On Ted Kennedy and the Pursuit of Character

For someone of my generation, there were always lingering doubts about the character of Ted Kennedy, because like other younger men from families of privilege, when confronted with his own stupidity, yes, another member of the Brotherhood of the Wandering Dick, he bolted. I'm talking about that incident back in 1969 in Chappaquiddick, when Mary Jo Kopechne, a young woman staffer for his brother, Bobby Kennedy, died. Here is the text of Kennedy's speech to the people of Massachusetts trying to explain his cowardice by leaving her to die in a car that had been drunkenly driven off of a bridge.

Leaving the scene of the car accident where Ms. Kopechne died, destroyed Ted Kennedy's presidential aspirations, although he did run for the Democratic nomination in its wake. How he repented was becoming one of the most effective legislators in recent American history. His lion voice, his determination to seek justice, his opposition to the Bush administration after being cajoled into co-sponsoring the No Child Left Behind debacle, his courageous votes all pointed to his maturation as a man, as a public figure, and as a scion worthy of our trust.

There are many beautiful obituaries, including this pictorial one in the Times and there will be many others because Ted Kennedy grew into his role as the liberal senator from Massachusetts after a disaster that blew holes in his arrogance. That he didn't make it to president is a good thing, because America should not be a place of dynasties, as we have witnessed most recently with the Bush family. We should be a meritocracy, which we aren't, and probably never will aspire to becoming, not with billionaire politicians, I don't care how smart they are, Mr. Bloomberg.

So let's take a moment to understand Ted Kennedy, the most flawed of the Kennedy brothers, but the only survivor, and the only one who has left his mark on the remarkable institution of the Senate. Thank you for your service to our country, and I am sorry for your suffering.