• A Kennedy first Ted Kennedy outlived John. Ted Kennedy outlived Robert. He never became president, but he arguably had just as big a political legacy. He came from a lineage that began with their father, Joe and continued through his son, Patrick (who’s currently a Congressman). The line doesn’t go away with Ted, but it loses its brightest strand with his passing.
• A liberal second Ted Kennedy was the liberal to end all liberals. He wore that chain around his neck with no shame, despite the connotations that the phrase has earned through years of erosion in the press, on talk shows, and through Fox News. He frequently got vilified for it, much like Nancy Pelosi does now, but it never prevented him from fighting for them.
• A leader thirdFate intervened from making Ted president – in 1969, a car crash in which his passenger died made a run verboten. But over five decades in the Senate, he shaped the political landscape through countless issues, and was well-loved on both sides of the aisle. He was that rare kind of elder statesman that comes along once in a century. source

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