Reviewed By Kelly Jad'on

Senator Ted Kennedy has died at home in Hyannis Port the evening of August 25, 2009.

His family's comment, "He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him.”

Ted Kennedy was known as and as a champion of the weak, and as the “Lion of the Senate.” He was also a man who adversaries respectfully admit “keeps his word,” and had been able to win over those who disagreed with him. A family man, Ted Kennedy was the remaining patriarch of the Kennedy family--few remember that he loved his mother immensely and followed his father’s direction. Though the Senator had endured countless family tragedies; few men have overcome the obstacles and embarrassment of poorly made choices early in life, and were able to still command the respect of our President.

The summer of 2002 found my family in Washington D.C., walking the perimeter of the Capitol Building observing the classic architecture. We stopped for a nondescript van, passing us at an entrance. Senator Kennedy sat in the passenger’s seat busily studying paperwork. His driver took him past barricades, security guards and a German shepherd. This, my children’s first and only visible memory of Ted Kennedy--a man who works.

Senator Ted Kennedy was a career politician. As the third-longest serving senator, four generations of my family have seen him in office. (1962-present) Under Kennedy’s guidance good works have been accomplished, including 300 bills he wrote that were enacted into law. All Americans in have been affected by his role in government.

• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
• National Cancer Act of 1971
• Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974
• COBRA Act of 1985
• Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Ryan White AIDS Care Act (1990)
• Civil Rights Act of 1991
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountabiity Act of 1996
• Mental Health Parity Act (1996, 2008)
• State Children’s Health Insurance Program (1997)
• No Child Left Behind Act (2002)
• Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (2009)

Under the Obama administration, Senator Kennedy continued to be a leader of the enactment of universal health care. In July, 2009 his committee—the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed The Affordable Health Choices Act, “landmark legislation that will reduce health costs, protect individuals’ choice in doctors and plans, and assure quality and affordable health care for all Americans.” John McCain spoke with George Stephanopoulos recently about the state of health care reform, stating that Ted Kennedy's absence has made a huge difference. The Republican affectionately reminded listeners that no one is indispensable, "but Ted Kennedy comes as close to being indispensable as any individual I've ever known in the Senate because he had a unique way of sitting down with the parties at the table and making the right concessions, which really are the essence of successful negotiations."

Edward Klein echoes the comments with a quote from Senator McCain originating in Jack Newfield's "The Senate's Fighting Liberal," The Nation (Mar 25, 2002): "Ted always keeps his word. This is essential in a small group of people like the Senate. There is no bullshit with Ted. You know exactly where he is coming from. He does what he says he will do. He is a great listener in a body of poor listeners. This makes it easy to deal with him. Look, I've had my fights with him. We disagree on a lot of things. But Ted doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He likes people. And he doesn't hold a grudge."

In July, 2009, President Obama named Edward M. Kennedy (Ted) a recipient of the Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. His response, “I am profoundly grateful to President Obama for this extraordinary honor. My life has been committed to the ideal of public service which President Kennedy wanted the Medal of Freedom to represent. To receive it from another President who prizes that same ideal of service and inspires so many to serve is a great privilege that moves me deeply.”

Edward Klein, author of All Too Human, The Kennedy Curse, Just Jackie and Farewell Jackie, completes his classic biographical collection with Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Died. He begins Ted’s biography with a portion of the Kennedy family history (both the good and negative), noting that Senator Kennedy worked hard to keep up his end of the family legacy. Later, Klein pulls us forward through the Senator’s life, touching on events which affected the young Ted Kennedy: the deaths of his brothers John and Bobby, the tragedy of a botched surgery on his sister Rosemary, a plane crash survival, Teddy Jr.’s cancer and subsequent leg amputation, the Chappaquiddick incident, his divorce and annulment from Joan Bennett, his bouts with drinking, and a remarriage to Victoria Reggie (1992). Since May, 2008 Senator Kennedy’s appearances in the Senate were hampered by a malignant brain tumor diagnosis.

Klein quotes Edward M. Kennedy’s speech from the 1980 Democratic National Convention Address in the Epigraph –“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” Who now will carry on the dream?  The author notes past biographies of Ted Kennedy’s emersion from the cocoon of privilege and wealth after his induction into the military—an awareness-raising, life-changing experience. Tied with the political ambitions of his father, Joe Kennedy, for his son, the army exposure helped create the man he had become.

Edward Klein, though he writes realistically of Ted Kennedy’s life, possesses a soft spot for the Senator. He acknowledges that many great men from history have made mistakes, but have still been held in high regard for their life’s work. Klein writes of Kennedy's liberal political history: “In the forty-six years between John F. Kennedy’s assassination and Barack Obama’s inauguration, the Democratic Party would control the United States Senate for all but thirteen years.” Kennedy “never abandoned his convictions or principles.”

Though confined by his physical state, Senator Kennedy continued to be a man who strove to move forward; he recently appealed to the Massachusetts Governor and legislature to change the law regarding U.S. Senate vacancies, allowing a temporary senator to be appointed and vote in favor of a health care bill, should his seat become suddenly vacant. Working even in a poor state of health, Ted Kennedy was the man who would not let his dream die. Many may not agree with Ted Kennedy’s policies, politics, or life’s mistakes; however, Senator Kennedy’s loyalty to his country and his people can never be disputed. He is an inspirational example of a lifetime of service for all Americans.

About The Author

Edward Klein is the former foreign editor of Newsweek and former editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine. A fluent speaker of Japanese, he has worked for UPI in Asia. In addition to the biographies, Klein has also written two novels--If Israel Lost the War and The Parachutist. You can find him online at EdwardKlein.com

Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Died (Crown Publishers/ 2009) by Edward Klein (5 Stars)

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