My brother Ethan was the first person to contact me about Ted Kennedy’s passing, which was fitting. Ethan is the youngest in my family and like a lot of Democrats of her generation, our mother loved the Kennedy boys. Not with that velvet-painting-of-John-and-Bobby-with-Jesus-and-MLK kind of pious devotion, either; I think like a lot of long-suffering mothers she saw the sons’ failings clear and stark — and probably loved them the more for being better than their natures seem to sometimes dictate. 

Because Teddy was the also-ran: He took JFK’s seat in the senate and he was supposed to be the Fredo of the family, the semi-competent one no one expected much of. Chappaquiddick seemed to seal the deal, as well as a young woman’s fate. Some thought it criminal that Teddy remained in office though his constituents were more forgiving: the people of Massachusetts reelected him seven times after the accident.

But along the way, amid more rumors of debauchery and disgrace, the youngest Kennedy became a champion of the poor and disenfranchised while never being too doctrinaire to engage the enemy; he co-authored legislation on welfare and healthcare by talking, like Dr. Doolittle, to the animals on the other side of the aisle. As liberalism became a bad word in the eighties, Teddy remained unapologetic and a dogged worker. Maybe it was a Catholic thing; maybe he was trying to atone for some of his excesses (and an innocent woman’s death) by fighting for immigrants, children and ordinary joes. (Have you been laid off and maintained your health care insurance via COBRA? You can thank Ted for that.)

The word now is that Ted will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near Jack and Bobby. Who would have thought his accomplishments would surpass theirs? I guess hard work and perseverance — not to mention an actual set of core beliefs, unchanged by political winds — can actually win the day. Just like your mother told you.