An unlikely, flawed heir to America's political royal family who experienced tragedy, disgrace and triumph in a life of epic proportions, Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy will be remembered as not only one of the most influential political figures of the era but for a life that was quite simply larger than life.
For many Americans, he will be recalled fondly as the last of a generation of Kennedys who brought glamour, celebrity and a healthy dose of charisma to public life. But it was only after the untimely deaths of his older brothers that he stepped to the fore - and soon brought scandal to the family name with the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick Island.
Alcoholism, womanizing and his failed bid for the presidency in 1980 further tarnished that image. For a lot of Republicans, he was the poster boy for tax-and-spend Northeastern limousine liberalism, the punch line for conservative humorists, his name evoked as often at GOP fundraisers as Democratic ones.
But the "Lion of the Senate" found redemption in Congress and the legislative process. When it came to moving bills through the chamber, he was without peer. Democrats and Republicans alike praised his ability to build coalitions, to find common ground with his detractors and pass legislation with bipartisan support.
Many of the landmark laws passed by Congress during the era had his stamp on them, particularly in matters of civil rights, medicine, welfare, crime and education. From Head Start for young children to Title IX opportunities for women in school sports, he was instrumental in their creation.
How cruel that he should end his battle with brain cancer before groundbreaking legislation directed at the seminal cause of his career, making affordable health care available to all Americans, could reach the Senate floor.
Senator Kennedy's rise, fall, and rise again refutes F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous observation that there are "no second acts in American lives." The tragedies of his life were numerous, almost Shakespearean. The assassinations of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy five years later were seared into the public consciousness as vividly - and painfully - as the events of Sept. 11 were nearly eight years ago.
