"Teddy Was Your Senator, Too"

I was born right before the dawn of Camelot and was too young to remember when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was becoming politically aware when Robert F. Kennedy was killed, but my young mind recognized the ugliness of Sen. Edward "Teddy" Kennedy's involvement in the 1969 Chappaquiddick tragedy and the political stigma that accompanied that scandal. Those were my first memories of Sen. Kennedy as a youngster. He was the also-ran brother and not a political luminary like his siblings, according to the magazines and newspapers I read at the time. His picture didn't hang from my school walls in the Midwest.

My view of Kennedy changed as I matured. As I learned to understand that the most complicated, the most flawed and the least conspicuously gifted often become the best leaders, my respect for him grew. His words at his brother Robert Kennedy's funeral seem to apply to him too: "My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life." Kennedy didn't do life perfectly, but so often he used his influence and power to boldly pursue an agenda to help the American people. Critics may attempt to marginalize that legacy by stamping Kennedy with the label of "liberal" -- one-word caricatures are a regrettable feature of our buzz-word culture -- but during nearly 50 years on Capitol Hill, Kennedy emerged as the people's champion. As his niece Caroline Kennedy said during her introduction at the 2008 Democratic Convention last August, "Teddy is your senator too." If you benefited from Medicare programs, Head Start, higher minimum wages, and fairness in hiring regardless of race, gender or disability, Kennedy pushed legislation for you. If you lived under apartheid or violence in Northern Ireland, Kennedy worked on your behalf. Selfless leadership always reaches beyond partisan labels.

In then-candidate Sen. Barack Obama, Kennedy apparently saw someone to continue that agenda and give voice to what he had fought for through the decades. His decision to back Obama as the Democratic nominee was one of those crucible moments in the presidential campaign -- without which the outcome may have been different. Kennedy boosted the credibility of Obama's candidacy while displaying the power-broking skills he possessed as a veteran senator. As BBC writer Nick Bryant wrote: "Jack and Bobby Kennedy used to joke that it was their younger brother, Teddy, who had been blessed with the richest political talent."

Kennedy's brothers were right. Another reason for my sadness at his death is that Kennedy will not see the outcome of the debate over health-care reform or be able to advise the Obama administration on how to navigate the frequently obdurate Congress. But maybe Kennedy's example of fighting for others will be counsel enough. His example of compassion as the doting elder uncle certainly seems to have had left its imprint in the Kennedy clan. Looking at the video of Caroline Kennedy's speech at the 2008 convention again today made me muse about this complicated man. How will history judge him? Will it be through the eyes of his critics or through the hearts of his family?

"No matter how busy he is, he never fails to find time for those in pain, those in grief or those who just need a hug," Caroline Kennedy said in August 2008. "In our family, he's never missed a First Communion, a graduation or a chance to walk one of his nieces down the aisle. He has a special relationship with each of us. And his 60 great nieces and nephews all know that the best cookies and the best laughs are always found at Uncle Teddy's."

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