Childhood and youth

Marriages and family

Senate career

Chappaquiddick incident

• "Kopechne and Kennedy didn't intend to return to Edgartown" at the time they left the party.
• "Kennedy didn't intend to drive to the ferry slip".
• "[Kennedy]'s turn onto Dike Road was intentional". Judge Boyle also said that "negligent driving appears to have contributed to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne". Kennedy won 10 presidential primaries against Carter, who won 24. Eventually, he bowed out of the race, but delivered a rousing speech before the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City that many consider to be one of his finest moments.

  Presidential endorsements

  While Kennedy himself didn't run, his endorsements for other candidates were commonly viewed as very important. In 1988, he supported the successful bid of Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis to win the nomination. Four years later (1992) he initially backed former fellow Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, who lost to Bill Clinton. In April 2006, Kennedy was selected by Time as one of "America's 10 Best Senators"; the magazine noted that he'd "amassed a titanic record of legislation affecting the lives of virtually every man, woman and child in the country" and that "by the late 1990s, the liberal icon had become such a prodigious cross-aisle dealer that Republican leaders began pressuring party colleagues not to sponsor bills with him".
     In 2004, Kennedy was involved in the failed presidential bid of his fellow Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, speaking for Kerry multiple times and lending his chief of staff, Mary Beth Cahill, to the Kerry campaign. Kennedy stated that he'd have supported Kerry should he have chosen to run for president in 2008. On January 28, 2008, Kennedy endorsed Senator Barack Obama in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
     In 2006, Kennedy released a children's book . Also in 2006, Kennedy released a political history entitled America Back on Track. As of 2006, Kennedy is the second-longest serving current senator, trailing only Robert Byrd. Kennedy won an eighth full term (and ninth overall term) in 2006. If he serves out his full six-year term, he'll have served in the U.S. Senate for fifty years. Currently, Senator Kennedy is the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

  Political record

  Abortion

  Although he's been a staunch pro-choice advocate for the past 30 years, Kennedy adopted this position only after the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Prior to that, he held a pro-life position. A letter to a constituent, dated August 3, 1971 opposes "the legalization of abortion on demand" saying, "While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it's my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand isn't in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized – the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old." Kennedy's reversal on this issue after Roe v. Wade became a source of continuing dispute between him and the Catholic Church, of which he's a member. In 1987, Kennedy delivered an impassioned speech condemning Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork as a "right-wing extremist" and warning that "Robert Bork's America" would be one marked by back alley abortions and other backward practices. Kennedy's strong opposition to Bork's nomination was important to the Senate's rejection of Bork's candidacy. In recent years, he's argued that much of the debate over abortion is a false dichotomy. Speaking at the National Press Club in 2005, he remarked, "Surely, we can all agree that abortion should be rare, and that we should do all we can to help women avoid the need to face that decision." He voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

  Immigration policy

  Ted Kennedy was a strong supporter of the 1965 Hart-Celler Act — signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson — which dramatically changed US immigration policy. "The bill won't flood our cities with immigrants. It won't upset the ethnic mix of our society. It won't relax the standards of admission. It won't cause American workers to lose their jobs." Kennedy is now the chairman of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, and remains a strong advocate for immigrants.
     This legislation replaced the Immigration Act of 1924, which favored immigrants from northern and western Europe. Proponents of the 1965 bill argued that immigration laws and quotas were discriminatory, and that American immigration policy should accept people not on the basis of their nationality. This also abolished the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
     Kennedy subsequently took a lead role in several other would-be immigration measures, including the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act (S. 1033) ("McCain-Kennedy") in 2005 and the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, a bipartisan measure worked out with President George W. Bush which ultimately failed on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Among other reforms, the 1033 legislation proposed allowing "undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to come out of the shadows, submit to background checks, and register for a legal status. Immigrants and their families would have 6 years to earn permanent residence and ultimately citizenship."

  Gun control

  Ted Kennedy has been a staunch supporter of gun control initiatives. In 2006 he was one of the 16 senators who voted against the Vitter Amendment, which prohibited the confiscation of legally-possessed firearms during a disaster.

  Energy policy

  Ted Kennedy has generally favored alternative energy sources and opposed additional Alaska oil drilling. However, he opposes the Cape Wind wind turbine project which would occur near his home.

  War on Terrorism

  Kennedy was a supporter of the American-led 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

  War in Iraq

  Kennedy has been a vocal critic of the American-led 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. He has also been a harsh critic of the way the invasion of Iraq was planned and conducted by the Bush administration. Kennedy also has said that the best vote he'd ever cast in the Senate was his vote against giving President Bush the authority to use force against Iraq.
     On September 27, 2004, Kennedy made a speech on the Senate floor regarding the war in Iraq, just prior to the 2004 U.S. Presidential election.
  In early 2007, preceding President Bush's announcement that he'd initiate a troop surge in Iraq, Senator Kennedy made a speech at the National Press Club opposing it. Kennedy was the first Senator in the 110th Congress to propose legislation opposing the President's troop surge.

  No Child Left Behind

  Kennedy was a leading member of the bipartisan team that wrote the controversial No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which, according to both Kennedy and President Bush, was a compromise. He then worked to get it passed in a Republican controlled Congress, despite the opposition of members from both parties.

  Northern Ireland

  Kennedy has been outspoken in his views about Northern Ireland's constitutional question. In October 1971, he called for the withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland, and for all political participants there to begin talks on creating a United Ireland.
     In early 2005 however, Kennedy publicly snubbed Gerry Adams by canceling a previously-arranged meeting, citing the Provisional IRA's "ongoing criminal activity and contempt for the rule of law." This decision was a direct result of the Northern Bank robbery in December 2004 and the murder of Robert McCartney the following month.

  Judicial appointments

  A longtime member of Senate Judiciary Committee (and its chairman from 1979 to 1981), Kennedy is an important Democratic voice during debates and confirmation votes on United States Supreme Court nominees. He, with Daniel Inouye, elected the same year, has voted on more appointments than every other Senator except Robert Byrd.
     Kennedy supported nominations of Abe Fortas and Thurgood Marshall (both by President Lyndon B. Johnson). Of Richard Nixon's nominees, he backed successful nominations of Warren Burger (for Chief Justice), Harry Blackmun and Lewis F. Powell. Like most of Democrats he opposed G. Harrold Carswell and Clement Haynsworth (both rejected). He also voted against confirmation of William H. Rehnquist as Associate Justice, although he was easily confirmed. Kennedy supported Gerald Ford's nomination of John Paul Stevens, who was confirmed unanimously. Of Ronald Reagan's appointees, he supported Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy (confirmed), but opposed Robert Bork (rejected, below). Kennedy once again opposed Rehnquist, this time for Chief Justice (Rehnquist was confirmed).
     Kennedy was one of the leaders of opposition against nomination of Robert Bork. Within 45 minutes of Bork's nomination to the Court he took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised speech, declaring, "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren couldn't be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of government.". Bork's nomination was rejected.
     Kennedy opposed both of George H. W. Bush's successful nominations - David Souter and Clarence Thomas, and supported Bill Clinton's Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
     Most recently, he strongly opposed nominations of both Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both nominated by President George W. Bush.
     From 2001 to 2003, Kennedy led a forty-five member all Democrat Senate filibuster to block the appointment of former assistant Solicitor General Miguel Estrada to the United States court of appeals. When Estrada withdrew his nomination, Kennedy proclaimed it was a "a victory for the Constitution".
     In 1987, Kennedy made an influential floor speech in the Senate against the nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court (referenced above), warning against Bork's record on abortion, defendants' rights, civil rights and more. Bork was ultimately defeated, and Kennedy was credited with leading the Democratic anti-Bork effort. But not all of the anti-Bork Democrats supported Kennedy's famous speech. Senator Joseph Biden has called Kennedy's speech "technically accurate but unfair” and said that it “drew lines in ways that were starker than reality”.

  Same-sex marriage

  Kennedy is one of only five senators who have publicly announced support for same-sex marriage. Kennedy's home state of Massachusetts was the first state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage.

  Minimum wage

  Kennedy has been a longtime advocate of raising the minimum wage. He helped pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which incrementally raises the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over a two year period. The bill also included some controversial tax cuts for small businesses and higher taxes for many $1 million-plus executives. Kennedy was quoted as saying, "Passing this wage hike represents a small, but necessary step to help lift America's working poor out of the ditches of poverty and onto the road toward economic prosperity".

  Environmental record

  Kennedy has a strong pro-environment voting record. He has voted in favor of disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR, removing oil and gas exploration subsidies, including oil and gas smokestacks in mercury regulations and reducing funds to road building in forest. He has voted against reducing funding to renewable and solar energy projects, requiring ethanol in gasoline, Bush Administration Energy Policy and approving a nuclear waste repository. Kennedy has been a critic of the Bush Administration’s Environmental actions and has stated "We must not let the administration distort science and rewrite and manipulate scientific reports in other areas. We must not let it turn the Environmental Protection Agency into the Environmental Pollution Agency".
     Controversially, he opposed the Cape Wind project, the country's first off-shore wind farm, which many accuse Kennedy of doing out of NIMBYism.

  Student Financial Aid

  Kennedy has opposed federal attempts to cut student financial aid, such as Ronald Reagan's 1986 planned limitations on Guaranteed Student Loans to students whose families earned over $32,500 a year, and a planned $4,000 cap on all federal aid and benefits that a student could receive in one year. Following the Republican takeover of Congress in November 1994, there was a renewed effort on the part of key Republican leaders to balance the federal budget by cutting financial aid. The new cuts, which Kennedy also opposed, involved reducing the interest the federal government would pay on student loans, and on President Clinton’s direct lending program. Kennedy supported the College Affordability and Access Act of 2007 which provides $20 billion in new federal financial aid investments for low- and middle-income students and their families.

  Health

  Kennedy has suffered from chronic pain ever since his 1964 plane crash, which crushed three vertebrae. His campaigns have periodically had to accommodate this condition, for instance, by avoiding long walks on hard factory floors or extended handshaking sessions.
     In October 2007, Kennedy had surgery to clear a blocked left carotid artery.
     On May 17 2008, Kennedy was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital from the Kennedy Compound after feeling ill and consulting with his physician, and then was subsequently transferred by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. According to multiple sources, Kennedy was suffering from symptoms of a stroke. It was later reported that Kennedy had suffered two seizures, one initially at his Hyannis Port home and another on a helicopter en route to Massachusetts General Hospital from Cape Cod Hospital.
     On May 20, doctors announced that Kennedy has a malignant glioma, a type of cancerous brain tumor. The treatment for this condition is often surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, but this will depend on the type, location and degree of malignancy. Kennedy's own doctors have not publicly released a prognosis, but experts report that the median survival rate for patients with this condition is 15 months. Kennedy left the hospital and returned to Cape Cod on May 21. Doctors said that he'd "recovered remarkably quickly" from the biopsy in which the tumor was found and that he was waiting for additional test results as well as treatment plans.

  Electoral history

  Further Information

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