Senator Ted Kennedy is No More

Image via Wikipedia

The world is today grappling with the breaking news of the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy who belonged to most fabled political families in American history. He passed away on Tuesday 24th august 2009 having been the last survivor of the Kennedy brothers, two of whom were lost needlessly to political assassinations while Joseph Jr. their most senior brother died as a bomber in World War Two.

Born on February 22 1932, Edward More Kennedy was indeed the longest serving and the most influential senators in U.S. congressional history. He had been battling brain cancer since May 2008 when he collapsed at his Cape Cod home. Edward M. Kennedy was such a phenomenal figure that both the Democrats and Republicans revered him. His image was for example used by both the Democrats and Republicans alike and that clearly defined the kind of Clout he had on body politics of America.

As the longest serving senator of all times, Edward Kennedy’s contributions to the management of the American society cannot be quantified. He was the strongest advocate of Health care insurance for all Americans. He was so obsesseds with this policy so much that he considered it the cause of his life and the very reason for which he was a politician. He helped draft legislation to overhaul  trillions of dollars in  U.S. healthcare system.

                                         He was a master orator who captivated his audience with his booming voice,but Edward Kennedy’s life was a cocktail of disasters. In  1964 he got involved a plane crash that damaged his spine and left him with persistent pain; in the early 1970s his son Teddy was diagnosed of bone cancer that saw his leg amputated, his first wife Joan was a consummate alcoholic and they were forced to end that marriage, his nephews were deep into drugs, one of whom died of a drug overdose, while the 1991 Palm Beach rape trial of his nephew William Kennedy Smith, and the death of yet another nephew, John Kennedy Jr. in July 1999 when his small plane crashed into the sea near their home were family horror tales. These all happened besides the series of political assassinations that the family suffered in the 1960s.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

At a more personal level, Kennedy never came out completely clean over the Chappaquiddick accident. In many quarters, his leaving the scene of the accident while Mary Jo Kopechne’s body still remained submerged in the water was considered a heartless cover up. Both the Police and E.M Kennedy himself may have denied any cover up on the matter, but this did not save him from the ugly contradictions his behavior created in the minds of many Americans who had always associated him with humanness.

At 77 we can only say E.M Kennedy fought a good fight for humanity. He lived a life of great honor and the whole world will mourn him. May his soul rest in bliss.