By Ted Fortenberry - bio | email
Edward Moore Kennedy, a U.S. Senator for the past 46 years, passed away this week after losing his battle with brain cancer. Kennedy was 77 years old and was the third longest-serving senator behind Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd. He began serving office in 1962.
Consider This: Regardless of your opinion of Ted Kennedy's political views, I think we would all agree that Ted Kennedy, and the entire Kennedy family, have dedicated their lives to public service.
Kennedy, the youngest of nine siblings, experienced tremendous loss and so much tragedy throughout his life, including the loss of his two of older brothers to assassins. He faced his own struggles with poor decisions, specifically Chappaquiddick, and ongoing alcohol dependence issues.
But he never gave up and always stayed committed to his beliefs. He worked the political system to ensure legislation he was passionate about became law, even if it meant conceding some aspects to his Republican counterparts to make it happen. And most recently he once again captured the spotlight of the Democratic Party with his endorsement of then presidential candidate Barack Obama.
So, like him or hate him, he certainly made his mark. In today's world of political correctness and vanilla politics we've lost one of the few remaining characters who helped to engage a spirited debate for the past 46 years.
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