This weekend, America paid its respects to Ted Kennedy. In his 46-year career in the Senate, Kennedy came to be known as one of this country’s most gifted legislators, effecting change in areas as diverse as education, health care, and civil rights.
Kennedy was the great liberal lion of the Senate, known for his strong convictions and dedication to the welfare-state. On the floor of the 1980 Democratic convention, Kennedy enumerated a program of unabashed liberalism. He called on the government to pursue a policy of full employment and re-industrialization. He sought to use the strong arm of the state to curb rising prices. He envisioned massive health care reform, a dream that eluded him his whole life. Few speeches have so boldly set forth a plan for such sweeping change.
But Kennedy was no partisan. If he had been a liberal hack, his passing would have been significant only for marking the end of the Kennedy political dynasty. Instead, a great wave of admiration arose from all over the country, bringing together people of all political persuasions.
Despite his liberal convictions, Kennedy was fiercely independent and remarkably willing to work with his colleagues across the aisle. He teamed up with President George W. Bush to make No Child Left Behind law, much to the chagrin of many in his party. One of his closest friends in the Senate was Orrin Hatch, whose conservatism mirrors Kennedy’s liberalism. He also worked with John McCain in his attempt to pass immigration reform, an explosive issue most lawmakers wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.
Of all his achievements in the Senate, Kennedy was most proud of his opposition to the invasion of Iraq. He was a forceful opponent of the 2002 vote to authorize the war and was one of only 23 senators to vote against it. This at a time when almost every other major political player-including John Kerry and Hillary Clinton-caved in to the Bush administration’s fear-mongering.
Today, few politicians show the courage their constituents deserve; Ted Kennedy had an abundance of it. Most equivocate on important issues; Kennedy took a stand. Most toe the party line; Kennedy reached across the aisle. The people of Massachusetts had a strong defender in Kennedy and we should all hope for a leader so independent and dedicated.
In spite of his faults-and he had many-Kennedy deserves a place in the Pantheon of America’s great leaders. Nothing pays better tribute to so accomplished a man as the genuine respect with which members of both parties greeted the sad news of his death. It’s fitting that the man who spent so much of his life working across party lines should be honored after it by Democrats and Republicans, colleagues and friends.
Nathaniel French is a junior theater studies major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
