2009; 409 pages (plus another 54 pages of notes). Full Title : Last Lion : The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. Genre : Non-Fiction; Biography. New Author? : Yes. Overall Rating : 8*/10.
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Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy (02/22/32 - 08/25/09) was the fourth-longest serving US Senator in history, being there just shy of 47 years. He was the youngest of nine children. This book, Last Lion, was published in February 2009, after Senator Kennedy had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and about 6 months before his death.
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What's To Like...
The book moves along at a nice, steady pace and has some kewl photos. There are a zillion events to recount, so none is covered in a lot of depth. Some quick notes...
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Early Life : he grew up under Joe and Rose's strong-willed tutelage. It would be nice to be Kennedy-rich (the kids lacked for nothing), but it came at the cost of a highly dysfunctional family and incredible amounts of sibling rivalry. JFK-RFK : It must be painful to lose all your older brothers; with lots of unanswered questions. Chappaquiddick : Covered objectively, but there are lots of unanswered questions. US Senate : a champion of the people; a deal-broker; and probably the biggest reason we have Health Care Reform. Later Years : The family rebel becomes the family patriarch. He finds true love late in life.
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Kewlest New Word...
Accretional : marked by growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion.
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Excerpts...
"My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life," Ted said, looking down, "but 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. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world." (giving Bobby Kennedy's eulogy; pg. 136)
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His personal exposure to health care challenges only strengthened his determination to achieve his central goal in the Senate, the mission that drove both his daily schedule and his long term agenda: he wanted every man, woman, and child in American to have access to decent health care. In theory, it was a goal that could be accomplished with one, big national health care program, a plan that would ensure that pregnant women would have prenatal care, that children would get their vaccinations, that sufferers of rare diseases would have access to the medicines they needed, that workers could change their jobs without worrying about losing their health insurance, and that seniors would not have to choose between food and prescription durgs. In practice, Kennedy would spend decades trying to make those things happen piece by piece. (pg. 323)
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Contribute something worthwhile. (pg. 17, a Kennedy family edict)
Last Lion is an even look at Ted Kennedy's life. The warts are presented, but without being lurid. The accomplishments are presented, but without being maudlin. The book was actually written by a team of Boston Globe jourenalists, and it has a "newspaper article" feel to it.
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"Last Lion" is a fitting title. He was the last lion of liberal causes, the last lion of the Senate (just look how many incumbents have announced they won't seek re-election), and the last lion of the "Camelot" generation of Kennedys. All in all, it is a beautiful and respectful way to pay tribute to one of the giants of 20th-century US politics. 8 Stars.
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