Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009)[2][3] was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. In office from November 1962 until his death, Kennedy served nine terms in the Senate. At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate, and the third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history. He was best known as one of the most outspoken and effective Senate proponents of progressive causes and bills. For many years the most prominent living member of the Kennedy family, he was the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both victims of assassinations, and the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy.

Kennedy was a manager in his brother John's successful 1960 campaign for president. He then worked as an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Kennedy entered the Senate in a 1962 special election to fill the seat once held by his brother John. He was seriously injured in an airplane crash in 1964 and suffered from lifelong back pain as a result. Kennedy was elected to his first six-year term in 1964 and was reelected seven more times.

The 1969 Chappaquiddick incident resulted in the death of passenger Mary Jo Kopechne and impaired his chances of becoming President of the United States; his involvement in the 1980 presidential election ended in a primary campaign loss to incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Kennedy was known for his oratorical power, his 1968 eulogy for his brother Robert and his 1980 Democratic National Convention rallying cry for American liberalism being among his best-known moments.

He became known as "The Lion of the Senate", through his long tenure and influence. More than 300 bills that Kennedy and his staff wrote were enacted into law. He was known for working with Republicans and finding compromises among Senators with disparate views. Kennedy played a major role in passing many laws that affect the lives of all Americans, including the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the National Cancer Act of 1971, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Ryan White AIDS Care Act in 1990, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Mental Health Parity Act in 1996 and 2008, the State Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997, the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, and the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009. In the 2000s, he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts. During decades in office, Kennedy's major legislative goal was enactment of universal health care, which he continued to work toward during the Obama administration.

Kennedy battled a malignant brain tumor, diagnosed in May 2008, which limited his appearances in the Senate. He survived longer than doctors first predicted. He died on August 25, 2009, at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.[2]