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   From: reality@check.it   
      
   Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy dead at 77   
      
   Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy died Wednesday after cancer battle   
      
   "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family," family statement says   
      
   Kennedy played major role in civil and voting rights, health care reform   
      
   Kennedy recently sought change in state law to allow for temporary   
   replacement   
      
   (CNN) -- Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the patriarch of the first   
   family of Democratic politics, died Wednesday at his home in Hyannis Port,   
   Massachusetts, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 77.   
   "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our   
   lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live   
   on in our hearts forever," a family statement said. "We thank everyone who   
   gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with   
   him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice."   
      
   Kennedy, nicknamed "Ted," was the younger brother of slain President John F.   
   Kennedy and New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, who was gunned down while seeking   
   the White House in 1968. However, his own presidential aspirations were   
   hobbled by the controversy around a 1969 auto accident that left a young   
   woman dead, and a 1980 primary challenge to then-President Jimmy Carter that   
   ended in defeat.   
      
   But while the White House eluded his grasp, the longtime Massachusetts   
   senator was considered one of the most effective legislators of the past few   
   decades. Kennedy, who became known as the "Lion of the Senate," played major   
   roles in passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of   
   1965, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1993 Family and   
   Medical Leave Act, and was an outspoken liberal standard-bearer during a   
   conservative-dominated era from the 1980s to the early 2000s.   
      
   "Senator Ted Kennedy's legacy in the United States Senate is comparable and   
   consistent with the legacy of his entire family for generations," Kennedy's   
   biographer, Ted Sorensen, said.   
      
   Kennedy recently urged Massachusetts officials to change a law to allow for   
   an immediate temporary replacement should a vacancy occur for one of his   
   state's two Senate seats. Watch why Kennedy sought change in state law »   
   Under a 2004 Massachusetts law, a special election must be held 145 to 160   
   days after a Senate seat becomes vacant. The winner of the election would   
   serve the remainder of a senator's unexpired term.   
      
   Kennedy asked Gov. Deval Patrick and state leaders to "amend the law through   
   the normal legislative process to provide for a temporary gubernatorial   
   appointment until the special election occurs," according to the letter,   
   dated July 2. Read Kennedy's letter   
      
   Kennedy suffered a seizure in May 2008 at his home on Cape Cod. Shortly   
   after, doctors diagnosed a brain tumor -- a malignant glioma in his left   
   parietal lobe.   
      
   Surgeons at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina,   
   removed as much of the tumor as possible the following month. Doctors   
   considered the procedure a success, and Kennedy underwent follow-up   
   radiation treatments and chemotherapy.   
      
   A few weeks later, he participated in a key vote in the Senate. He also   
   insisted on making a brief but dramatic appearance at the 2008 Democratic   
   convention, a poignant moment that brought the crowd to its feet and tears   
   to many eyes.   
      
   "I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore   
   its future, to rise to our best ideals and to elect Barack Obama president   
   of the United States," Kennedy told fellow Democrats in a strong voice.   
   Kennedy's early support for Obama was considered a boon for the candidate,   
   then a first-term senator from Illinois locked in a tough primary battle   
   against former first lady Hillary Clinton. Kennedy predicted Obama's victory   
   and pledged to be in Washington in January when Obama assumed office -- and   
   he was, though he was hospitalized briefly after suffering a seizure during   
   a post-inaugural luncheon.   
      
   Kennedy was one of only six senators in U.S. history to serve more than 40   
   years. He was elected to eight full terms to become the second most-senior   
   senator after West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd.   
      
   He launched his political career in 1962, when he was elected to finish the   
   unexpired Senate term of his brother, who became president in 1960. He won   
   his first full term in 1964.   
      
   He seemed to have a bright political future, and many Democratic eyes turned   
   to him after the killings of his brothers. But a July 18, 1969, car wreck on   
   Chappaquiddick Island virtually ended his ambitions.   
      
   After a party for women who had worked on his brother Robert's presidential   
   campaign, Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick, off Cape Cod   
   and across a narrow channel from Martha's Vineyard. While Kennedy managed to   
   escape, his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned.   
      
   In a coroner's inquest, he denied having been drunk, and said he made "seven   
   or eight" attempts to save Kopechne before exhaustion forced him to shore.   
   Although he sought help from friends at the party, Kennedy did not report   
   the accident to police until the following morning.   
      
   Kennedy eventually pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. In a   
   televised address to residents of his home state, Kennedy called his conduct   
   in the hours following the accident "inexplicable" and called his failure to   
   report the wreck immediately "indefensible."   
      
   Despite the dent in his reputation and career, Kennedy remained in American   
   politics and went on to win seven more terms in the Senate. Kennedy   
   championed social causes and was the author of "In Critical Condition: The   
   Crisis in America's Health Care." He served as chairman of the Judiciary and   
   Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committees and was the ranking   
   Democrat on the Judiciary and Armed Services committees during periods when   
   Republicans controlled the chamber.   
      
   Obama named Kennedy as one of 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal   
   of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. A White House statement   
   explained that the 2009 honorees "were chosen for their work as agents of   
   change."   
      
   "Senator Kennedy has dedicated his career to fighting for equal opportunity,   
   fairness and justice for all Americans. He has worked tirelessly to ensure   
   that every American has access to quality and affordable health care, and   
   has succeeded in doing so for countless children, seniors, and Americans   
   with disabilities. He has called health care reform the "cause of his life."   
      
   Born in Boston on February 22, 1932, Edward Moore Kennedy was the last of   
   nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy, a prominent businessman and Democrat,   
   and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Joseph Kennedy served as ambassador to Britain   
      
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