biggest losers in the wake of his death. That is the D.C./Boston area liquor stores. I easily predict a 20-25% drop in whiskey/scotch sales in the area. Also, I hear Johnny Walker is coming out with a limited edition bottle with a picture of an intoxicated Senator lying on the Senate floor with his pants half down…
Larry Orange
August 26th, 2009
10:43 pm
I find it funny all the people who bad mouth him are all the same people who praise a politican who is personally responsible for over 4,300 deaths and failed to prevent 2,900 more. I think he was also a boozer. And he came from a wealthly family whose father did business with the nazis and he did business with a family that was responsible for the upbringing of a man who founded a terrorist orginization. And yet you still redicule him. Please, give me a break.
N.J.
August 26th, 2009
11:50 pm
The assertion that most in the military are Republicans hits a rather interesting wall. Republicans lost the military vote in the last election. The best estimates show something rather unusual, The officer corps is largely conservative. But not the non officers in the military. A huge number of New Yorkers, registered Democrat by affiliation, joined the military after 9/11 and New Yorker still make up the largest number of people joining up now.
One might ask a better question, Why is it that so many Republicans elected to Congress are less likely to have done military service than the Democrats elected to Congress.
The list of Chickenhawks is still pretty large, Not just elected ones, but the list of conservative pundits who sought deferments is rather large and has not gotten shorter:
Elliott Abrams – Sought deferment for bad back.
Richard Armey – Sought college deferment, too smart to die.
Bill Bennett – Sought graduate school deferment, too smart to die.
Pat Buchanan – Sought deferment for bad knee.
George W. Bush Daddy got him in the National Guard
Dick Cheney – Sought graduate school deferment, too smart to die.
Tom DeLay – - Sought college deferment, too smart to die.
Newt Gingrich – Sought graduate school deferment, too smart to die.
Phil Gramm – Sought marriage deferment, too loved to die.
Jack Kemp – Sought medical deferment while in the NFL.
Rush Limbaugh – Sought deferment for ingrown hair follicle on his ass.
Trent Lott – Sought deferment, didn’t want to muss his hair.
P.J. O’Rourke – Sought deferment, too stoned.
Dan Quayle – Family got him into the Reserves.
Pat Robertson – Father pulled him out of Korea as soon as the shooting began.
Kenneth Starr Sought deferment for psoriasis.
John Wayne – Sought deferment to further acting career.
Vin Weber – Sought deferment for asthma.
George Will – Sought deferment, too much of a wussy.
We liberals just aint going to send someone else’s kid to die somewhere for the sole purpose of protecting some rich guys investments. Iraq is the most recent example. There was no good reason to send anyone there, and even George Bush tried to pull the “We made a mistake about the WMDs but we have to move on”. The entire thing has always been about trying to get at the oil. If you look at the most reviled governments and world leaders while George W was president, three out of four of them nationalized their petroleum. Assad in Syria is not only not much different than Saddam Hussein was, his entire government was based on the same political movement Baathism.
Syria just doesnt have anything American corporations want to get their hands on as much.
Irregular Paul
August 27th, 2009
3:56 am
All this bizarre deification of Edward Kennedy (who was nothing more than a murderous terrorist sc*mbag) by the same people who condemned the compassionate release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, shows why Britain should ignore America’s manufactured collective outrage over al-Megrahi.
It also shows why Britain shouldn’t regard the United States of Crass Hypocrisy as a friend, or an ally, why our troops shouldn’t be dying in Afghanistan and Iraq, why we shouldn’t even have diplomatic relations with the United States and why most Americans in the United Kingdom should be treated as the immoral undesirable aliens that they are.
Sure, we hear the usual Fenian excuses that Edward Kennedy simply supported a United Ireland, but not the IRA and its violence; but facts are facts and no amount of convenient revisionism can change the hard fact that for many years he was one of the chief fund raisers for NORAID – and it is an indisputable fact that NORAID provided 95% of the funding for the IRA’s bombs and violence – and that he is therefore soaked in the blood of far more innocent victims than Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi is (even IF you believe that he is guilty).
But hey, there weren’t many American victims of IRA bombs, and as this forum repeatedly proves, in the eyes of most Americans, only American victims of terrorism count.
As not only a victim of a 1996 IRA, but also someone who has always bee a firm believer in the right of the people of Northern Ireland to determine their own future by peaceful means, I had long since forgiven Kennedy and the IRA – but since all this unseemly and hypocritical outrage over al-Megrahi, when the true colours of our ‘ally’ were finally shown, all of that forgiveness has gone out of the window and as far as I am concerned, Kennedy – and ALL of those rancid hypocrites who hail him as a hero – can rot in the hell of their own making.
Nuff said
August 27th, 2009
11:36 am
Ah, Atlanta – the city too busy to hate!
Dave R.
August 27th, 2009
11:36 am
More BS from the leader in BS, NJ.
The military vote did NOT go to the Democrats in the last election. More BS from NJ.
John Wayne did NOT seek deferment, but was denied due to a football injury when he tried to enlist. More BS from NJ.
Chappaquiddick Shaped Kennedy's Legacy
August 27th, 2009
11:48 am
[...] in public life, the incident will be raised," Kennedy once acknowledged. Chappaquiddick "may even have magnified Kennedy
Bloody Yank
August 28th, 2009
9:47 am
One less drunken, philandering, murdering, liberal dirtbag. I’ll drink to that!!
JWC
August 30th, 2009
12:01 pm
As a politician, he fought with conviction for many liberal causes.
As a man, I would have had a lot more respect for him if he would taken responsibility for his part in the Chappaquiddick death of Mary Jo Kopechne. In 1969, Joe Kennedy bought his son’s freedom. This time though, Ted is on his own. Good Luck buying out the Big Man.
bj
August 30th, 2009
8:52 pm
It is interesting that no one crucifies Laura Bush for driving the car in a two car accident in which a young man was killed.
JCfrmCali
September 8th, 2009
8:18 pm
Reading these comments reminds me yet again that Reconstruction should have been continued another fifty or sixty years. General Sherman had the right idea.It’s not a surprise that the lowest educational scores usually come from Southern states.