United States President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Senator John McCain are among the guests visiting Boston on Monday to attend the dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and pay tribute to the late Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy, who died of brain cancer at the age of 77 in 2009.
In light of the dedication, WGBH Radio’s Morning Edition host Bob Seay spoke with Peter Canellos, Executive Editor of Politico, former editor of the Boston Globe’s editorial page, and editor of the Globe’s best-selling biography of the late senator: "Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy."
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
On the senator's legacy:
I think people will remember him as a great legislator. He’ll be in the pantheon of the five or six greatest senators of all time. I think that people had an occasion in 2009 -- and they will now have another occasion -- to think about the ways in which legislation that he championed – whether it was the civil rights act, whether it was voting rights, whether it was changes in immigration law, healthcare, education — that really changed the demographics of the United States. In more recent years he was a major figure on the judiciary committee; blocked the Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination, and many other judicial nominations. But if you take that body of work in totality it truly was transformative. It was the equivalent of a presidential legacy, and even greater than many presidential legacies. He’ll be well-remembered.
On the significance of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate:
I think it’s very much a living memorial to Sen. Kennedy, in the sense that he believed in the institution; he believed in the creation of legislation, and that the perk of the senate was to do things, not to block things and prevent things. Having an institute like this will provide a forum for senators of both parties to get together to discuss issues — somewhat in the spirit of advancing the institution but also in the spirit of teaching future generations and interacting with the public. I think Sen. Kennedy's hope would be that the institution itself would be that this institution by itself spurs greater cooperation between Democrats and Republicans on important national issues.
On the President, the First Lady and the Vice President attending the dedication:
"This is very much a testament to friendship, as much as a testament of respect for the institution."
It shows the power of Kennedy’s personal friendships. He was an early figure to endorse Barack Obama for President. He was a very influential endorsement and obviously the President and the First Lady are deeply, deeply grateful. In the first couple years of the Obama administration, when people would tell President Obama that he should be focusing more single-mindedly on the economy and not trying to do healthcare reform at same time, he would often say “I promised Teddy;" that working on health care reform was a promise that he made that he had to pursue. And Joe Biden was just a friend of Kennedy’s for many decades and, you know, was deeply close to him. So this is very much a testament to friendship, as much as a testament of respect for the institution.”
