Edward Kennedy

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Edward "Ted" Kennedy, 2006 Edward Kennedy's signature

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy senior KBE (born February 22, 1932 in Boston , Massachusetts ; † August 25, 2009 in Hyannis Port , Massachusetts) was US Senator for the state of Massachusetts and for a total of 47 years from 1962 until his death a leading politician in the US Democratic Party . In the Senate he had chaired the Social Committee since 2007 .

Edward Kennedy was the youngest of nine children of entrepreneur Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and his wife Rose, a member of the Kennedy family, which was influential in US political life .

Life

Edward Kennedy campaigned to run for the Senate in 1962

Together with his three brothers, who later became president John , the future senator from New York and Minister of Justice in the Kennedy administration , Robert and the oldest, killed in the war brother Joseph (1915-1944) and his five sisters he grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts , on. After graduating from Harvard University and the Law School of the University of Virginia and a study visit in 1958 at the Hague Academy of International Law , he turned to politics.

In 1960 he was involved as an election campaign manager in the successful presidential candidacy of his brother John and then worked as the assistant district attorney in Suffolk County . In 1962 he was elected to the US Senate for the state of Massachusetts, where he took the vacant place of his brother John for the remainder of the term. In the meantime, the seat had gone to Benjamin A. Smith because Kennedy had not reached the minimum age to be a senator. After his first regular election in 1964, he was re-elected a total of seven times.

On June 19, 1964, Edward Kennedy crashed with US Senator Birch Bayh , his wife and the politician Edward Moss in a small plane in very heavy fog. Bayh and his wife got away without major injuries, while Kennedy had to be rescued from the plane by him, seriously injured. Moss and the pilot were killed. On January 13, 1982, Ted Kennedy missed a machine that crashed after takeoff.

Kennedy with his brothers John (left), Robert (center), July 1960

Because of his influence, Kennedy has been referred to as the "Lion of the Senate"; During his tenure, he was instrumental in the drafting of over 300 laws, such as the Immigration and Naturalization Services Act (1965), the Civil Rights Act (1991), the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and numerous laws in the health sector . Kennedy served as chairman of the major Senate committees on Justice (1979–1981), Labor (1987–1995) and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (2001–2003 / 2007–2009). Throughout his tenure, he worked for better health care and universal health insurance for all citizens. Kennedy also always advocated reform of immigration laws and campaigned for black rights and an end to the Vietnam War in the 1960s . In general, Ted Kennedy was considered a “leftist” among the Democrats, but he also earned a good reputation among many Republican colleagues.

Edward Kennedy, 1977

In 1968, after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy , in 1972 and again in 1976, he turned down his own presidential candidacy. Kennedy justified his decision by saying that he was doing this on the advice of his family - two of his brothers had been murdered in high offices. In 1980 he was defeated by incumbent President Jimmy Carter in the Democratic Party primaries . The 1969 Chappaquiddick incident may have played a role in his reluctance to run for public office . On July 18, 1969, on a late night excursion on Chappaquiddick Island, Kennedy had lost control of his car and fell off a bridge into a tidal channel. He was able to get out of the car unharmed, but his passenger, the 28-year-old secretary and campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne , drowned. Kennedy left the scene of the accident and didn't call the police until ten hours later. A diver who recovered Kopechne's body the next morning suggested that she might have lived in an air bubble inside the car for a while, so that she might have been recovered if helpers had been called in immediately. The press has speculated that Kennedy might have tried to cover up the fact that he was drunk in the accident. In court , he stated that he had called his companion several times in the dark and also tried several times to reach the car by diving. He pleaded guilty at the trial of unauthorized removal from the scene and was sentenced to two months suspended prison sentence on July 25. Although the judicial investigation into Kopechke's death row brought a burden to Kennedy, the district attorney decided not to raise charges of manslaughter . Kennedy reached an out-of-court settlement with the Kopechne family by paying $ 50,000 from Kennedy's insurance and $ 90,904 from his personal assets.

Personally, Kennedy struggled with drinking problems and affairs in the 1980s. His son Edward was diagnosed with cancer and his second son Patrick suffered from severe asthma and drug problems. In 1982 he was divorced from his wife Joan. After marrying his second wife Victoria Reggie in 1992, Ted Kennedy increasingly disappeared from the headlines of the Yellow Press .

Edward Kennedy lived with his second wife Victoria and his two stepchildren Grier Curran Raclin (born November 20, 1983) and Caroline Raclin (born December 26, 1985) from their first marriage in Hyannis Port , Massachusetts. From his first marriage to Virginia Joan Bennett (marriage 1958, divorce 1982) he had three grown children named Kara (1960-2011), Edward Jr. (* 1961) and Patrick (* 1967).

Edward Kennedy and Barack Obama in the February 4, 2008 Democratic primary

Edward Kennedy, who was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002, was considered one of the harshest critics of the Bush administration , particularly with regard to the Iraq war , and campaigned for the election of John Kerry as president in 2004 . In contrast to Kerry, however, Kennedy voted against the Iraq war in the Senate. During the Democratic primaries for the 2008 US presidential election , he declared his support for Barack Obama .

On May 17, 2008, Kennedy was taken to nearby Cape Cod Hospital and later by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston because of malaise . A stroke was initially suspected as the cause. It was later revealed that he had had two seizures , one at home and one while being transported by helicopter. On May 20, the doctors treating him in Boston announced that he had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor (known as a glioblastoma ). On June 2, 2008, at Duke University Medical Center in Durham ( North Carolina ) the neurosurgical removal of the greatest possible amount of the brain tumor was performed, followed by chemoradiotherapy . On June 9, Kennedy was able to leave the hospital and appeared again in the US Senate on July 9 to take part in the vote on the public health insurance " Medicare " . He justified this with the fact that he wanted to keep his promise to the elderly US citizens to always work for the preservation and protection of this program.

At a banquet in the Congress building in Washington as part of the swearing-in ceremony for the new President Barack Obama, Kennedy collapsed from a weakness and had to be taken to a nearby hospital. Since May 2009, Kennedy has not taken part in any Senate vote for health reasons.

On 4 March 2009, the British Prime Minister was Gordon Brown announced that Kennedy in recognition of his contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland and the British-US relations Ritter (knight) had been appointed. However, this decision was criticized by the opposition Conservatives because of Kennedy's relationship with Irish nationalists. Also in 2009, Kennedy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama .

Kennedy's grave in Arlington National Cemetery

Edward Kennedy died of cancer on August 25, 2009 at his home in Hyannis Port. He was the last male survivor of the second generation of the Kennedy family. Of his sisters, only Jean Kennedy Smith , who died in 2020, survived him after Eunice Shriver died two weeks before him. The funeral mass was celebrated on August 29, 2009 in the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston. Numerous prominent politicians attended the memorial service, including President Barack Obama , former Presidents Jimmy Carter , Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as well as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who was married to a niece of Kennedy) and former presidential candidates John McCain and John Kerry . Edward Kennedy was buried on August 29, 2009 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC .

Publications

  • Decisions for a decade. Policies and Programs for the 1970’s . Garden City, NY. Doubleday & Co. , 1968.
  • In critical condition. The Crisis in America's Health Care . New York, NY. Simon & Schuster , 1972.
  • Our Day and Generation: The Words of Edward M. Kennedy . New York, NY. Simon & Schuster, 1979.
  • Freeze! How you can help prevent nuclear war (with Mark O. Hatfield ). Toronto, New York, London, Sydney. Bantam Books, 1982.
    German edition: Stop nuclear armament . Reinbek near Hamburg. Rowohlt , 1982.
  • Make a difference . New York, NY. Scribner, 1997.
  • America Back on Track . New York, NY. Viking Adult , 2006.
  • My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, DC New York, NY. Scholastic Press , 2006.
  • True Compass: A Memoir . New York, NY. Twelve, 2009. (published posthumously)

Web links

Commons : Edward Kennedy  - Collection of Images
Wikiquote: Edward Kennedy  - Quotes
Wikisource: Edward Kennedy  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Reymer Klüver: "The man from the myth." In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , No. 196, August 27, 2009, p. 3.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Jack; Daryl Gibson (1999). Peace, War, and Politics: An Eyewitness Account. New York, Forge. Pp. 138-140, ISBN 0-312-87497-9
  3. ↑ Bly, Nellie (1996). The Kennedy Men: Three Generations of Sex, Scandal, and Secrets. New York: Kensington Books. P. 216, ISBN 1-57566-106-3
  4. ^ Edward Kennedy taken to hospital . In: BBC News , May 18, 2008. 
  5. ↑ Peter Schworm, Viser, Matt: Ted Kennedy not in immediate danger; seizure cause sought . In: The Boston Globe , May 17, 2008. 
  6. ^ Johnson, Glen: Doctors say Sen. Edward Kennedy has a brain tumor, a condition discovered after seizure . In: Associated Press , Star Tribune , May 20, 2008. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. 
  7. ↑ "Doctor Says Kennedy's Brain Surgery Is Successful" , The New York Times , June 3rd 2008
  8. ↑ Press release from Senator Kennedy of July 9, 2008 ( Memento of August 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ "Collapse: Ted Kennedy in the hospital" , dpa / stern , January 20, 2009
  10. ↑ Chris Cillizza: "Morning Fix: The Kennedy Legacy" , The Washington Post , June 22nd 2009
  11. ↑ Ted Kennedy to receive knighthood , BBC News, March 4, 2009, accessed July 18, 2009
  12. ^ Tory backlash over Kennedy honor , BBC News, March 5, 2009, accessed July 18, 2009
  13. ↑ The Irish Times : Obama names Robinson for top civilian honor , July 31, 2009 (English)
  14. ↑ John M. Broder: "Edward Kennedy, Senate Stalwart, Dies" , The New York Times , August 26, 2009
  15. ↑ USA: Senator Edward Kennedy is dead , Focus , August 26, 2009
  16. ^ Farewell to US Senator Kennedy: "The soul of the Democratic Party" ( Memento from September 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de , August 30, 2009
  17. ↑ Funeral of Edward Kennedy: Obama gives funeral speech ( memento of August 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 27, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Kennedy, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kennedy, Edward Moore; Kennedy, Ted; Kennedy, Teddy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 2009
Place of death Hyannis , Massachusetts