Listening to all the praise showered on Ted Kennedy by politicians in both parties, you’d think Sen. Kennedy was Henry Clay or Daniel Webster. But that’s what’s remarkable about his story: this ne’er-do-well, hard-partying baby brother of the sainted Jack and Bob has achieved the stature of the Senate greats. He has done it not by oratory (though his eulogy to his brother Bob in 1968 or his famous “sail against the wind” speech at the 1980 Democratic Convention were magnificent) or by brilliance, but rather by hard work. He may have been kicked out of college for cheating on his Spanish exam, and he may have roistered about for decades, but he has shown a greater sense of duty than just about any politician for the past half century. He has been that rare creature in American politics: someone who cares more about getting something done than taking credit or scoring ideological points. His stamp is on much of the meaningful health and education legislation for the past few decades. As former Kennedy speechwriter Bob Shrum has noted, he is effective because he understands that politics is not personal. He does not hold grudges or petty likes and dislikes.
Of course, in the larger sense politics is deeply personal to Kennedy–it has been his life’s work, the fulfillment of his family credo. He has rebelled in small and self-destructive ways at times, but over the long run he has kept the faith.
