KENNEDY, EDWARD M(OORE)

born Feb. 22, 1932, Brookline, Mass., U.S. byname Ted Kennedy U.S. senator (from 1963), a prominent figure in the Democratic Party and in liberal politics from the 1970s. He was the last surviving brother of President John F. Kennedy. The youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy, Edward Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1956. He then studied at the International Law School (The Hague) and received a law degree from the University of Virginia (1959). Edward campaigned for his brother John in the 1960 presidential race, and in 1962 he was elected to the president's former U.S. Senate seat representing Massachusetts. Although unable to campaign actively for reelection (1964) for a full term because of an injury, he was swept back into office by a landslide vote. Early in 1969 he was elected majority whip in the U.S. Senate, and he became an early front-runner for the next Democratic presidential nomination. Then, on the night of July 18, 1969, he accidentally drove his car off an unmarked bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, near Martha's Vineyard, Mass., and his companion in the car, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, was drowned. Kennedy was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident. He was reelected to the Senate in 1970 but announced that he would not seek the presidency in 1972. Kennedy won reelection to a third full term as senator in 1976. He was a serious contender for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination but withdrew from the race during the convention. He won a fourth term in 1982. He continued in the Senate, but his somewhat raffish personal life tended to diminish his presidential prospects. Kennedy continued to be a prominent spokesman for the policies that had come to be associated with the family name (i.e., support for social welfare legislation and active participation in world affairs). He became a leading advocate in the Senate for many liberal causes, including voting rights, fair housing, consumer protection, and a national health insurance.