As the Redskins prepare for their major tuneup (don't even think the starters will get more than a whiff of action next week) and the Nationals sparkplug is placed in the shelf for the season (please learn to slide feet-first, Nyjer Morgan)... the nation mourns the death of Massachussetts Senator Ted Kennedy--the last link to Camelot (although his sister Jean Kennedy Smith is still alive). Ardent supporters point to the incredible amount of legislation he produced over his 47-year career in DC...while detractors cite Chappaquiddick as Exhibit A in their argument against the Senator. The lesson learned? Great people are capable of bad decisions and flawed people can do great works. The only question is...which person was Ted? Most people have already made up their mind.
In the 1960's and 70's Kennedy was the Democrats perpetual favorite to run for President... although in the five elections (72, 76, 80, 84 and 88) Ted ran just once-- the only time there was a sitting Democratic president...and in doing so helped end the Carter administration. What would a second Kennedy presidency have been like? Would he have been able to accomplish what he wished minus a Ted Kennedy in the Senate?
I had three chance encounters with Ted Kennedy... the first was on a jet in 1979. My father flew for American Airlines and was based in Boston. Whenever we flew, we flew standby which meant we might get bumped or we might wind up in first class (ruining my flight expectations for a lifetime). On one such flight out of Logan we were in First Class...and as we deplaned a gentleman in a suit shook my 3-year old sister's hand and told my mother "you've got a beautiful daughter." The next year as I was following the NH primary...I learned that man was Ted Kennedy.
My second situation with the Senator came when I was in my mid-20's... I had just got engaged and had a friend who worked in Kennedy's Boston office. She gave me an autographed picture of the Senator; he also wrote "David, congratulations on your engagement". Although I was tempted to write on the back "will there be an open bar?" I wisely let the picture stand as is. Unfortunately in moving that fall to Indiana the picture got misplaced--and thus never made my mantle next to my letter from President Reagan.
The last time I saw Ted Kennedy was November 2004; I was working at CBS Radio in Washington, DC and anchored the Sunday Sports Central USA shows. Our studios were two floors up from where Bob Schieffer taped "Face the Nation"...and Kennedy was on that week, waiting in the lobby. Along with the usual policy questions he also discussed the anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination.
Three brushes with the Lion of the Senate... and all I could get out of it was kindness to children, best wishes for happiness and the mourning of a family member. Great man who made mistakes or flawed man who accomplished great things? You be the judge.
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