 |
Edward Moore KennedyAmerican politician, US senator
Date of Birth: 22.02.1932
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Edward Moore Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy, also known as Ted Kennedy, was an American politician and a United States Senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was the second-longest serving member of the Senate and the fourth-longest serving senator in U.S. history. His presidential ambitions were dashed after the Chappaquiddick incident.
Early Life and Family
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was born on February 22, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of nine children of Rose Fitzgerald and Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. His brother, John F. Kennedy, had requested their father to name the newborn George Washington Kennedy, as Ted was born on the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth. However, his father refused and named him Edward after his assistant.
Ted moved from place to place during his childhood and attended ten different schools by the age of 11. He endured the failed lobotomy of his mother, the death of his brother Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. in World War II, and the death of his sister Kathleen in an airplane crash. Ted served in the military from June 1951 to March 1953. He earned a bachelor's degree from Milton Academy in 1950, graduated from The Hague Academy of International Law in 1958, and from the University of Virginia Law School in 1959.
In October 1957, Ted met his future wife, Joan Bennett, through his sister Jean Kennedy Smith. They got married on November 29, 1958, but divorced in 1982. On July 3, 1992, Ted married Victoria Reggie. The Kennedy and Reggie families had been longtime friends, and their children officially started dating in June 1991. Ted helped raise Reggie's two children from her previous marriage to Grier C. Raclin, an executive of Charter Communications.
Political Career
Ted Kennedy entered the Senate in November 1962 at the age of 30, taking his brother John's seat after he became President. He was elected to a six-year term in 1964 and was subsequently re-elected to the Senate seven more times.
In June 1964, Senator Kennedy suffered a spinal injury in a plane crash, which put his political career on hold for six months while he recovered in the hospital. In 1969, late at night, Ted was driving a car with his secretary Mary Jo Kopechne on Chappaquiddick Island. While crossing the "Dike Bridge" (which had no guardrails at the time), he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to plunge into a lake. Kennedy managed to escape, but Kopechne drowned.
Kennedy claimed to have made seven or eight dives to rescue Mary, but was unable to reach her. He denied being under the influence of alcohol, and only reported the incident to authorities the next morning, after Kopechne's body had been discovered. There were rumors that Mary was pregnant with Kennedy's child and did not want to have an abortion, so Ted devised a simple way to get rid of her. However, Kopechne's parents refused an autopsy, and Kennedy pleaded guilty only to leaving the scene of an accident.
Although he received a two-month suspended sentence, the incident ended his presidential ambitions. He only ran for president once, in 1980, and lost the Democratic primary to Jimmy Carter, who in turn was defeated in the general election by Ronald Reagan.
Legacy and Achievements
Ted Kennedy was known for his oratory skills and delivered a memorable eulogy at the funeral of his brother Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968. He also championed modern American liberalism with his rallying cry in 1980. He became known as the "Lion of the Senate" for his long tenure and influence in the Senate.
As a liberal, Kennedy advocated for an interventionist government but also worked with Republicans to achieve compromise between senators with differing views. He and his staff were responsible for drafting over 300 pieces of legislation. He played a significant role in the passage of many laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the National Cancer Act of 1971, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, and the No Child Left Behind Act.
Throughout the 2000s, Kennedy made several unsuccessful attempts to influence immigration reform. He continued his Senate career during the Obama administration and remained committed to expanding access to healthcare, which he called the "cause of his life".
In October 2007, Kennedy underwent a planned surgery to restore blood flow to his brain. In 2008, he suffered a seizure and was hospitalized, where doctors discovered a malignant brain tumor. The tumor was successfully removed in a 3.5-hour operation, but the disease returned by spring 2009, and the attempted treatments proved ineffective. In addition to his health issues, Kennedy also struggled with kidney stones that made it difficult for him to stand.
In late July 2009, Kennedy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom but was unable to attend the ceremony in person. He said goodbye to his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who passed away at the age of 88 in mid-August 2009, but was unable to attend her public funeral.
As his health declined, Ted was confined to a wheelchair and had difficulty speaking. However, he never stopped saying, "I've had a wonderful life." Kennedy passed away on August 25, 2009, at the age of 77, in his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
