Senator Edward M. Kennedy died last night, and a lot of Mudcatters want to engage in respectful contemplation of his life. This second thread is for that, so please don't combine it with the obituary thread.

Tonight National Public Radio played a special hour-long program with several journalists who have covered his life and career. It was fascinating.

Clearly, the young Ted Kennedy was from an elevated backround socially and financially, the youngest son in a family of over-achievers, and not necessarily expected to shine like the rest, for whatever reason. He made a few well-documented poor choices in his life, the first discussed on the program was a cheating scandal at Harvard. He was told to return in 2 years, so he joined the Army as a private, not as an officer like his older brothers did. They felt he got a candid look at how everyone else lives, outside of the family compound and ivy league schools. He entered politics so young that a family friend held a seat in congress (previously held by one of his brothers) for two years until he was old enough to assume it (age 30). This is a sketchy description of the program.

By age 36, with the death of his brothers and father, he had become the family patriarch, a role he had to grow into fast. There was a beautiful, poignant, description of this process, as he helped raise his brothers' children, walked their daughters down the aisle and attended the christenings of their children, took them sailing on family vacations, etc. He became the family eulogist.

Despite the personal lapses along the way, he was clearly overwhelmingly a caring, nurturing individual who worked tirelessly for improved conditions, on many fronts, for millions of people. They played snips from interviews of people who, out of the blue, learned that Kennedy had intervened with authorities or administrators in many instances and it made the difference between life and death for some of these people. One family in Russia was allowed to leave the country based on special compassionate circumstances (a baby with a severe birth defect) and moved to the U.S. for medical treatment. They had no idea that Kennedy, visiting from America, knew of their troubles, yet he stepped forward and assisted them. Kennedy met them at the airport when they landed. It is astonishing how much work he got done in his lifetime, on top of all of the good works that were largely behind the scenes.

Here is the program that played this evening, hosted by Linda Wertheimer discussing his life with Nina Totenberg, Ken Rudin, and others.

http://www.npr.org/ is the page where you'll find many more links and rememberances.

Joe Biden discussed the many years he spent in the Senate with Kennedy, as did many others, on both sides of the aisle. Orrin Hatch was moved and articulate on their working and personal relationships.

Christopher Dodd hopes Teddy Kennedy's passing will spur the GOP to finally act on Health Care. If anything could bring it back into the national conversation on a more level playing field, to be heard above the astroturf shouts, it is the death of this great politician, who spent decades working toward the end that is within reach this summer.

SRS