Former Rep. Joe Kennedy may try to launch a political comeback amid all the Kennedy nostalgia.Rumoured to be the next candidate to take over Ted Kennedy seat.
Former Rep. Joe Kennedy, who held Capuano's seat from 1987 to 1999, may also try to launch a political comeback on the strength of the current wave of emotion and nostalgia. The nephew of Ted Kennedy and son of Robert F. Kennedy, he currently heads Citizens Energy Corp., which provides home heating fuel for low-income Americans.
But the most famous name in Massachusetts politics is, of course, Kennedy. Ted Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, has so far expressed no interest in filling the seat, according to sources. Speculation is nevertheless rampant that she might ultimately try to keep the seat in family hands.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says the focus should be on mourning Sen. Edward Kennedy and that questions surrounding his Senate vacancy can wait.
Interviewed Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America," he acknowledged "a lot of interest" in Kennedy's seat. Patrick declined to discuss names and didn't directly answer as to whether he thought former Rep. Joseph Kennedy might be a candidate.
Under existing law, a special election has to happen within 160 days of a vacancy and the governor has no authority to name an interim senator. There has been talk of changing the law and Patrick supports that. With respect to people interested in the vacancy, he called that "very personal decisions." Patrick said, "We've got so much political talent in Massachusetts ... in that family and beyond."
For the first time in 25 years, the state of Massachusetts has an open Senate seat. Nobody knows who will take it, but virtually everyone agrees that the fight to replace the Bay State's liberal lion is guaranteed to be fierce.
Massachusetts is essentially a one-party state. Democrats control the governorship and every congressional seat and have overwhelming majorities in both houses of the state legislature.
Tragedy struck the Kennedy family again when the son of John and Jackie perished in a plane crash, along with wife and sister-in-law, on July 16, 1999.
Joan Kennedy
The first wife of Sen. Ted Kennedy (they divorced in 1982), Joan stood by her husband through both campaigns and tragedies, and has spoken publically about her own battle with alcoholism.
The Kennedy Legacy The Kennedy dynasty extends far beyond John, Ted and Bobby. The children and grandchildren of this famous family are carrying on the legacy.
Robert F. Kennedy He served as U.S. attorney general and a was senator for New York before being assassinated, like his brother John, during a promising run for the presidency in 1968.
Caroline Kennedy
The only daughter of John and Jacqueline Kennedy, she maintained a private life until she made a very public bid for the New York senate seat in 2008. She's also carried on her parents' love for helping philanthropic causes.
Edward M. Kennedy
The youngest of the Kennedy children, Ted was the last surviving son of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. His long career in public service earned him the nickname "The Lion of the Senate."
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
The wife of JFK and mother of John Jr. and Caroline, she remained a symbol of class and style through her tenure as first lady, her second marriage to Aristotle Onassis and after her death.
--------------------------
Ted Kennedy's political career is remembered at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo. Jeff Greenfield reports on the Kennedy family's legacy in Washington. ------------------------
Kennedy Family suffers alot of tragic.Sen. Kennedy's eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a World War II airplane crash. President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother Robert was assassinated in 1968. John Kennedy eldest son was killed in a airplane crash.
In this 1962 photo, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., center, poses with his brothers, U. S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, left, and President John F. Kennedy, at the White House in Washington.
Following John F. Kennedy's election as President, the Kennedy clan gathered for this group photo at the Hyannisport, Mass. home of Joseph P. Kennedy, their father, on Nov. 9, 1960. Ted Kennedy is seated on the right next to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy, his son, Ted Kennedy Jr., and Joan Kennedy walk to a waiting car in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 26, 1973.
Sen. Ted Kennedy reads his children's book, "My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington, D.C.," during an education event in June 2006.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., takes part in a Capitol Hill news conference, Wednesday, June 21, 2006.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died late Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009, at his home on Cape Cod after a year-long struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, talks with entrepreneur Steve Case before a hearing on breast cancer in Washington, May 8, 2008. Kennedy's eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a World War II airplane crash. President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother Robert was assassinated in 1968.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., delivers a speech about the effect of the war in Iraq on America's security at George Washington University in Washington, on Sept. 27, 2004.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. gestures during a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington, June 11, 2002.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee member, listens intently to chief justice nominee John Roberts during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005.
With Beacon Hill visible through a window behind them,, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and his wife Vicki sit together in a family room at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Tuesday, May 20, 2008.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., center, is surrounded by family members, left to right, son Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., stepson Curran Raclin, son Teddy Kennedy Jr., daughter Kara Kennedy and his wife Vicki in a family room at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Tuesday afternoon, May 20, 2008.
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, stands with Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., during a rally for Obama at American University on Monday, Jan. 28, 2008, in Washington. Kennedy endorsed and has campaigned for Obama, including additional appearances for the Illinois senator in February, and most recently in April.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., waves as he walks out of Massachusetts General Hospital after his release in Boston, Wednesday, May 21, 2008. The 76-year-old senator, the last son in a famed political family, was diagnosed with a malignant glioma in his left parietal lobe — which helps govern sensation, movement and language. Doctors said the condition was "treatable but not curable."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., left, and his wife Victoria Reggie Kennedy, walk along a private pier with two family dogs as they return from sailing off the coast of Hyannisport, Mass., Wednesday, May 21, 2008. Kennedy checked out of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston Wednesday after he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy is interviewed by CBS News' Walter Cronkite at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., left, stands with his wife Victoria Reggie Kennedy Sept. 13, 1992, in front of houses inside the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Mass. The fun-loving lawyer has taken an active role since her husband was diagnosed with brain cancer, assessing treatment options, sending news down a family phone tree and trying to maintain her husband's dignity when he is seen in public.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., followed by his niece Caroline Kennedy, enters the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2008, for the first time since his brain surgery on June 2. Kennedy, walked through a wall of applause into the Senate chamber and cast a vote on long-stalled Medicare legislation. "Aye," the 76-year-old Kennedy said in a loud voice, and he made a thumbs-up gesture as he registered his vote.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. Kennedy delivered a ringing address to fellow Democrats, urging them to rally behind Barack Obama's quest for the White House. Both Kennedy's niece, Caroline, and his son Patrick said he was responding well to treatment for brain cancer.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., arrives for the ceremony where President Barack Obama was sworn-in as the 44th president of the United States at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. At a luncheon after the ceremony, Kennedy suffered a seizure that doctors say was probably brought on by "simple fatigue."
------------------------------------
Ted Kennedy, recently undergoing surgery for a brain tumor, made a surprise speech to the Democratic Convention in Denver -
---------------------------------
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) goes off on Senate Republicans as they once again try to block the first minimum wage increase in 10 years. ---------------------------------
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) torches Senate Republicans on their opposition to a children's health-care program that would cost a fraction of what's being spent on the Iraq war
The U.S. Capitol is seen in the background as flags fly at half-staff at the Washington Monument in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in honor of the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass
Alex Gahl, left, and her friend Rylee Thomas, both 2, accompany Rylee's mother April, top, of Marstons Mills, Mass., to pay their respects to Sen. Edward Kennedy outside the Kennedy compound, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in Hyannisport, Mass
The front pages of newspapers announce the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy at a newsstand in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009.
Newspaper vender Curtis Thomas displays the front page of Chicago Tribune as he yells the news about the death of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 in Chicago. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in a political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a year-long struggle with brain cancer. He was 77
A news ticker in New York's Times Square announces the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. The last surviving brother in a political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a year-long struggle with brain cancer. He was 77
Suzanne Norton, of Oak Hill, Va., left, and Shirley Shiflett, of Springfield, Va., look at at a newspaper article remembering Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., at a display outside the Newseum in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Kennedy, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77
Madelynne Norton, 12, of Oak Hill, Va., looks at at a newspaper article remembering Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., at a display outside the Newseum in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Kennedy, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77
Madelynne Norton, 12, of Oak Hill, Va., left, and her grandmother Shirley Shiflett, of Springfield, Va., look at at a newspaper article remembering Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., at a display outside the Newseum in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Kennedy, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77
Meagan Manning, a staff member for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., answers phone calls in Kennedy's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Kennedy, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77
In Kennedy's Office Business cards for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., sit atop a desk in Kennedy's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Kennedy, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77
Henry Sanford, staff assistant for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., takes a seat while waiting in Kennedy's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Kennedy, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77
A flag flies at half-staff at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in honor of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty, who died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 77
The Lincoln Memorial is seen in the background as flags fly at half-staff at the Washington Monument in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in honor of the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Sen. Ted Kennedy died shortly before midnight Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, at the age of 77. There is no doubt he would have become President of America for at least one tern if not two if it was not for the Chappaquiddick incident in the 1969.
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (born February 22, 1932, died August 26, 2009) was the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. In office since November 1962, Kennedy was in his eighth full (and ninth overall) term in the Senate. He is the second most senior member of the Senate, after Robert Byrd of West Virginia, and the third-longest-serving senator of all time. The most prominent living member of the Kennedy family, he is the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both victims of assassinations, and the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy.
Kennedy was born in Boston and raised in Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and England. He was educated at Harvard College, where he was expelled for cheating on an exam but later readmitted, and the University of Virginia School of Law. His 1958 marriage to Virginia Joan Bennett would later end in divorce. He was a manager in his brother John's successful 1960 campaign for president, then worked as an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Kennedy entered the Senate in a 1962 special election to fill the seat once held by John. He was seriously injured in an airplane crash in 1964 and still suffers from back pain as a result. Kennedy was elected to a full six-year term in 1964 and was reelected in 1970, 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000 and 2006.
In the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, the car Kennedy was driving ran off a bridge and plunged into water, resulting in the death of passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a suspended sentence; however, doubts about his account of the accident significantly damaged his chances of ever becoming President of the United States. Kennedy's one run for the office, in the 1980 presidential election, ended in a primary campaign loss to incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Kennedy is known for his oratorical power, with his 1968 eulogy for his brother Robert and his 1980 Democratic National Convention rallying cry for American liberalism being his best-known moments. Kennedy's heated rhetoric helped lead to the defeat of the 1987 Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination and usher in an era of intense political battles over federal judicial nominations. Kennedy's personal behavior became the subject of public ridicule in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but his 1992 marriage to Victoria Anne Reggie stabilized his life.
In this Tuesday, April 21, 2009, file photo, President Barack Obama embraces Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., before Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act at the SEED School in Washington. Despite the age difference between the 77-year-old senator and 48-year-old president, the two have forged a close personal bond.
In this Jan. 28, 2008 file photo, then-Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., smiles with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., during a rally at American University in Washington where Kennedy endorsed Obama. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate, has died after battling a brain tumor. He was 77. Kennedy's family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009.
Youth is the quality that we normally associate with the Kennedys, yet it was Ted Kennedy's longevity that made him such an irrepressible force on Capitol Hill.
The Massachusetts senator died late Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod, Mass., after a yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.
Near universal is the view that he was Washington's most influential lawmaker of the past 50 years, which is all the more remarkable given that he was such a polarising politician.
Civil rights. Disability rights. The minimum wage. Immigration. Education. Campaign finance reform. And his signature issue, healthcare. Most, if not all, of the landmark progressive legislative of the past five decades has his imprint all over it.
While it was his passion for social justice that won him the epithet "Lion of the Senate", it was his detailed grasp of that institution's obscure rules and procedures which helped explain his prolific
The president cited Kennedy's counsel during Obama's short time serving as a senator from Illinois.
But probably Kennedy's greatest gift to Obama came during last year's presidential race. Kennedy, and his niece Caroline, shook up the Democratic establishment in January 2008 when they endorsed Obama over Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton at a critical point in the campaign. Kennedy lit up the Democratic base with his comparisons between young contender Obama and former President John F. Kennedy.
Then, risking his own health, Sen. Kennedy traveled to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where Obama accepted the presidential nomination, to give a rousing speech on Obama's behalf. It was almost exactly one year before Kennedy's death. The senator also returned to the Capitol in January to see Obama sworn in as the nation's first black president, suffering a seizure at a celebratory luncheon afterward.
"I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the presidency," Obama had said earlier in a written statement.
Ted's religion can be summarized in this speech. "I am an American and a Catholic," he said. "I love my country and treasure my faith. But I do not assume that my conception of patriotism or policy is invariably correct, or that my convictions about religion should command any greater respect than any other faith in this pluralistic society. I believe there surely is such a thing as truth, but who among us can claim a monopoly on it?"
Yet his supporters would argue that he lived out his faith by championing causes long embraced by Catholicism--compassion for the poor and vulnerable, support for arms control, suspicion of war, the right to health care, the rights of workers.
BOSTON, Tues: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of slain US president John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, died Tuesday in Massachusetts, US media said citing a family source. She was 88.
Members of Shriver’s politically powerful family, including California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, bid farewell earlier Monday in visits to Cape Cod Hospital in the northeastern state.
It was not clear whether her brother Senator Ted Kennedy, who is suffering from brain cancer, had managed to attend.
Shriver was admitted to hospital more than a week ago. The diagnosis was not revealed, but she had suffered several strokes recently.
Although less famous than her brothers, Shriver won long-lasting respect as a champion of the mentally ill, a cause inspired by her experience of having a mentally disabled sister, Rosemary.
Starting in 1962 with a summer camp at her home in Maryland, Shriver went on to build a major association that now counts almost three million athletes in more than 180 countries.
From 1971 the games were allowed by the US Olympic Committee to use the Olympics tag within the United States and in 1988 they were given official international recognition as an Olympic event.
In 2007, China’s city of Shanghai hosted the 12th Special Olympics World Summer Games with athletes from 164 countries.
“Eunice Kennedy Shriver has changed the world for the better like few others in history. With a vision all her own, she has seen beyond every horizon to create new opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities,” the Special Olympics website says.
Her brother Edward Kennedy, better known as Ted, said recently that she had “always strived to be the best and she in many respects has made such an extraordinary difference in the lives of so many people in the world.”
But Shriver will also be remembered simply for being at the core of a family that for decades towered over the Democratic party, serving almost as America’s version of royalty.
She was sister to president John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, and to Robert Kennedy, a senator who had served as attorney general and was assassinated in 1968.
With Shriver dead and her brother, the veteran senator Edward Kennedy, ill, a whole era of US political life appears close to passing.
However, a new offshoot of the clan was born when Shriver’s daughter, Maria, married Schwarzenegger, the former Hollywood action star best known for playing the Terminator and now Republican governor in one of the most important US states.
Eunice Kennedy was the fifth of nine Kennedy children. Edward and Jean Kennedy Smith are her surviving siblings. - AFP
