To Be Equal#35
September 2, 2009
Edward M. Kennedy:  The Lion of the Senate
 
 
Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League
 
 
My introduction to Senator Edward Kennedy came in 1979, when as a 21 year old Senate intern I witnessed his spellbinding presentation before the Senate Finance Committee in support of one of his earliest proposals for national health coverage.  I did not know it then, but over the years, as I watched Senator Kennedy’s tireless advocacy for those who scripture calls, “the least among us,” I came to understand why he was called “the Lion of the Senate.”
 
During his 47 years in the Senate, no one roamed farther, fought harder or was a more fearless champion for the rights of everyday people than Ted Kennedy.  From the bleak hills of Appalachia to the shanty towns of South Africa to the back streets of Boston, Senator Kennedy went wherever there was a need to support democracy’s highest ideals of freedom and opportunity for all.  Like his older brothers John and Bobby, he saw politics not as a game of self-interest and personal gain, but as an opportunity to improve the lives of those who are too often locked out and left behind, including workers, women, people of color, the poor and dispossessed, immigrants, children, and people with disabilities.
 
As one of the last U.S. Senators who fought for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he stood for many of the same rights the National Urban League fights for daily – equality, education, employment, and healthcare for all.  He taught us that standing on principle, and not yielding to even the harshest critics, is the true barometer of statesmanship and leadership.  He did not mind criticism when he knew that what he was fighting for was right, just, and in the best interest of the nation.  As a skilled politician who authored more than 300 laws and supported thousands of other pieces of critical legislation, he showed us the value of reason over rhetoric and pragmatic compromise over partisan posturing. 
 
In an era of political double-talk and moral equivocation, Senator Kennedy was a straight shooter who was clear about the values he and his party should stand for.  In his 1980 presidential concession speech he said, “It is the glory and the greatness of our tradition to speak for those who have no voice, to remember those who are forgotten, to respond to the frustrations and fulfill the aspirations of all Americans seeking a better life in a better land.  We dare not forsake that tradition.”
 
Senator Kennedy never forsook that tradition and he gave life to it in everything he did – from his fights to improve public education to his battles for a living wage to his endorsement of Barack Obama for President.  His life is a vivid example of a man who stood tall and firm even in the face of the most vehement opposition.  I am hopeful that his most passionate purpose – the passage of national health care – becomes a living, enduring legacy to his remarkable life.
 
The National Urban League joins the nation in mourning the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Kennedy family.   
 
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