Edward M. Kennedy/Commentary

For Edward M. Kennedy's position on pre- and post-war Iraq, see 2002/2003 Headlines listed under External Links below.


 * "Circumstances have changed significantly since Congress approved that resolution (authorizing the Bush administration to wage war against Iraq) last October. In the months that have passed, events have only strengthened my belief that this is the wrong war at the wrong time." --Sen. Edward Kennedy January 29, 2003.

Also see Operation Iraqi Freedom: Military and Political Dissent.

-- Edward M. Kennedy, according to his Congressional biography, "has represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate since he was first elected in 1962 to finish the term of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. Since then, he has been re-elected seven times, and he is now the second most senior member of the Senate.

"Throughout his career, Kennedy has fought for issues that benefit the people of Massachusetts and the nation. The effort to bring quality health care to every American is a battle that Kennedy has been waging ever since he arrived in the Senate. Recent achievements include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which makes it easier for those who change their jobs or lose their jobs to keep their health insurance, and the law that created the Children's Health Insurance Program 1997, which makes health insurance more widely available to children in all 50 states. Kennedy is currently a leader in the Senate in the effort to amend Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit for senior citizens.

"In addition, Kennedy is active on a wide range of other issues, including all aspects of homeland security and national defense, restoring economic growth and helping the unemployed, improving elementary and secondary schools and making colleges more affordable, raising the minimum wage, defending the rights of workers and their families, strengthening civil rights laws, protecting a woman's right to choose, assisting individuals with disabilities, improving the fairness of our immigration laws, fighting for cleaner water and cleaner air, protecting and strengthening U.S. Social Security, and dealing with judicial nominations.

"Kennedy is the senior Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Senate. He also serves on the Judiciary Committee, where he is the senior Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee, and the Armed Services Committee, where he is the senior Democrat on the Seapower Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, a founder of the Congressional Friends of Ireland, and a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

"Kennedy is the youngest of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, and is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Virginia Law School. His home is in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, and children, Curran and Caroline. He also has three grown children, Kara, Edward Jr., and Patrick, and four grandchildren." - According to factmonster.com:

"Kennedy, Ted (Edward Moore Kennedy), 1932-, U.S.. Senator (1962-), brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and youngest son of Joseph P. Kennedy, b. Boston, Mass. Ted Kennedy served (1961-62) as an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts before being elected (1962) as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate. After the assassination of his brother, Robert, in June, 1968, he became the acknowledged leader of Senate liberals and served (1969-71) as assistant majority leader. His political future was marred by his involvement in the Chappaquiddick incident (July, 1969), in which Mary Jo Kopechne, a passenger, drowned when the car he was driving fell into a creek. Kennedy's reputation recovered, however, and he continued to advocate such liberal programs as national health insurance and tax reform. He was long considered a potential Democratic president, but withdrew in 1974 from the 1976 race and failed in a 1980 primary challenge to Jimmy Carter. Kennedy is the author of Decisions for a Decade (1968) and In Critical Condition (1972).

"See biographies by W. H. Honan (1972) and A. Clymer (1999); studies by J. M. Burns (1976) and R. Sherrill (1976); B. Hersh, The Education of Edward Kennedy (1972) and The Shadow President (1997)." - Political Graveyard:

"Kennedy, Edward Moore (b. 1932) -- also known as Edward M. Kennedy; Ted Kennedy -- of Boston, Suffolk County, Mass. Grandson of Patrick Joseph Kennedy (1858-1929) and John Francis Fitzgerald; son of Joseph Patrick Kennedy; brother-in-law of Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.; brother of Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr., John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Robert Francis Kennedy and Jean Kennedy Smith; uncle of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph Patrick Kennedy II and Mark Kennedy Shriver; father of Patrick Joseph Kennedy (1967-). Born in Boston, Suffolk County, Mass., February 22, 1932. Democrat. Lawyer; U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 1962-; candidate for Democratic nomination for President, 1980; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Massachusetts, 2000. Catholic. Pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, after his car plunged off the Dike Bridge, on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, on July 18, 1969. Still living as of 2003. See also: congressional biography. Books about Edward M. Kennedy: Adam Clymer, Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography; Richard E. Burke, The Senator : My Ten Years With Ted Kennedy." -- Quotes

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 * "Don't sacrifice your political convictions for the convenience of the hour."

Other Related SourceWatch Resources

 * S.22: Justice Enhancement and Domestic Security Act of 2003
 * Democratic Leadership Council
 * globalization
 * Post-war Iraq
 * Weapons of mass destruction