Teddy Kennedy has died aged 77 after a battle with brain cancer. Kennedy was a towering member of the senate for nearly fifty years. Even after the centrist “New Democrats” had abandoned them, Kennedy championed the American Left’s traditional causes, such as healthcare provision, which he described as “the cause of my life”. He was integral to the passage of civil and labour rights legislation, and worked to limit global nuclear proliferation.
In 1980, Kennedy lost the Democrat nomination to incumbent President Jimmy Carter; others might have retired, but the Senator continued to fight inequality up to his death. Explaining his motivation, he told Reuters in 2006: “There’s a lot to do. I think most of all, it’s the injustice that I continue to see and the opportunity to have some impact on it.”
A notoriously heavy drinker, Kennedy was marred by personal controversies throughout his career.
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