senator ted kennedy, a political legend and an american icon who was one of the last remaining faces of the infamous kennedy clan, passed away late tuesday night.
newspapers called him the "liberal lion". the american public knew him as john and robert's baby brother, but over the years, came to know him as one of the hardest working lawmakers and a great orator.
today, i got a rare peek into the life of ted kennedy. i was shadowing WJLA reporter kris van cleave, a fellow USC trojan and ATVN alum, who (to my good fortune) was reporting about public reaction to kennedy's death. so on my first day in DC, which is also my first time in the nation's capital, i got to go inside kennedy's senate office as well as his personal office.
i only took pictures from the outside since, as i wasn't working professionally for any news station, i felt it would be disrespectful to be taking pictures inside his office for my own personal benefit.
the walls of his senate office were covered. from the ceiling to the floor, photographs, magazine covers, and posters took up every available wall space. he had pictures of the entire kennedy clan from when they were younger, but he seemed to hold his two older brothers with high esteem. pictures of JFK and robert kennedy were the most common in ted kennedy's office. he had pictures of the three of them from when they were young adults, but he also had framed profile pictures of each. these profile pictures seemed to dominate his wall space, most likely to serve as reminders to their little brother about their legacies. ted kennedy even framed TIME magazine covers of JFK and robert, but kept his own TIME cover under low profile, as the lowest one on the wall, like he didn't want to draw attention to his own celebrity.
walking into ted kennedy's personal office was like walking into a history textbook. he had pictures of himself with martin luther king, standing alongside the clintons, and countless other officials. undoubtedly, one of the newer photos and the one that stood out the most to me, was a picture of ted kennedy with president obama. it is a great picture - it's taken from the side, both men are sitting, kennedy in front of obama, and obama is smiling and leaning forward to talk to kennedy, who is also smiling and leaning back to hear what obama is saying.
i know there were countless other pictures plastered on the wall, but i couldn't help but notice this one because it seemed to bridge two eras. ted kennedy, and his brothers before him, had a vision of a greater and grander america (just think about JFK's "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" line). for him, barack obama encapsulated that belief in and desire for change. and to me, seeing the two together, particularly in that photograph, seemed like that vision had become a reality.
his desk, at the time of my visit, was backlit by the sun and almost seemed to radiant a feeling of silent strength. ted kennedy was a powerful man, with a booming voice, but as i looked around his office, i could feel a softer side to him - a picture of his oldest brother joe who died while serving in the Navy and when ted kennedy was around 12, a model of a sailboat, a tally card of a senate vote on a healthcare bill, and pictures and cards from his children, nieces and nephews.
kennedy was a living legend. he was not a man without faults, but even in the face of brain cancer, he continued to step out and remain active in politics and policy-shaping. today, the flags around capital hill and DC stood at half mast. it's the least the country could do to thank a man who served it for so long, so well.
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