"Could the youngest Kennedy achieve the prize that was snatched from his brothers by murderers? Or would the American political stage once again become spattered with blood and resound with police sirens? Would he go down in ignominious defeat in a state primary election, at the nominating convention, or in a general election, and thus, once and for all, dispel the “Kennedy mystique”? Or might the final tragedy be, perhaps, that this Kennedy would make it, only to become a third‐rate Chief Executive and thus demonstrate the folly of a democratic society's surrender to a subliminal yearning for royalty or leaders of mythic stature? Or would Kennedy triumph? Would he somehow be able to realize all the bright hopes of 1960, ushering in at last the “age of poetry and power” that Robert Frost thought he foresaw as the stood on the inaugural platform that blustery day in Washington 11 years ago?"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Democratic Party (United States) politiciansAcademics from the United StatesMembers of the United States SenatePoliticians from BostonUnited States presidential candidates, 1980
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
William H. Honan, as quoted in Will He Say: ‘Help Me Finish What My Brothers Began’? (28 November 1971)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ted Kennedy
politician, lawyer, autobiographer
1932 – 2009 · United States
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (22 February 1932 – 25 August 2009) was the senior Democratic U.S. senator from Massachusetts. In office from November 1962 to August 2009, Kennedy was, at the time, the second-longest serving member of the Senate, after Robert Byrd of West Virginia. He was the younger brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, and the uncle of Caroline Kennedy.
389 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ted Kennedy →
Related Quotes
"His partnerships with his fellow Senators are well-known and oft-recited, testimony to his skill and to his convictio…"
"Since Biden circa 2022 is often compared to 1970s Jimmy Carter due to a combination of sluggish job approval ratings,…"
"Senator Kennedy began his career setting a high standard when it comes to birthdays. It was when he reached the minim…"
"Run down the list--the rights of the disabled a most personal cause for Ted--who for far too long were left in the sh…"
"Ted Kennedy is the most prolific legislator in American history, but he is something more. Robert Kennedy once said t…"
"Without Ted, 18-year-olds might not be able to vote. There might not be a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Meals on Wh…"
"I think that John McCain and Ted Kennedy represent what the Senate has been at its best ... what it can be again, a p…"
"I think Senator Kennedy will go down as one of the giants in the Senate. While he has had a rather tumultuous life wi…"
"That sentence is not constructed lightly--it is the measure of a public servant who doesn't know the meaning of the w…"
"Ted Kennedy’s wit and stories, his passion for a cause and his country, and his love for the Senate just made you wan…"