The Other Kind

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the National Cancer Act of 1971, Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, the Voting Rights Act, funding for AIDS treatment, equal funding for women's sports under Title IX, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, the COBRA Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Ryan White Care Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, increases in the minimum wage law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Mental Health Parity Act, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

These are just some of the legislative accomplishments of one, Edward Moore Kennedy. Teddy (as he was called by nearly everyone), may have been the most productive senator who ever lived. He in fact, like Indiana's own Dick Lugar, is a great argument against term limits. Looking at the above list of bills that Kennedy created, sponsored, and guided to passage simply puts the average senator to shame. Hell, throw in the above average too.

And who would've thunk it? In 1962, at the age of 30, he won a special election in Massachusetts to replace his brother John in the senate. Decidedly unaccomplished, it was clear that Ted won on his name not on his merits. On top of that, he had two extraordinary older brothers to live up to. Both of his brothers' legacies have been burnished by time, glamour, and early death. First, the incredibly popular President John F Kennedy and his assassination in 1963. Then the equally untimely death of brother Robert, also by an assassin's hand in 1968 while running for the democratic nomination. Over time both of his brothers would go from beloved figures to legendary, mythological ones. How in the world was the "little" brother to live up to these two giants whose name he carried.

It's not like he always helped himself either. There was the drinking and carousing that seemed as much an inherited trait as it was a choice. His divorce of first wife, Joan in 1982. The paparazzi photos of him having sex with a woman in a motorboat in 1989. All these instances made him look buffoonish and unstable. There was also his devastating loss to Jimmy Carter for the democratic presidential nomination in 1980. Think of that. A Kennedy lost to Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter!

Of course, nothing affected his career like the 1969 death by drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne when the car he was driving went off a bridge in Chappaquiddick. It wasn't just her tragic death that left a negative impact on his reputation. It was the fact that he left the scene of the accident and didn't report it until the next day after Kopechne's body was found. At best, his behavior was cowardly. Some even considered it criminal. He would spend the rest of his life trying to live down this self-imposed humiliation.

Yet, somehow the man persevered. He was on the right side of history so many times that it's hard to fathom. Whether it was the civil rights movement in the 60's, expansion of health care for children and adults, aids research, raising the minimum wage, pushing for fair treatment for women in the workplace, and voting against the Iraq war, his judgement as a senator has been the epitome of soundness.

Kennedy could work the other side of the aisle too. While often referred to as the "liberal lion of the senate," he defied that generalization. He co-authored legislation with Republicans John McCain and Nancy Kassenbaum. He helped George W Bush achieve the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. Hell, the very conservative Republican Senator from Utah, Orrin Hatch actually has a painting of Kennedy hanging in his office!

This was a life lived in full. A life so boundless that like Teddy Roosevelt or Muhammad Ali, no single book, movie, or mini-series could effectively encapsulate its measure. Still, I was greatly saddened when he passed away on Wednesday due to brain cancer. Because even though he was 77 and had been gravely ill for long enough that his death came as no surprise, I still felt that he had more to give. It fills my heart with pain that the man who referred to universal heath care as "the cause of my life," will not be here to fight for it or to see it pass into law. What a bitter irony.

But most of all, I will miss what he stood for. He was a wildly wealthy man who stood for those who could not stand for themselves. The poor, the sick, the disabled, and the disadvantaged. He made many mistakes in his life, but I think it's fair to say that in the end he exceeded both of his brothers' accomplishments and quite likely, his own expectations. Imperfect as it may be, he left a true legacy. How many of the people who have walked through the halls of congress can say that? Will we some day look at Mitch McConnell and Evan Bayh the way we do Teddy Kennedy? I think not.

The sad fact is that we live in a country where too many of our politicians would rather be re-elected than be remembered. Well, Teddy Kennedy was the other kind.

Sumo-Pop
August 28, 2009