The Soul of the Senate...

“For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the works goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die” – Senator Edward M. Kennedy 1932-2009 – concession speech in the campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in 1980 against incumbent Jimmy Carter.

On Saturday, November 23rd 1963, at the request of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara made four separate trips to Arlington Cemetery to survey the burial grounds for a suitable resting place for the dead president. After finding what he believed to be the most beautiful location in the cemetery, McNamara called Mrs. Kennedy and asked her to come to Arlington to make a final decision. At the foot of a hill, atop which stands Arlington House, a memorial to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and overlooking the Potomac River, Mrs. Kennedy would light the eternal flame for the first time at the gravesite of her dead husband, a flame that has burned ever since. Forty six years later, Edward Moore Kennedy, the last remaining son of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald, would travel the same road, passing the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial along the way, before being laid to rest within a hundred feet of his assassinated brothers.

Joe and Rose Kennedy raised their children around the biblical concept of “to whom much is given, much will be required”. Despite the fact that one brother served as president and another as attorney general, Senator Ted Kennedy lived this principal in a way that neither of his brothers ever did, or indeed ever had the opportunity to. Kennedy’s half century of dedication to public service was driven by three key themes; his genuine empathy and consideration for the underprivileged, minorities and the elderly, what he felt was his duty to carry forward the fallen standard and social and economic policies of his slain brothers, and yes, in the aftermath of personal irresponsibility and tragedy at Chappaquiddick, his long road towards redemption by becoming a lightning rod for every just social cause, authoring some 2,500 legislative bills in the United States Senate, covering everything from health care and immigration, civil rights and education reform to promoting gender equity, protecting voting rights and being a lifelong advocate for the working man and woman.

Ted Kennedy was a natural politician in a way that his more famous brothers never were. His brother Jack, the president, was renowned for being cold and detached, a man who cloaked his emotions and even though he spent 14 years in the congress before becoming president, was never at home in the Senate and was not a legislator in the way his contemporary Lyndon Johnson was, not even close. Robert Kennedy, while notoriously shy and often brutally stubborn and harsh in his years as attorney general, was a man of perpetual motion and action, who found the slow process and grind of legislating a terrible chore after he entered the U.S. Senate in January 1965. Teddy was a different story altogether. Politically speaking he was more of a Fitzgerald than a Kennedy.

His maternal grandfather, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald (after whom the future president would be named), was the rambunctious, back-slapping, wheeling and dealing former U.S. congressman and later two time mayor of Boston. The tradition of grass roots, ward politics that was symptomatic of the rise of first and second generation Irish immigrants within the Democratic Party in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was woven into the DNA of Ted Kennedy. Teddy not only loved the U.S. Senate, he loved legislating. He understood, more than anyone, that bipartisanship was a lot more than just a word. Although he was the voice of American liberalism for over forty years and the political nemesis of two generations of conservative Republicans, Kennedy was never afraid to reach across the aisle, wooing Republicans to his cause time after time, convincing them of the morality of the cause at hand, compromising when he needed to, promising his support for future opposition bills, always delivering the votes required to get the legislation passed.

Kennedy loved his Irish heritage and was a lifelong friend of Ireland. As early as 1971 he publicly compared Britain’s military presence in Ireland to that of the U.S. presence in Vietnam. In the 1970’s he helped persuade then President Jimmy Carter to provide U.S. financial support to Northern Ireland in the event of a peace settlement. In 1994, he was the leader among a number of prominent Irish American politicians who convinced President Clinton to grant a US entry visa to Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams. When the IRA subsequently abandoned its ceasefire a couple of years later, Kennedy publicly snubbed Adams, calling on him to once and for all cut his ties to the IRA, and declined to meet him during several consecutive St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington. Behind the scenes however, over the period of twenty five years, he worked with several Irish Taoisigh and British prime ministers to broker a peace settlement in Northern Ireland.

As is often the case, with the passing of time comes wisdom and a perspective that only a history of life experience can bring. As he was being laid to rest at Arlington cemetery, the presiding priest read a letter that Kennedy wrote earlier this year to Pope Benedict XVI. Reflecting on a life of public service and still haunted by the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick in 1969, Kennedy, like us all, hoped his life’s good work would help redeem himself in the eyes of his Creator…” I have been blessed to be a part of a wonderful family, and both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained, nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path”. Indeed, he did try.

For the exception of two years, a Kennedy has represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate since 1953. In excess of 140 million Americans, born since January 1963, have never known the Senate without Ted Kennedy in it. It remains to be seen if the torch will be passed to a new generation of Kennedy men or women to pick up where Teddy has left off. As an Irishman living in America, I am proud of the accomplishments of Ted Kennedy. We are all imperfect human beings and we all need GOD’s forgiveness. Let us hope that President Obama, a gutsy and transformative leader, can learn from the career of Ted Kennedy and guide the upcoming Health Care Reform bill through congress and its passage into legislation.

R.I.P., Teddy, the liberal lion and soul of the Senate. To whom much is given, much will be required.