Speaking Ill of the Dead: Teddy Kennedy

Ted Kennedy, the last of the that fabled trio of brothers who once looked set to dominate US politics, has died. The fact that Teddy Kennedy managed to outlive his brothers is perhaps yet another example of the ongoing tragedy of the Kennedy clan. Because, at the risk of speaking ill of the dead, he was the least effective and least able of those brothers.

If you support social democracy and what the US incorrectly dubs as liberalism, then I suppose you can point towards some sort of a legacy from Ted Kennedy. Yet anyone who was in the Senate for as long as Kennedy should be able to point towards a substantial legislative legacy. And besides, it may be carping a bit but it is instructive to think just how he was able to run for the Senate and stay there for so long. Daddy's wealth and the high profile of his brothers meant that this Kennedy had a head start that few others could ever dream of. For all those talking about how Teddy Kennedy represents the Liberal dream in the US, think again. Those who came from nowhere to achieve great things are truly indicative of the American dream. It is Harry Truman, LBJ and Barack Obama who truly show what ability in the USA can do. All Teddy Kennedy showed is what you can do if you have a boat load of cash and a respected name behind you. And that is sit in the Senate for decades, representing a very liberal state.

Of course, no obituary of Teddy Kennedy would be complete without a reference to Chappaquiddick, which surely remains one of the worst political scandals of all time. Nixon helped to cover up a burglary, Clinton smoked a dubious cigar; Teddy Kennedy killed someone. Yeah, read that again. Teddy Kennedy left someone to die. If you want a good description of the full horror of what he did, read this extract from a Guardian article that tries (and fails) to show how Kennedy overcame the stigma of his killing:

Kennedy chose to flee the scene , leaving the young woman to die an agonising death not of drowning but of suffocation over a period of hours. Incredibly, it was 10 hours before Kennedy reported the accident, by which time he'd consulted a family lawyer. The senator's explanation for this unconscionable, despicable, unmanly and inexplicable behaviour was never convincing: he claimed that he'd struck his head and was "confused" and "exhausted" from diving and trying to rescue the young woman and had gone home to bed.

So... Teddy leaves a party with a woman who wasn't his wife, crashes his car into water with her inside, and then leaves that woman to slowly die. This probably cost him the chance of winning the presidency. Can you imagine what it would have cost someone who wasn't part of the Kennedy family? For this sort of thing, the average person in the street would be looking at a lengthy prison stretch. Kennedy got two month's probation. Why? Because of his family name. And because of his family connections. Daddy's wealth and the good name of his brothers saved him from having to take the full punishment for his utterly reprehensible crime. I know I won't be alone in asking why so many people are mourning Ted Kennedy - reasonably competent legislator and killer.

The true success of the Kennedy clan - and where they have proved to be most effective - is in creating an aura, a mystic, a cult around themselves that just does not match up to reality. Nonetheless, people had faith in JFK. And then in RFK. Because of what those two were perceived to stand for. And when both of those figures went to their early graves, the only person left to carry on the dream was Teddy. He didn't earn that position, and the only reason why he became such an icon to so many people is because of his surname. So it goes. Inheriting titles, wealth and power is a part of human society, and always will be. Yet I can't help but think that, outside of his circle of family and friends, most people are mourning the death of the Kennedy name, rather than the death of this particular Kennedy.