The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Ted Kennedy doesn't have any brothers who are living, so who will give him his stirring eulogy?
Teddy---the Kennedy brother who was still standing, at age 36, when Bobby was gunned down in Los Angeles in 1968, seeking the presidency. The lone brother---after Joe died in WWII, after John was killed while president prior to Bobby's assassination.
Teddy Kennedy, who survived a plane crash that broke his back, and who survived a controversial car wreck in 1969 that not only killed a young woman but also his chances of ever becoming president himself.
Teddy Kennedy, the accidental (no pun intended) patriarch of the Kennedy family---the "Liberal Lion" of the U.S. Senate.
Teddy's gone now, succumbing at age 77 to brain cancer in a year that's been virulent when it comes to celebrity deaths.
Just last week, we lost Don Hewitt, creator and executive producer of "60 Minutes", and who produced and directed the famous Kennedy/Nixon televised presidential debate of 1960.
And now Teddy's gone, and who will deliver his eulogy for the ages?
It was one of the first---maybe the first---eulogies that stuck with me. I was no older than an adolescent when I heard Teddy's words, spoken as they laid RFK to rest in 1968. Probably heard it on some documentary or something.
"My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world."
Teddy delivered those words, with a halting, staggering voice, inside St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan in June 1968. He never broke down, but he came close.
This was perhaps the most famous part:
"...to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."
At least, it was the most famous part for me, because those were the words that stuck with me forever.
I don't know that we'll ever hear a better tribute than that sentence.
It captured, perfectly, Bobby Kennedy's mission statement. Whether you agree with the Kennedys politics or not (and Lord knows there are tons of folks who don't), you have to acknowledge the poignancy of those words.
The three youngest Kennedy brothers---John, Bobby and Teddy---before two-thirds of them were cut down by political violence
I guess what I always admired about the Kennedys---at least the three political sons of Joseph and Rose Kennedy---was their empathy for the poor and less fortunate, despite themselves being born with the proverbial silver spoons in their mouths.
The family legacy, certainly, was tarnished as the years went on, thanks to some churlish behavior by a few bozos in the clan.
Teddy was one who stumbled.
The 1969 accident at Chappaquiddick (and Kennedy's actions following it), which killed Mary Jo Kopechne, effectively torpedoed Teddy's chances of becoming the Leader of the Free World. It was a horrific display of bad judgment, and it rightly gave people pause about his moral qualifications to be president.
He gave it a shot in 1980, trying to unseat a sitting president from his own party. The political winds indicated that Jimmy Carter was highly vulnerable in 1978-79---which he was, but not to Kennedy, as it turned out.
Kennedy's campaign was disorganized and his message wasn't clear. Chappaquiddick's impact took the campaign by surprise, along with perhaps Carter's willingness to use it. But Carter was desperate, stumbling along with an approval rating in the 20s.
"If he (Kennedy) runs, I'll whip his ass," Carter was quoted as saying, by those close to him.
And that's exactly what Jimmy did.
Kennedy started out of the gate slowly, regained a little momentum in springtime, but then faded again. He conceded the nomination during the convention in New York.
Carter's inability, though, to win over Kennedy supporters hurt him badly against Ronald Reagan in the general election.
When Kennedy appeared on stage after Carter's acceptance speech---which Teddy was late for---he shook the nominee's hand but didn't raise arms with him in the traditional show of party solidarity. Some say that didn't do Carter any favors, either, in terms of bringing Kennedy supporters on board.
Maybe Teddy himself wrote his own eulogy---or words for his epitaph.
This is what he said after conceding the 1980 nomination to Carter.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
That might do just fine.
Teddy---the Kennedy brother who was still standing, at age 36, when Bobby was gunned down in Los Angeles in 1968, seeking the presidency. The lone brother---after Joe died in WWII, after John was killed while president prior to Bobby's assassination.
Teddy Kennedy, who survived a plane crash that broke his back, and who survived a controversial car wreck in 1969 that not only killed a young woman but also his chances of ever becoming president himself.
Teddy Kennedy, the accidental (no pun intended) patriarch of the Kennedy family---the "Liberal Lion" of the U.S. Senate.
Teddy's gone now, succumbing at age 77 to brain cancer in a year that's been virulent when it comes to celebrity deaths.
Just last week, we lost Don Hewitt, creator and executive producer of "60 Minutes", and who produced and directed the famous Kennedy/Nixon televised presidential debate of 1960.
And now Teddy's gone, and who will deliver his eulogy for the ages?
It was one of the first---maybe the first---eulogies that stuck with me. I was no older than an adolescent when I heard Teddy's words, spoken as they laid RFK to rest in 1968. Probably heard it on some documentary or something.
"My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world."
Teddy delivered those words, with a halting, staggering voice, inside St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan in June 1968. He never broke down, but he came close.
This was perhaps the most famous part:
"...to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."
At least, it was the most famous part for me, because those were the words that stuck with me forever.
I don't know that we'll ever hear a better tribute than that sentence.
It captured, perfectly, Bobby Kennedy's mission statement. Whether you agree with the Kennedys politics or not (and Lord knows there are tons of folks who don't), you have to acknowledge the poignancy of those words.
The three youngest Kennedy brothers---John, Bobby and Teddy---before two-thirds of them were cut down by political violence
I guess what I always admired about the Kennedys---at least the three political sons of Joseph and Rose Kennedy---was their empathy for the poor and less fortunate, despite themselves being born with the proverbial silver spoons in their mouths.
The family legacy, certainly, was tarnished as the years went on, thanks to some churlish behavior by a few bozos in the clan.
Teddy was one who stumbled.
The 1969 accident at Chappaquiddick (and Kennedy's actions following it), which killed Mary Jo Kopechne, effectively torpedoed Teddy's chances of becoming the Leader of the Free World. It was a horrific display of bad judgment, and it rightly gave people pause about his moral qualifications to be president.
He gave it a shot in 1980, trying to unseat a sitting president from his own party. The political winds indicated that Jimmy Carter was highly vulnerable in 1978-79---which he was, but not to Kennedy, as it turned out.
Kennedy's campaign was disorganized and his message wasn't clear. Chappaquiddick's impact took the campaign by surprise, along with perhaps Carter's willingness to use it. But Carter was desperate, stumbling along with an approval rating in the 20s.
"If he (Kennedy) runs, I'll whip his ass," Carter was quoted as saying, by those close to him.
And that's exactly what Jimmy did.
Kennedy started out of the gate slowly, regained a little momentum in springtime, but then faded again. He conceded the nomination during the convention in New York.
Carter's inability, though, to win over Kennedy supporters hurt him badly against Ronald Reagan in the general election.
When Kennedy appeared on stage after Carter's acceptance speech---which Teddy was late for---he shook the nominee's hand but didn't raise arms with him in the traditional show of party solidarity. Some say that didn't do Carter any favors, either, in terms of bringing Kennedy supporters on board.
Maybe Teddy himself wrote his own eulogy---or words for his epitaph.
This is what he said after conceding the 1980 nomination to Carter.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
That might do just fine.
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