Statement from the Kennedy family issued August 26, 2009:
“Edward M. Kennedy – the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply – died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him.”
Important Twitter note: The Kennedy Family has created a special Twitter account to cover the laying-in-state at the Kennedy Library, the funeral and personal messages and information from the Kennedy family directly. Find them on twitter at:
Important website note: The Kennedy Family also created a dedicated website and it is full of very good information. Go to: www.tedkennedy.org
"few people ... have touched the life of this nation
in the same breadth and the same order of magnitude",
President Obama speaking of
Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy
in the same breadth and the same order of magnitude",
President Obama speaking of
Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy
On April 21st 2009 the President signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. He was joined by Senator Ted Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, the Congressional leaders who supported the legislation, and countless others dedicated to passage of the bill at the SEED School, where service is a core part of the curriculum.
(About the photo upper right: President Barack Obama meets with Senator Edward Kennedy and former President Clinton to discuss national service. April 21, 2009. White House Photo/ Chuck Kennedy.)
Appropriately, the President announced a major call to service:
(About the photo upper right: President Barack Obama meets with Senator Edward Kennedy and former President Clinton to discuss national service. April 21, 2009. White House Photo/ Chuck Kennedy.)
Appropriately, the President announced a major call to service:
A week from tomorrow marks the 100th day of my administration. In those next eight days, I ask every American to make an enduring commitment to serving your community and your country in whatever way you can. Visit WhiteHouse.gov to share your stories of service and success. And together, we will measure our progress not just in number of hours served or volunteers mobilized – but in the impact our efforts have on the life of this nation.
Find the right opportunity for you, or tell us your story of service – then come back in the coming days and weeks and we will highlight some of the best of what we hear.
He spoke to Senator Kennedy, and his entire family, commending them as an icon of service and self-sacrifice in America. He spoke to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch for his role in conceiving of the bill. And he spoke to those in Chicago who taught him the virtues of service as a community organizer.
He spoke to the youth, and all those who are already engaged:
I’ve met countless people of all ages and walks of life who want nothing more than to do their part. I’ve seen a rising generation of young people work and volunteer and turn out in record numbers. They’re a generation that came of age amidst the horrors of 9/11 and Katrina; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; an economic crisis without precedent. And yet despite all this, or more likely because of it, they have become a generation of activists possessed with that most American of ideas – that people who love their country can change it.
He spoke to those who are not yet engaged:
It’s as simple as that. All that’s required on your part is a willingness to make a difference. That is, after all, the beauty of service. Anyone can do it. You don’t need to be a community organizer, or a Senator -- or a Kennedy – or even a President to bring change to people’s lives.
And he spoke to the larger moment our country faces:
We need your service, right now, at this moment in history. I’m not going to tell you what your role should be; that’s for you to discover. But I’m asking you to stand up and play your part. I’m asking you to help change history’s course. Put your shoulder up against the wheel. And if you do, I promise you – your life will be richer, our country will be stronger, and someday, years from now, you may remember it as the moment when your own story and the American story converged, when they came together, and we met the challenges of our new century.
As the President explained, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act is about "connecting deeds to needs" – it will open tremendous new avenues of opportunity for Americans to help their country get back on the right track in those many areas where government cannot do it all.
Watch the video here:
Thank you, Ted, for so many years of your help and support. And thank you to your brothers, John and Bobby. Thank you all so very much.
Transcript of the President's remarks.
Also: view this very special collection of remembrance photographs released this morning by the White House.
I met President (then Senator) John Kennedy as a school child. I cast my first vote in a presidential primary election for Robert Kennedy. Those brothers were great sprinters, but the marathon was undeniably won by the brother who became perhaps the greatest member in U. S. Senate history.
He was a faithful and supportive brother and he was a faithful and supportive defender of the American people. He loved and took care of us all. Many of us would not be alive today were it not for the Ryan White Care Act and other progressive legislative change that has come about because he lived.
The Kennedy Family and the American Family have lost our uncle Teddy.
- Tom Dunn
.
Watch the video here:
Thank you, Ted, for so many years of your help and support. And thank you to your brothers, John and Bobby. Thank you all so very much.
Transcript of the President's remarks.
Also: view this very special collection of remembrance photographs released this morning by the White House.
I met President (then Senator) John Kennedy as a school child. I cast my first vote in a presidential primary election for Robert Kennedy. Those brothers were great sprinters, but the marathon was undeniably won by the brother who became perhaps the greatest member in U. S. Senate history.
He was a faithful and supportive brother and he was a faithful and supportive defender of the American people. He loved and took care of us all. Many of us would not be alive today were it not for the Ryan White Care Act and other progressive legislative change that has come about because he lived.
The Kennedy Family and the American Family have lost our uncle Teddy.
- Tom Dunn
"For all those whose cares have been our concern,
the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives,
and the dream shall never die."
- Edward M. Kennedy
the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives,
and the dream shall never die."
- Edward M. Kennedy
.
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