The Lion of the US Senate
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda , MD
Life can be full of ironies. When it seemed that Senator Edward Kennedy, the patriarch of the Kennedy dynasty, had finally found peace and happiness, pleasures that had eluded him most of his life, fate dealt him a devastating blow -- diagnosis of a fatal, terminal disease, brain cancer. He died on August 25, 2009, age 77. The description of his illness and how he accepted the likely outcome with equanimity, in the opening chapter of his book, True Compass, released last September, is both emotionally moving and powerful.
The day had started unremarkably before the illness. Having enjoyed some vigorous campaigning for the then candidate Obama, he was relaxing at home, when, out of the blue, he suffered a major seizure, Admitted to Boston’s Masschusetts General Hospital, he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and told that he had only a few months to live.
As he and his wife, Victoria, whom he adored and to whom later dedicated his autobiography, prepared for the battle ahead, he sought solace in his ancestral Catholic faith. Meanwhile, he decided to continue his legislative work during the time he had still left. Living at the edge of Atlantic Ocean, sailing had been his life-long passion, and during his final months he often indulged in this hobby. As a leader of his party, he fervently yearned to attend the Democratic Convention in August 2008 in Denver, to see Barrack Obama nominated as the party’s candidate. Yet, his health was fast declining and it was far from certain that he could do it. He arrived in Denver in good shape, and plans looked on track. But the day before the convention, he developed debilitating pain, caused by kidney stones. Doctors had to heavily sedate him to relieve the pain, and were pessimistic about his chances of being able to participate in the convention.
Summoning all his strength and will power, he managed to get there, stood up on the podium with his wife at his side and delivered a stirring speech. In his concluding remarks, he recalled the word of his older brother, Jack Kennedy, blending them with his own comments delivered a decade ago. Alluding to his hope for Obama’s presidency, he exclaimed “And this November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans. And, so Barack Obama — for you and for me and for our cause – the work begins anew, the hope rises again and the dream lives on.” His remarks so eloquently uttered electrified the crowd and it went wild with excitement.
The voluminous Kennedy autobiography, published by Twelve Publishers, had been in the making for decades, as the author had kept a diary for the past fifty years. Since 2004, he had also recorded oral history about his life. As is often the case, the book was written with the collaboration of an established writer, Ron Powers, although the collaborator’s name does not appear on the front page of the book. So, the language and literary style may not be entirely Kennedy’s, but the story surely is.
Born in a wealthy, Irish Catholic family, Edward Kennedy had inherited all the material resources to enjoy a happy life. Yet, his life meandered through an unending series of tragedies. His oldest brother, a fighter pilot, was killed in the Second World War while on a combat mission. Jack Kennedy, the young, charismatic president and second brother, was assassinated in 1963 in Texas. In less than five years, his third brother, Robert Kennedy, was also gunned down while campaigning in California. Edward Kennedy never fully recovered from the loss of his two brothers and his love for them permeates the pages of the book. As the youngest surviving sibling, he became the surrogate father to the children of his fallen brothers.
In his immediate family, misfortunes abounded. He himself was nearly killed in an airplane crash; his twelve-year old son came down with bone cancer, and had a leg amputated; his young daughter was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Happily, both children overcame their illnesses and survived. His unhappy first marriage ended in divorce. Early in his political career, Edward Kennedy was involved in a tragic incident that cast a long shadow on his political ambitions and tarnished his image. In the summer of 1969, after a late night drinking party at Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts, he offered a young female staff member a ride home. Traveling in the dark, the car skidded off a wooden bridge and plunged into a pond. Kennedy managed to escape unharmed, but the hapless female companion was drowned. She was left there, and it took the Senator nine hours to report the incident to police. No satisfactory explanation for this long delay in notification was ever provided by him. Many people suspected that he was drunk and should not have been driving. In the book he relates the tragedy, but offers no new revelations. However, the accident left a lasting sense of guilt which haunted him all his life.
Although Kennedy was never able to completely exorcise the ghost of Chappaquiddick, much of his legislative and humanitarian achievements since then have largely eclipsed in the public mind the dreadful memories of that night. He championed many causes to help poor and disadvantaged Americans, ceaselessly advocating the cause of universal health coverage in a country where some 40 million people lack adequate access to basic medical services.
Senator Kennedy’s death was mourned widely in the country and he was eulogized by his family and powerful friends, including President Obama. However, a final blow was dealt after his death, when the Massachusetts electorate elected a Republican to fill the Senate seat he had occupied for 46 years. The new Senator promptly blocked the passage of the health reform bill for which Kennedy had toiled indefatigably. The US Congress, with a Democratic majority, finally passed the health bill and President Obama signed it into law on March 23, in an enduring tribute to the memory of a national icon.
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