U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, 1932-2009
By Jennifer J. Foster
Published: August 26, 2009
CNN is reporting, and his family has confirmed, that U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has died of brain cancer.
He was 77.
Kennedy has been fighting cancer for more than a year, and his absence from the Senate as it undertook health care legislation—for decades, his key issue—was a constant reminder of the seriousness of his condition. Most recently, word surfaced that Kennedy had written personal notes to leaders of the Massachusetts Legislature to ask them to change the state’s successor law to ensure that his seat would not be left vacant for months—but especially when Congress voted on the health care bill now working its way through Congress—as his successor was established through a special election, as state law currently provides.
State leaders reacted coolly to the idea.
There will be plenty of time to talk about the impact Kennedy’s death will have on the ongoing efforts to overhaul health care in Washington.
Tonight is not that time.
Kennedy made a substantial contribution to public service. He was a U.S. Army veteran and served more than 46 years in the Senate. I encourage you to read about his career here.
Regardless of your thoughts about Kennedy’s political philosophy and record—and, for better or for worse, he is one of America’s most controversial political figures—his death marks the irrefutable passing of an important era in American politics. The Kennedy name is synonymous with politics in the United States; as the brother of one president and the brother of another might-have-been president, both of whom were brutally assassinated before the eyes of the world, Ted Kennedy was a unique link between the country our nation has become and what it used to be.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
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