Ted Kennedy An Effective Senator But No Saint
Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy’s death is being met today with showers of praise from the media and his fellow politicians. But I’d just like to put things in perspective. Senator Kennedy was no angel and associating him with principle may be a far-flung stretch.
Kennedy, the liberal senator from Massachusetts, died at the age of 77 after a 15-month battle with brain cancer. Kennedy was in the thick of politics like his brothers.
He was in the United States Senate for 47 years and regarded as one of the most effective and hardworking senators in Washington. He was a zealous congressman that wasn’t afraid to reach across party lines in order to get things done.
During his years in office, he wrote 2,500 bills, although only a fraction of them were passed. As a senator, he served as a chief force for social legislation. He was a proponent for health care, immigration, civil rights, education, and more. He has been judged as one of the most capable members in the history of the Senate and a subject of passionate interest for students of political science.
With that shining gloss-over of his career, we can really discuss Ted Kennedy. He was successful due to the influence and authority his family held. Many Americans have been brainwashed to believe that America is Camelot and the Kennedy’s are the royalty over the kingdom, which eventually makes Ted, as the patriarch of the Kennedys, the king. What a crock!
Here are the facts, which paint a clear picture of his controversial history. He managed to get in trouble, but always seemed to come out on top because of the power his family had. In his early days, Ted was thrown out of Harvard for cheating. His readmittance to the school was largely because his daddy pulled some strings and gave some incentives to the “top dogs” at Harvard.
However, this was only the beginning of Ted Kennedy’s flirtation with cheating and unethical behavior.
In 1969, he was involved in an accident famously known as Chappaquiddick. Kennedy got drunk and crashed off a bridge. The young lady with him, a former aide to his brother and his alleged lover, died in the wreck. Kennedy managed to get out and save himself, but he did not report the accident to authorities for nine hours. Are you freaking kidding me?
It sounds like he was worried about his career, his marriage, and only came forward to avoid worse complications. Plus if he came forward, he would be able to give some excuses why he didn’t report the happening, and inoculate the American people so his political career could be salvaged. Ted was a real gentleman that never believed or acted like he was above the law- or quit planning for his future.
Americans knew that Teddy had deep pockets along with being a scoundrel and a heavy drinker. He didn’t win the Democratic primary in the 1980 presidential election because the American people remembered the skeletons in his closet and didn’t want the Kennedy family money and clout again in the presidency. Despite how tragic the circumstances were, one Kennedy as president was enough. The Democratic Party refused to overlook Kennedy’s indiscretions.
After the Chappaquiddick incident, his life started to deteriorate. In 1982, Kennedy and his wife divorced, and, by the time 1984 rolled around, Teddy knew that his chance to follow his brother into the presidency had died. Plus, he was probably anxious about whether he would be assassinated just like his brothers. So he decided to devote himself to the only thing he had left, his career as a senator.
Because of the efforts of his two older brothers, Ted was able to get on the fast track in politics. Although his notorious personal history did hamper his bid for the White House, it didn’t seem to be an issue for the voters he was representing in Massachusetts.
Years after his demise, Sen. Kennedy will remain a subject of curiosity for political pundits and political science students alike in both his accomplishments and his indubitable flaws.
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