Senator Edward Moore Kennedy who has been part of the political landscape for close to half a century has passed on. Unless you have been living under a rock on a different planet you already knew this. The report of his death was the entire Associated Press radio newscast at 7am this morning. No other story. No Ben Bernanke being reappointed … no nothing but Teddy Kennedy. Few Americans, I included can remember when Teddy Kennedy wasn’t a U S Senator.

Recollections

I first heard of Ted Kennedy during the 1960 Presidential campaign when he briefly visited Fort Worth. Kennedy was just out of the University Of Virginia Law School and was making the rounds stumping for the Kennedy – Johnson ticket.

The reason I remember Ted showing up was a close childhood buddy had his picture published in “The Fort Worth Press" with the young Ted Kennedy. My friend’s family was active in the Democrat party and Ricky’s dad had been a delegate or alternate to the Los Angeles Convention and as far as I know, Doc Rapfogel was the only Texan in Los Angeles who was supporting Adlai Stevenson. The Rapfogel’s were really liberal. They hadn’t at least initially supported JFK either. Texas was supporting their favorite son, Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Baines Johnson. It is important to note that conservative Texans were not a lead pipe cinch to support Kennedy even with Johnson on the ticket. JFK / LBJ won Texas in November 50.52% to 48.52% for Nixon / Lodge. It has been suggested that John Kennedy and Landslide Lyndon had a little help in the counties in South Texas west of Corpus Christi. Seven counties including the infamous Duval County went Democrat with over 90% of the vote. That is another story for another time.

The nation next heard from Teddy Kennedy when he became a candidate in 1962 to fill the seat vacated by his Brother the President. Had his name been Edward Moore he would never been elected. But that wasn’t his name, it was Ted Kennedy. His brother was President, his father was a wealthy self made Irish American businessman (movies and bootlegging not to forget rumored philanderer) who had served as President Franklin D Roosevelt’s Ambassador to the Court of St. James (Great Britain), and his grandfather was John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald who had been the popular Mayor of Boston. Kennedy won the Democrat primary for the Special Election by a 2 to 1 margin and defeated the Republican in the Special with 55% of the vote.

Reflecting, Kennedy served in the Senate for 47 years. The Constitution provides that to serve in the U S Senate you must be 30 years old. Kennedy died yesterday at the age of 77!

My next recollection of Teddy Kennedy was a national news story about there now being two brothers in the U S Senate. The story focused on Senator Ted picking up older brother Bobby, the newly elected Senator from New York, and taking him to work when the Senate convened in 1965. Later in 1968 the then elder Kennedy campaigned for President and like his older brother John F Kennedy was assassinated.

Life moves on to 1969, the Chappaquiddick incident and the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign assistant for Bobby Kennedy. The “incident” became a national scandal and detoured Ted’s running for President in 1972 helping leave the way open for George Mc Govern. For his part in the accident, Senator Kennedy pled guilty for leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended sentence.

Kennedy’s ambition though was not throttled. He sought the nomination in 1980 against the Democrat incumbent President Jimmy Carter. Kennedy lost to the party apparatus and resigned himself to just trying to be a good U S Senator.

He was. I disagreed with him about 99% of the time and certainly did not condone much of his private personal behavior. When I became active in partisan politics, Teddy Kennedy became a useful and active target for Republican fundraising and rallying the GOP base. The faithful just could not stand him.

At best there are only ten to fifteen Senators in Washington that make any significant difference. Kennedy was one of them. On the Democrat side Tom Daschle and Daniel Patrick Moynihan were also. Just for balance on the GOP side are Richard Lugar and Orrin Hatch. John Thune too is working his way to the front ranks as a mover and shaker in the Capitol. Some of Kennedy’s best legislative work included the 1981 Jobs Training Partnership Act (that replaced CETA that was Carter’s government employment program) and working with President Bush on the No Child Left Behind Act.

Senator Kennedy, a member of the Senate Labor Committee worked with Senator Dan Quayle to change CETA to JTPA. The case in effectiveness of both Kennedy and Quayle is detailed in an interesting monograph, “The Making of a Senator: Dan Quayle.”

Since Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer he has not been active. Because I most most often disagree with his Extreme Liberal positions he has not been missed by me. I don’t think he is a great man as he is being lauded by so many but I do respect his work if not him. He has been described as the Last Lion of the Kennedys. I hope he is and the Kennedy dynasty has worn out their welcome.  

One final parting shot – Senator Kennedy’s death in light of his strong long time commitment to Nationalized Health Care should not be used by the President and his Party to make him a martyr for the so called health care reform that is being debated.

I do genuinely hope that he rests in peace.

His three brothers each gave their life for our Country and they deserve our respect.

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