RIP Ted Kennedy
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Vice President Joe Biden, voice trembling, paid tribute to one of his closest friends, Sen. Edward Kennedy, calling him a “truly remarkable man.” “Today, we lost a truly remarkable man,” Biden said. “To paraphrase Shakespeare, I don’t think we shall ever see his like again. I think the legacy he left was not just with the landmark legislation he passed but in how he helped people look at themselves and look at one another. Kennedy spent a lifetime working for a fair and more just America … And for 36 years, I had the privilege of going to work every day and literally … sitting next to him and being a witness to history every single day the Senate was in session.”
Kennedy’s optimism about America’s future was infectious, Biden said, often speaking haltingly and struggling for composure. “He was never defeatist. He never was petty. He was never small,” Biden said. “In process of his doing, he made everybody he worked with bigger — both his adversaries and his allies.” When people look back on Kennedy’s nearly half-century as a senator, “I just hope we remember how he treated other people and how he made other people look at themselves and look at one another. That will be the truly fundamental, unifying legacy of Teddy Kennedy’s life … .”
Rest in peace Senator. The fight is over.
Text and images sourced from UPI.