Teddy Kennedy

The death of Teddy Kennedy is no doubt a momentous event and the Kennedy Family have always produced mixed feelings in Britain. Kennedy battled a malignant brain tumour first diagnosed in May 2008, which greatly limited his appearances in the Senate; though he survived longer than doctors first expected, he died just before midnight on August 25, 2009 at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Here in the UK there is the legacy of their Patriarch “Ambassador” Joe Kennedy who was seen as anti-British and having written off Britain before World War II. A more considered view may have been surprised that had he not reacted well to the British Imperial proposition that because they were “superior” they were entitled to lift up the “White Man’s Burden” and rule a quarter of the world. Their Catholicism was resented in a Britain which still had a certain sectarian undercurrent, all the more so because they were wealthy and successful, and their support for Irish Nationalism stuck in the Great British craw. Not that anybody, whatever their viewpoint, can argue that the partition of a Small Island which was always united has been anything other than a disaster for Irish People, whatever their persuasion. But just as Doctors tell us we can’t defy nature so we can’t undo history. The drivers behind Partition I’ve explored elsewhere;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/towards-somme-personal-journey.html



Ted Kennedy & Barack Obama

However even the Celtic Sage has been taken aback at the amount of invective directed towards Ted Kennedy in what appears to be orchestrated comments in British media which wrongly accuse him of being an IRA supporter and a cheerleader and fundraiser for “ terrorists”. It is perhaps too much with a public figure to expect people to be guided by the good Latin proverb “de mortuis nil nisi bonum” - Never speak ill of the dead, which is based on a declaration by a 6th. Century B.C. Spartan magistrate as the Dead had no ability to defend themselves. Indeed when looking at the bile directed at Ted Kennedy it is not over egging things to recall the words spoken by Anthony in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar; “The good that men do is oft' buried with them, whilst the evil they do outlives them.”

One of the more printable comments sums it up;

“Teddy Kennedy may be seen as a great politician and family father-figure in the US, but in the UK he will be remembered mostly for two things:
1. Mary Jo Kopechne and Chappaquiddick,
2. His support for the IRA.
That´s about it.”

Well I have no useful comment to make about Chappaquiddick but Ted Kennedy was NEVER a supporter of the IRA or terrorism. Rather he was a staunch supporter of Irish Nationalism - at one time calling for British troops to leave Northern Ireland - although he was later involved in the peace process leading to the Good Friday Agreement. The unification of the Island of Ireland and the reconciliation of the People of Ireland is a legitimate political cause dating back to Britain’s first attempts to colonise Ireland and is not a view that requires an apology. Nor indeed is it a cause which we should allow crypto fascists masquerading as “Irish Republicans” to hijack or allow patronising British commentators to devalue by sticking religious and tribal labels on this legitimate political aspiration. Indeed it would have been surprising if a staunch supporter of the Civil Rights movement in the United States did not apply the same views to Ireland and genuine Irish Republicanism, not the obscene campaign of the Provisional IRA, has the same history, ideals and aspirations as French and American Republicanism.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/years-of-french.html

Ted Kennedy’s life and career were acted out within the shadow of his brothers’ unworldly and somewhat undeserved aura of saintliness and flecked with both huge failure and considerable success. He became a Democratic Massachusetts senator in 1962, replacing his brother when he resigned to become president, and was re-elected seven times. Senator Kennedy was a dominant force in US politics for almost 50 years.


Ted Kennedy's election to the Senate 1962

A more considered assessment than those found in the British media is provided by Steve Clemons on Huffington Post.

“Sen. (Edward) Ted Kennedy is dead. He was a friend of Ireland and a foe of gunmen. A hero of the less privileged and a champion of peace. The last tower of Camelot is gone but the change he campaigned for all his life in Ireland and in America is happening today in many ways because of him.
The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.”

President Barack Obama, of whom he was an active supporter, said he was "heartbroken" to hear of his death. "An important chapter in our history has come to an end," he said. "Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time." Senator Kennedy had championed issues such as education and healthcare, central to Mr Obama's first term.

In 2006, Time magazine named him as one of America's "Ten Best Senators" saying that he had "amassed a titanic record of legislation affecting the lives of virtually every man, woman and child in the country". He one of the most effective and popular legislators in American history skilled at forging alliances across party lines: pushing an education initiative with President George W Bush, and immigration reform with Republican John McCain. But he was a fierce critic of the Bush administration, in particular over Iraq and the prisoner abuse scandal.


The Kennedy Brothers, JFK, Robert and Ted

Edward Kennedy was the only one of four brothers to die a natural death. His brother Joseph was killed in an air crash in World War II, and both President John F Kennedy and presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy were assassinated in the 1960s. He was widely expected to be the next Kennedy in the White House, but he was never able to fully overcome the scandal caused in 1969, when he drove a car off a bridge at Chappaquiddick near his home, killing his female passenger. The incident helped derail his only presidential bid, more than a decade later.


Kennedy Dynasty

But he remained active in politics right up until his death, famously endorsing Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination during a tight race with Hillary Clinton last year. At his death, he was the third longest serving senator in US history. Last week, he asked the Massachusetts governor to change state law to allow a speedy succession when his Senate seat became vacant. Analysts suggest that Senator Kennedy feared a lengthy gap could deny Democrats a crucial vote on Mr Obama's flagship health reform. His death comes weeks after that of his older sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, on 11 August. With his passing Jean Ann Kennedy Smith, 81, the sister of President Kennedy is the only surviving child of the nine born to Joseph P Kennedy Snr and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Appointed US ambassador to Ireland in 1993, she now runs a charity which promotes the artistic talents of mentally and physically challenged children.


Kennedy family with Ted in a Boston Hospital

Edward Kennedy sometimes failed to meet the huge expectations placed upon him following the deaths of his older brothers. But his commitment to what he called their "justice, excellence and courage" ensured he guarded their memory fiercely and, despite his flaws, he left a substantial political legacy. He will be missed, especially in Ireland.

“In many ways, he was the last man standing, straddling a mythic family mantle of fame and a vaunted career of political service, all the while wearing the crown of Camelot decades after its heyday...the senator's death brought to a close a storied political era - of assassinations, Jackie O, Palm Beach, Chappaquiddick - and a lifetime of both tragedy and public service. “

Andrea Billup writes in the “The Washington Times” that 'Camelot' fades with Kennedy passing

“He was a Rabelaisian figure in the Senate and in life, instantly recognizable by his shock of white hair, his florid, oversize face, his booming Boston brogue, his powerful but pained stride. He was a celebrity, sometimes a self-parody, a hearty friend, an implacable foe, a man of large faith and large flaws, a melancholy character who persevered, drank deeply and sang loudly. He was a Kennedy. “

“New York Times” journalist John M Broder describes the Kennedy effect.


Teddy Kennedy 1932 - 2009