Content deleted Content added
Line 1:
[[Image:EMK.jpg|right|framed|Edward Kennedy]]
'''Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy''', (born [[February 22]], [[1932]], in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]]) is a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from [[Massachusetts]]. He is known as one of America's leading [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]] politicians.
== Family and youth ==
Kennedy is the youngest of nine children of [[Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.|Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]] and [[Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy]]. He attended [[Milton Academy]] and entered [[Harvard College]] in [[1950]]. He was suspended from Harvard in May [[1951]] after he arranged for another student to take a final examination in a Spanish class in his place. He then entered the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] for two years; he was assigned to the [[SHAPE]] headquarters in [[Paris]]. Kennedy eventually re-entered Harvard, graduating in June [[1956]]. He got his law degree from the [[University of Virginia]] and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in [[1959]]. While he was in law school, he managed his brother [[John F. Kennedy|John]]'s [[U.S. Senate election, 1958|1958]] Senate re-election campaign.
His home is in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts|Hyannis Port, Mass.]], where he lives with his wife, [[Victoria Reggie Kennedy]], and her children, [[Curran Raclin|Curran]] and [[Caroline Raclin)|Caroline]]. He has three grown children from his first marriage with [[Virginia Joan Bennett]]: [[Kara Kennedy|Kara]], [[Edward Kennedy, Jr.|Edward Jr.]], and [[Patrick J. Kennedy|Patrick]], and four grandchildren. After his brothers John and [[Robert F. Kennedy|Robert]] were assasinated (in 1963 and 1968, respectively), he took on the role of surrogate father for 13 more children.
Ted Kennedy was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts in [[U.S. Senate election, 1962|1962]] to fill the seat left vacant by his oldest brother, [[John F. Kennedy]], upon the latter's election as [[President of the United States|president of the United States]], and has successfully run for re-election in [[U.S. Senate election, 1964|1964]], [[U.S. Senate election, 1970|1970]], [[U.S. Senate election, 1976|1976]], [[U.S. Senate election, 1982|1982]], [[U.S. Senate election, 1988|1988]], [[U.S. Senate election, 1994|1994]], and [[U.S. Senate election, 2000|2000]].
In the current Senate ([[as of 2004]]), Kennedy is second only to [[Robert Byrd|Robert C. Byrd]] ([[Democratic Party of the United States|D]]-[[West Virginia|W.Va.]]) as its longest-serving member. According to ''The Almanac of American Politics'', he has served longer than all but four other senators in U.S. history. According to NPR, Kennedy plans to run again in [[U.S. Senate election, 2006|2006]]. If he wins and serves out his full six-year term, he will have served in the U.S. Senate for fifty years, the longest service of any Senator to date.
[[Image:Kennedy bros.jpg|framed|[[John F. Kennedy|John]], [[Robert Kennedy|Robert]], and Edward Kennedy]]
== Early career ==
Kennedy is the senior Democrat on the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions|Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee]]. He also serves on the [[U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Judiciary Committee]], where he is the senior Democrat on the [[U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship |Immigration Subcommittee]], and the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services|Armed Services Committee]], where he is the senior Democrat on the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services#Subcommittee on Seapower|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, D.C.]].
Kennedy's career in the Senate attracted national attention at its inception, as it has several times since. During his 1962 campaign, he was accused by his opponents of riding on his family's name and fortune, and (having no previous experience in elected office) of not being sufficiently qualified to hold so high an office. Soon after entering office, he witnessed the assassination of his brother John, an event that focused much attention on him.
In [[1964]], Kennedy was in a plane crash in which the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides were killed. He was pulled from the wreckage by fellow senator [[Birch Bayh|Birch E. Bayh II]] ([[United States Democratic Party|D]]-[[Indiana|Ind.]]) and spent weeks in the hospital recovering from a severe back injury, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.
In [[1968]], his last surviving brother, [[Robert F. Kennedy|Robert]], was assassinated during his bid to be nominated as Democratic candidate for the presidency. Kennedy delivered a very emotional [[eulogy]] at Robert's funeral. After the shock from this event wore off, Ted was looked upon as a likely future presidential candidate. For about a year, the Democratic establishment began to focus attention on him as the carrier of the torch for the Kennedys and the party.
[[Image:EMK.jpg|right|framed|Edward Kennedy]]
'''Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy''', (born [[February 22]], [[1932]], in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]]) is a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from [[Massachusetts]]. He is known as one of America's leading [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]] politicians.
Line 37 ⟶ 59:
"Teddy Kennedy was the weak kitten in the litter, never able to measure up to his brothers.
The accident at Chappaquiddick displayed his chronic immaturity. One problem Teddy has always had was keeping it in his pants - even when other people are around."
== Presidential bid ==
The bad publicity surrounding the Chappaquidick incident resulted in Kennedy's putting off any presidential aspirations. However, a decade later, Kennedy decided to throw his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1980|1980 presidential election]], launching an insurgent campaign against Democratic incumbent [[Jimmy Carter]]. Kennedy was unafraid of criticizing the president, though he vowed to support Carter if he were re-nominated. Despite much early support, his bid was ultimately unsuccessful, largely due to controversy surrounding the incident at Chappaquiddick. He also reportedly lost substantial support when he was unable to give a direct answer as to why he wanted to be president in a ''[[60 Minutes]]'' interview. Eventually, Kennedy bowed out of the race, delivering a rousing speech before the [[Democratic National Convention]] that many consider to be his finest moment.
== No child left behind ==
Senator Kennedy was a major player in the bipartisan team that wrote the [[No Child Left Behind Act]] of 2001, which according to both Kennedy and President Bush was a compromise, and according to both their parties conceded too much to the other side.
He then worked to get it passed in a Republican-dominated congress.
Four weeks later, he called the President and the GOP delegation to account for failing to budget enough funding for programs mandated by the act.
==Views on abortion==
Like some of today's [[pro-choice]] politicians, such as [[Richard Gephardt]], [[Al Gore]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[Jesse Jackson]], and [[Dennis Kucinich]], Kennedy used to hold a [[pro-life]] view. In a letter to a constituent, dated [[August 3]], [[1971]] Kennedy wrote:
:"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not 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 grown old.
:"I share the confidence of those who feel that America is working to care for its unwanted as well as wanted children, protecting particularly those who cannot protect themselves. I also share the opinions of those who do not accept abortion as a response to our society's problems -- an inadequate welfare system, unsatisfactory job training programs, and insufficient financial support for all its citizens.
:"When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."
This letter was written at a time when abortion was a particularly hot topic, being fought in [[state legislature]]s throughout the United States. Seventeen months later, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] would rule in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' that the "right of privacy... is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." Shortly after that, Kennedy reversed his position on [[abortion]], to the point where he soon became one of the major targets of Roman Catholic groups opposing pro-choice Catholics in U.S. politics.
== Democratic icon ==
Since his presidential bid, Kennedy has become the dean of the liberal wing of the Democratic party. He is very proud of the fact that the right wing of American politics continue to warn their supporters about his new policies. He is one of the most recognizable and influential members of the party. In 2004 he supported the failed presidential bid of his fellow Massachussets Senator, John Kerry, speaking for Kerry multiple times.
==Grounded by terror watch list==
During a congressional hearing on [[homeland security]] in [[August]] [[2004]], Kennedy revealed that he been stopped from boarding airlines on multiple occasions because his name or a similar name had appeared on a terror watch list. Homeland Security officials later apologized and corrected the mistake.
==Joseph and Rose Kennedy's children today==
As of January, [[2005]], four of Joseph and Rose Kennedy's nine children are still living. They have grown particularly close as the years have passed. [[Rosemary Kennedy]], the third child born in the immediate Kennedy family, underwent a [[lobotomy]] in [[1941]] at age 23 after Joe Kennedy was informed that his daughter's mild mental complications could be cured by such an operation. However, the lobotomy resulted in profound [[mental retardation]]. Rosemary Kennedy lived an isolated life at a [[Wisconsin]] institution beginning in [[1949]]. Due to the severity of her mental condition, Rosemary became largely detatched from the Kennedy clan's life. However, [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver]], the founder of the [[Special Olympics]] and an advocate for the disabled, began involving Rosemary in family life later on. On [[January 7]], [[2005]], Rosemary Kennedy died at the age of 86, at the institution where she spent the last fifty-five years of her life. Hers was the first, and, currently, only, natural death among the children of Joe and Rose Kennedy. A true testament to the merging of the Kennedy siblings, at her side upon her death were her surviving sisters and Senator Kennedy.
== External links ==
*[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000105 Congressional biography]
*[http://kennedy.senate.gov Senate homepage]
*[http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=S0410103 Project Vote Smart - Political Profile]
*[http://action.democraticmajority.com/victory2004/index.asp?sect=speaks&archives=y Committee for a Democratic Majority]
*[http://www.mywebpal.com/news/partners/701/public/news536976.html Both sides fault lack of funding for No Child Left Behind]
*[http://www.ytedk.com/drivingrecord.htm Ted Kennedy's Driving Record - List of Traffic Offenses]
*[http://www.jfklibrary.org/e060868.htm Robert Kennedy's eulogy] read by Ted Kennedy
*[http://www.npr.org/programs/npc/2003/030121.ekennedy.html Webcast of Kennedy at a Jan. 21, 2003 National Press Club event, via NPR. Provides corroboration for 2006 run.)]
*[http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-08-19-kennedy-list_x.htm Terror List Snag Nearly Grounded Ted Kennedy (USA Today article)]
*[http://www.ytedk.com/chapter1.htm Chappaquiddick: A Profile in Cowardice]
[[de:Edward Kennedy]]
[[pl:Edward Kennedy]]
[[Category:Kennedy family|Kennedy, Edward]]
[[Category:Massachusetts politicians|Kennedy, Edward]]
[[Category:United States Senators|Kennedy, Edward]]
[[Category:1932 births|Kennedy, Edward]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates|Kennedy, Edward]]
== Presidential bid ==
| |||