Richard Reeves Shares His Thoughts On Senator Edward Kennedy

 

 

Richard Reeves talked with Joan Hamburg on The Joan Hamburg Show about the recent passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Reeves is a syndicated columnist, senior lecturer at The University of Southern California, and the author of President Kennedy: Profile of Power.

 

Mr. Reeves said that if you were going to write about Edward Kennedy, affectionately called Ted, “…you’d really want to do the book as a novel.” Kennedy was a larger than life figure who experienced his fair share of ups and downs.

 

The young Kennedy brother was thrown out of Harvard as a young man, and spent his whole life attempting to redeem himself. He joined the army, and once done tackling the task of being part of General Eisenhower’s color guard, “… the senate became his obstacle course”.

 

Mr. Kennedy was a huge supporter of healthcare reform, and many such as Reeves found his death of brain cancer to be ironic. Mr. Reeves also believes that had Ted Kennedy been feeling well during these recent months, he would have been able to clarify the need for healthcare reform to the American people. He could have greatly helped President Obama with the fight for healthcare reform because he wanted people to be protected.

 

As for the future Kennedy generations, Mr. Reeves does not feel that they will make an impact. “The cultural impact [of the original generation] is…beyond competition”. In Reeves mind, the Kennedys brought Hollywood and Washington together, which is something that modern Americans can surely recognize today.  Reeves believes that President Obama, “…was the one who picked up the torch”, and will continue the Kennedy legacy today.