I first remember Ted Kennedy from his delivery of his brother Bobby's Eulogy on June 8, 1968.
Many have called it the greatest speech Ted ever gave and I class myself among them. The following words, originally penned by George Bernard Shaw, but made known to the world through Ted's eulogy, stand out in my mind still - some 41 years later:
Some men see things as they are and ask why; I dream of things that never were and ask why not.
A fitting epitaph for all the Kennedy men.
Joe jr. - a naval pilot died over Europe in 1944. His father - Ambassodor Joseph Kennedy had targetted young Joe to become the first Kennedy in the White House. Had he lived, would that have happened and if so, how would it have changed things for the USA / the world?
John F. Kennedy - survived the destruction of his PT Boat in the Pacific and did become the 35th President of the United States for 3 short years. I can still recall my mother telling me about his assassination on Friday November 22, 1963 when I returned home from school. I had exams starting that Monday but stayed glued to the TV all that weekend.
Kennedy botched the Bay of Pigs but redeemed himself during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1961. His generals were demanding that they be allowed to attack Cuba but unknown to them, Russian soldiers were present there with orders to release atomic bombs on the USA should such an attack take place. With Bobby's counsel and his own cool judgment he resisted his generals demands and saved the world from atomic war. We were all on the edge of our seats - young and old knowing fully what was at stake.
But I think the greatest tragedy for the world in losing John Kennedy prematurely was what took place in Vietnam. Under the heading 'things that never were', would Kennedy have stopped the build-up of US forces in Vietnam thereby sparing the lives of nearly 60,000 american service men and women and the countless broken from the ordeal over the course of 1965 to 1973. I suspect he would have, but again, we'll never know.
Bobby Kennedy - probably the deepest of the Kennedy men, also was gunned down on what was looking more and more like a victory toward winning the Democratic nomination and the following general election in 1968. Again I remember where I was: it was June 7, 1968 (he'd been shot at a California Hotel the night prior), I was still a student and was getting ready to go off to my summer job, at a 401 service station when the news came over the radio. I was stunned - not to the same extent as in the case of President Kennedy's assassination, but shaken severely nevertheless.
Only 2 months earlier with Martin Luther King's assassination, Bobby had gone into the Black areas, which were on fire, to speak to them from the heart - to sooth their hurt. He too had lost dear ones and he felt their pain. He was brave beyond imagination.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not. These are among the words that Ted bequeathed to Bobby's memory. What would the world have been like had Bobby become President? Would it be different today. I like to think that it would be a kinder, gentler place but again, due to an assassin's bullet we'll never know.
Ted Kennedy - the last of the line of brothers. What if Chappaquidick had not happened? Would he too have become President? We'll never know.
Would he have a least beaten Jimmy Carter for the Democatic nomination in 1976. Again, we'll never know, but I like to think he would have and thereby have spared the United States from electing its weekest President in memory.
I doubt that a year or two from now I will recall where I was when I heard of Ted Kennedy's death, but he once delivered a great Eulogy that I will forever remember and he did not run away from public service when he easily could have done so by saying his family had already paid a dear enough price. And for that, we should all be thankful for his time on earth.
As I see it.
"Galagher"
