Mass Honors 'The Greatest Legislator'

Leader of a Fabled Political Dynasty Is Lauded by President Obama, Celebrated by Family

(CBS/AP)  Last updated 7:40 p.m. ET

President Barack Obama led the nation Saturday in mourning and remembering "the greatest legislator of our time," celebrating the indelible impact of Edward M. Kennedy as a senator for nearly a half-century and leader of America's most famous family during tragedy and triumph.

Delivering an emotional, simple eulogy for Kennedy that capped a two-hour Roman Catholic funeral Mass, Mr. Obama employed humor, his own experiences and timeless anecdotes to memorialize the senator, who died Tuesday at 77 after battling brain cancer for more than a year.

The country may have viewed him as "heir to a weighty legacy," Mr. Obama said, but he was playfully known by the youngest Kennedys less grandly: as the big cheese, "The Grand Fromage."

"Ted Kennedy's life's work was not to champion those with wealth or power or special connections," Mr. Obama said. "It was to give a voice to those who were not heard, to add a rung to the ladder of opportunity, to make real the dream of our founding."

Mr. Obama called Kennedy "the lion of the United States Senate" and said that "though it is Teddy's historic body of achievements that we will remember, it is his giving heart that we will miss."

"Politics took a back seat today... but they weren't entirely absent," CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports. "Not at the funeral for the head of America's most prominent Democratic family."

Kennedy's career spanned the assassinations of his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy; the civil rights era and Apollo moon landings; and battles over health, education and immigration. Mr. Obama noted that Kennedy's name "graces nearly one thousand laws" and that he penned more than three hundred himself.

But in his address, the president focused as much on Kennedy's impact on the U.S. since first being elected in 1962 as on his individual outreach to those in need, whether relative or stranger,
and his resilience through terrible personal trials - "more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know."

Read the complete text of Mr. Obama's eulogy

The president, born roughly 18 months before Kennedy first took office, noted that Kennedy lost two siblings by the age of sixteen and saw two more assassinated later. Another sibling, his sister, Eunice, died exactly two weeks before Kennedy himself.

"He narrowly survived a plane crash, watched two children struggle with cancer, buried three nephews, and experienced personal failings and setbacks in the most public way possible,"
Obama said. "It's a string of events that would have broken a lesser man ... But that was not Ted Kennedy."

"Ted Kennedy was the baby of the family who became its patriarch, the restless dreamer who became its rock," the president said, embracing Vicki Kennedy and lightly patting the senator's casket as he returned to his seat.

Sen. Kennedy Funeral Program (pdf)

The service drew to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica three of the four living former presidents, dozens of Kennedy relatives, pews full of current and former members of Congress and hundreds of others affected by the senator in ways large and small. No fewer than seven priests, 11 pallbearers and 29 honorary pallbearers took part. Mournful performances came from tenor Placido Domingo and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Joining Mr. Obama and nearly 1,500 other invitees were former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, as well as 58 current members of the U.S. Senate, 21 former members and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, once an aide to Kennedy. Singer Tony Bennett and actor Jack Nicholson also attended.

Reflecting Kennedy's role as a peacemaker in Northern Ireland was a delegation from the troubled province: Shaun Woodward, secretary of state; Martin McGuinness, deputy first minister; and Gerry Adams, leader of the Irish republican party Sinn Fein. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen and Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, also attended.

Complete coverage of Sen. Kennedy's life and death

Before the mass, family and friends were joined by political figures in gathering around the 77-year-old senator's flag-draped casket at the Kennedy presidential library for a brief prayer service. His body was then brought in a motorcade to the church.

Kennedy's casket - carried by eight servicemen - was wrapped tightly in plastic to guard against a steady, unseasonably cold rain as it was removed from his brother's presidential library and put into a hearse for the drive to the church. His widow, Victoria, closed her eyes slowly and appeared to choke back tears as she watched under cover of an umbrella. The family had held a brief and private prayer service at the library in the morning.

The route to the church was lined with people, some holding "Kennedy-Thanks" signs and one person waving a lone red heart.

A military honor guard carried Kennedy's casket up the church steps. "We welcome the body of our friend," said a priest.

Under the soaring ceilings of the basilica, a church Kennedy had frequented almost daily while his daughter, Kara, battled cancer at a nearby hospital, over a dozen Kennedy family members accompanied the casket down the church aisle, each straining to touch a piece of the cloth covering it.

Kara Kennedy was the first family member to speak at the service, reading Psalm 72. Ten of Kennedy's grandchildren, nieces and nephews offered a set of brief prayers.

Ted Kennedy Jr., in a eulogy, said of his father, "He was an Irishman and a proud member of the Democratic party.

He told a story from shortly after he lost a leg to cancer at age 12, when his father helped him up a snow-covered hill with an arm around his waist and words of encouragement. "There's nothing you can't do," he said his father told him. Choking back tears, Kennedy Jr. said: "My father taught me that even our most profound losses are survivable."

"He even taught me some of life's harder lessons - such as how to like Republicans. He once told me, 'Teddy, Republicans love this country just as much as I do,'" he said to laughter.

"At the end of his life, my dad returned home. He died at the place he loved more than any other, Cape Cod. The last months of my dad's life were not sad or terrifying but filled with profound experiences, a series of moments more precious than I could have imagined. He taught me more about humility, vulnerability, and courage that he had taught me in my whole life. Although he lived a full and complete life by any measure, the fact is he wasn't done. He still had work to do. He was so proud of where we had recently come as a nation. And although I do grieve for what might have been, for what he might have helped us accomplish, I pray today that we can set aside this sadness and instead celebrate all that he was and did and stood for."

He and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., Kennedy's other son, cried during a long embrace in between their two addresses.

Patrick mused about how, as a child, he wondered why Santa Claus mysteriously had the same two moles as his father, and said even after the identity was revealed he continued to see his dad a "magical figure."

Patrick, who suffered from asthma and from the side effects of medication he took, said that when he was growing up he would require a special, nonallergen nonsmoking room whenever his family went on vacation, and that his father would stay with him to to help him cope with his headaches."This usually meant that I got the nicest room, and it also ensured that dad was my roommate. I couldn't have seen it at the time, but having asthma was like hitting the jackpot for a child who craved his father's love and attention."

He also spoke of how Ted would finds ways around the rules to allow his young son on a racing boat. "My dad, of course, dug around until he found a rule around the rule. Sound familiar to you, those who served with him in the Senate?" he said.

"My dad found that rule that meshed with his mission: He refused to leave me behind. He did that for all those around the world who needed a special voice as well."

The invitation-only funeral audience of world leaders and commoners alike evoked the funerals for Kennedy's brothers. It was at RFK's rites in 1968 that the senator not only emerged as family patriarch, but also the person to deliver the final word on lives cut short.

He memorialized Robert Kennedy by saying, "My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."

And in 1999, after his nephew John Jr.'s death, the senator declared: "We dared to think, in that other Irish phrase, that this John Kennedy would live to comb gray hair, with his beloved Carolyn by his side. But like his father, he had every gift but length of years."

Following the service, Kennedy's body was being flown to Andrews Air Force Base, which also received JFK's body after his 1963 assassination, before being driven to the U.S. Capitol then along the National Mall and into Arlington Cemetery.

There, as evening falls, he was to be buried on a hillside grave site near his two slain brothers.

[winstrv]

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/29/AR200908290
2014.html>
A Heroic Death, Without the Headlines

By Scene And Heard
Sunday, August 30, 2009

Marine Capt. Matthew Freeman made his last trip across the U.S. Naval
Academy in the company of friends the other day.

Yes, there were admirals and generals, colonels and majors, captains of the
Navy and the Marines among the hundreds who joined him. But there are
moments when the strictures of rank are loosened by the greater bond of
brotherhood. This was one of them.

Four thousand and seventy-four days had passed since Matt arrived here as a
kid, had his head shaved and was sworn in as a Navy midshipman. Two thousand
six hundred and fifty-one days had gone by since he hurled his hat into the
air at graduation and became a Marine. It had been 47 days since he married
Theresa, his high school sweetheart, and 34 days since he headed to
Afghanistan.

And it was just 19 days after he led his men onto a rooftop that provided
the only high ground in a nasty firefight with the Taliban in a hamlet in a
rugged, desolate northeastern province.

The morning he came back to the Naval Academy was a Wednesday, but it will
stick in your memory as the day you heard that Ted Kennedy had died and the
week when you learned that someone might have killed Michael Jackson. The
politician and the entertainer of their generations, they were lionized by
many and scorned by some. One pleaded guilty, the other was found innocent.
But they each died with an indelible asterisk, a footnote to their legacies
that time will not erase.

Matt Freeman died clean.

His life and death played out that sunny morning in the chapel at the
Academy and as the long cortege made its way on foot across the Yard to what
would be his final resting place. The words they found for him were devotion
to his Maker, loyalty beyond what most men possess and grim courage in the
end. Marine sentries in dress blue snapped into salute as he passed. There
was a band. Flags flew.

Nine days earlier, when his body came home to a small town in Georgia, three
creeks south of Savannah, people lined the route, waving paper flags.
Children drew signs of tribute on cardboard. Mothers cried. You can find it
all on the Internet, of course. All that, and a lot more about how he lived
and how he died. You will discover, most of all, why people loved him.

It is the business of generals to calibrate the magnitude of a man's
courage. They are not to be envied the task, and many of them learned its
measure by testing their own guts on the battlefield.

Theresa rose from her pew in the chapel to accept Matt's Bronze Star, the
fifth in the hierarchy of combat medals awarded Marines. He died on a
mission for which he volunteered, in a province far from home, leading men
into battle. Pinned down and receiving a "heavy volume" of enemy fire, the
medal citation says, he rose up and led his men into a mud-brick house,
cleared it of the enemy, "was the first to reach the rooftop" where he
"spotted an enemy rocket-propelled grenade gunman and immediately killed him
. . . and began to engage while under fire."

His best friend told the mourners, "He would want you to know that he went
down swinging."

There were a dozen Marine captains in dress blue in the overflowing pews of
the chapel. Marines may blink hard a few times, but they don't cry. Their
mothers and widows cry for them.

In the week when they laid a young Marine captain to rest, the news was
dominated by the death of a politician and the echo from an entertainer's
death. The flag-draped coffin on the front page was not his, but if you look
carefully in the paper this week you will see a small picture of Matt
Freeman among the faces of those who have fallen recently in battle.

He did not live long enough to become an the icon of Kennedy or Jackson, but
he died the greater hero.

-- Ashley Halsey III, staff writer

[ldberrywine]

A great legacy to honor Senator Kennedy would be to build the solar windfarm off the coast of the compound. His dream of clean energy will be in fullview to those who visit the soon to be library/learning center. Cheers to you Ted, now the folks who blocked it's building dare not dishonor your memory.

[jackp32]

Like the man said "liberalism is a mental disorder."

[apuan777]

The reality is he should've been in jail. It isn't right-wing, it isn't this or that, it is a fact. Without "Kennedy" in his name he would've been just another bean-town drunk.

[searingtruth]

"The value of liberty was thus enhanced in our estimation by the difficulty of its attainment, and the worth of characters appreciated by the trial of adversity."
George Washington, letter to the people of South Carolina, Circa 1790

A Future of the Brave

[pepperwood2]

Barack Obama's Eulogy for Ted Kennedy ..... Remarks of the President for the Funeral Mass of the Mass. Senator.

You did a fine job Mr. President but you should have insisted that the Bishop have all the Crucifixes & Statues either removed or covered up in the Basilica when you gave Our Beloved Ted's Eulogy. It's not like you to pass up on an opportunity such as this to let your Muslim heritage so shine. I'm disappointed!

[spiralflames]

As Teddy said about his foes, "We Kennedys sure bring out the best in people, don't we!"

[winstrv]

It is amazing that those morons on the left are still arguing about getting a health care bill passed and keep blaming those on the right. LISTEN UP! YOU HAVE ALL THE VOTES YOU NEED SO PASS IT. IS IT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND. IT IS NOT THE RIGHT THAT IS STOPPING THIS. IT IS THOSE WHO HAVE ALL THE VOTES THEY NEED SO STOP BLAMING THE RIGHT AND GO AFTER YOUR OWN PARTY FOR THIS NOT GOING FORWARD. BTW, how can you be a "devout Catholic" and oppose everything the Church stands for?

[hush_puppy]

It does not matter what party you follow, the simple fact is Ted Kennedy was protected with a armored silver spoon up his butt. How many folks are in prison for doing what Ted did?

He was a poor example of a human. Period!

[WiseAsOwl]

I've got an idea... Y'all quit telling lies about how good Kennedy was.... and we'll quit telling the truth about how bad he was....

[rplat]

OK, enough. The hedonistic left has honored their liberal messiah, now let's get on with it.

[eightsigma]

Yes, it's time for us to finish the job he started.

[Benton09]

by woeisme1 August 29, 2009 5:46 PM EDT
Your twice wrong - typical republican extremist.

1 -Laura Bush WAS the driver, not a passenger so you believe wrong (what's new)

2 - Laura Bush was cited for careless driving - her connections obviously helped her out. They also considered her character and life of public service and like Ted Kenneedy, she was dealt with on that consideration. So you are wrong there too. What's new though?
************************************
Good Comparison. However, don't you know by now that Republicans don't do anything wrong. And if they do, it was to protect America and the American people (and their precious money). Heil Hannity! Fair and Mentally Unbalanced, FOX Noise...We report...WE decide for you.

[artcalling]

Kennedy was only great in the same way O.J. is great. Both escaped the consequences of killing a human being. Kennedy got to live on 40 years the life of luxury and privilege. Obama is a ZERO for his hero worship & idolizing this killer and lawbreaker..hey, lawmaker and lawbreaker sound so similar.

[reveal5]

The hatred of the right wing posters is not necessarily any reason at all to consider returning anger and hate. It seems taking these posters seriously is the problem. There surely must come a time of recognition when seriously considering such comments is just silly.

[skyk-2009]

I was a young man in college when I first heard this gifted man speak. It was the cause of our generation to end the horror of segregation in the south. To see citizens of this nation able to ride a bus or drink from a fountain... To see them able to registrar to vote without being dragged from their homes in the middle of the night. This man gave a speech on the Civil Rights Act that was about as inspiring as any I've ever heard. There are times when you hear a speaker and you KNOW what he's saying is coming from the heart...

[bubbadubba]

Jesus said it is not healthy to speak ill of the dead so I will not do so since I believe Jesus Christ to be the greatest man to ever walk the earth and I take His advice since doing so has served me well over the years.
I will say that Ted Kennedy did many good things for this country as a member of the US Senate.
I know Ted's children will miss him just like any of us will or do miss our father.
Be nice.

[oneofmanyvets]

"Imagine that. A baby killer having a Mass eulogizing his life in a Catholic Church. Proving, once again, that the Catholic Church, and "it's" doctrines, are for sale. Would someone please tell me what Bible the pharisees of the Catholic Church are reading." If you take the time to read and try and digest what Jesus taught, then you'll understand why Kennedy had a Mass. Apparently you haven't figured out that Christ came for the sinner, not the self righteous. You either buy into His plan, or you're not in any plan.

[skyk-2009]

How is he a "baby killer"? Because he, as I, believe that the Government nor any Religious Leader has a right to determine if a woman does or does not have a baby makes us killers? You are ONE very sick human and one out of touch person. The matter was taken before the Supreme Court and YOUR side LOST, get over it for crying out loud. GROW UP and work with all the rest of us to make the procedure unnecessary....

[reveal5]

The death of Senator Kennedy is an outlet for the self existing hatred of the fringe wing of the Republican party. The hatred on display is existing hatred within the hateful posters. These fringe folks are using the death of the senator to express all the hate they carry in their souls.

[HGOODGUY]

Here is a list of guests at Ted Kennedy's funeral.
It must be great tPresident Barack Obama and Michelle Obama
Honorable Gerry Adams
The Honorable James Blanchard
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Vice President Al Gore
Vice President Dan Quayle
Martin McGuiness
Honorable Stephen Breyer
Sarah Brown
President George W. Bush
President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn
President Bill Clinton
Mayor Richard Daley
Hon. Chet Culver
Amb. Michael Collins
Gov. Jon Corzine

Cabinet

Hon. Kathleen Sebelius
Hon. Hilda Solis
Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Cabinet Delegation

Massachusetts

Mayor Tom Menino
Rob Consalvo
Hon. Paul Cellucci
Hon. Bill Bulger
Larry Lucchino
Gov. and Mrs. Michael Dukakis
Yo-Yo Ma
Senate President Therese Murray
Dr. Drew Faust
Gov and Mrs. Deval Patrick

CBSNews.com's complete coverage of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's life and death

Congressional

Sen. and Mrs. John Kerry
Sen. Akaka
Sen. Barrosso
Sen. Maria Cantwell
Honorable Michael Capuano
Sen. Ben Cardin
Hon. William Delahunt
Hon. Rosa DeLauro
Hon. Christopher Dodd
Sen. Byron Dorgan
Rep. Jane Harmon
Sen. Orrin Hatch
Hon. Wyche Fowler
Hon. Barney Frank
Sen. Dan Inouye
Rep. John Tierney
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Sen. Mark Udall
Sen. Tom Udall
Sen. Mark Warner
Rep. Henry Waxman
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
Sen. Herb Kohl
Sen. Mary Landrieu
Rep. Jim Langevin
Sen. Pat Leahy
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. John Lewis
Rep. Ed Markey
Sen. Mitch McConnell
Hon. Nancy Pelosi
Sen. Arlen Specter
Rep. Richie Neal
Sen. Bill Nelson
Rep. David Obey
Hon. Anna Eshoo
Sen. Jack Reed

Former Members

Sen. John Warner
Sen. John Tunney
Sen. John Culver
Sen. Pete Domenici (wife, Nancy)
Sen. Birch Bayh
Sen. Tom Daschle
Sen. Don Riegle
Sen. Paul Sarbanes

Media

Tom Brokaw
Al Hunt and Judy Woodruff
David Gregory
David McCullough
Maureen Orth and Luke Russert

Entertainers/Athletes

Lauren Bacall
Tony Bennett
Placido Domingo
Jack Nicholson
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Bill Russell

Misc.

Michael Bechloss
Mr. Ken Feinberg
Jesse Jackson, Sr.
Martin Luther King, III
Mrs. Claiborne Pell
Ted Sorenson
John Sweeney, President AFL-CIO


o be right and consider all these people wrong!!!

[jxknowles]

What a fitting and amzing tribute to an honorable and great man. To be surrounded by so many family and friends, with a huge outpouring of sympathy from the public is truly amazing.

Sure, there will be the detractors, spewing their venom from their irrational and hateful minds. We can only pity them on this day when we honor the greatest legislator who ever served this country. His service to America cannot be argued by anyone with a knowledge of this country, it's principles, and it's great history.