Ted Kennedy Dead at age 77

Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy, aka Ted Kennedy the youngest Kennedy brother who was left to head the family’s political dynasty after his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, has died at age 77, according to ABC News. More from ABC:

“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” the Kennedy family said in a statement. “He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it.”

Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy, the youngest Kennedy brother who was left to head the family’s political dynasty after his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated.

Kennedy championed health care reform, working wages and equal rights in his storied career. In August, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — by President Obama. His daughter, Kara Kennedy, accepted the award on his behalf.
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Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, known as Ted or Teddy, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2008 and underwent a successful brain surgery soon after that. But his health continued to deteriorate, and Kennedy suffered a seizure while attending the luncheon following President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

For Kennedy, the ascension of Obama was an important step toward realizing his goal of health care reform.

At the Democratic National Convention in August 2008, the Massachusetts Democrat promised, “I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate when we begin the great test.”

Sen. Kennedy made good on that pledge, but ultimately lost his battle with cancer.

Kennedy was first elected to the Senate in 1962, at the age of 30, and his tenure there would span four decades.

A hardworking, well-liked politician who became the standard-bearer of his brothers’ liberal causes, his career was clouded by allegations of personal immorality and accusations that his family’s clout helped him avoid the consequences of an accident that left a young woman dead.

But for the younger members of the Kennedy clan, from his own three children to those of his brothers JFK and RFK, Ted Kennedy — once seen as the youngest and least talented in a family of glamorous overachievers — was both a surrogate father and the center of the family.

And certainly it was Ted Kennedy who bore many of the tragedies of the family — the violent deaths of four of his siblings, his son’s battle with cancer, and the death of his nephew John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash.

I obviously didn’t agree with this man’s politics, didn’t particularly like him personally either, but I still wouldn’t lower myself and badmouth the man, or the family

More links to the story about Ted Kennedy’s death:

CNN

Kennedy Family State (Fox News)

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August 25, 2009 · Filed Under Ted Kennedy


Comments

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  • Dave B

    God Bless his soul. I didn’t agree with many of the things he said, very few causes he stood for but I know that he tried his best to do what he thought was right and tried to carry on the legacy of his brothers and father. He had a big burden, had his problems as a result, but as a resident of Massachusetts I can tell you that we never felt that he was a phony… despite what we believed politically. I hope he is at peace now and has been re-united with the rest of his family. I’ll say a prayer for his surviving relatives. Ted, of all of the Kennedy family never asked for the burden that was heaped upon him. Most of us saw that.

  • Patrick Arnold

    Ted Kennedy died a man not convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He was a man who did more harm, with his socialist big government ideoligy,than any other senator in American history.

    He is one of about 100 reasons we need TERM limits. Just think how great america would have been if he was limited to only 18 years as a senator. Good bye Camelot, Thank GOD

  • http://att.yahoo James Welch

    Best news I have heard this year,
    this so called great man was as crook,and I allways will say he murdered that poor girl.and got away wiyth it

  • Rusty

    Move over Hitler, you have company coming.
    RIH Teddy.