news-record.com

Though the cloud of Chappaquiddick derailed Sen. Edward Kennedy's presidential aspirations, he went on to serve as one of the nation's most effective, long-standing and passionate members of the U.S. Senate.

Not unlike North Carolina's Sen. Jesse Helms, his Republican adversary who passed away last year, liberal Democrat Kennedy was a lightning rod for the opposition.

But Kennedy, 77, who lost his year-long battle with brain cancer early Thursday morning at his Hyannis Port, Mass., home, was the consummate deal maker, often reaching across the aisle to push bipartisan legislation.

Yet there was no doubt that as the Senate's eloquent liberal lion, his unswerving passion was fighting tirelessly for civil and labor rights, health care reform and school funding.

After the assassinations of his brothers, President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy five years later, he was on track to make a run for the White House in 1972.

However, that dream was shattered in 1969 when a young woman drowned after a car driven by Kennedy plunged off a wooden bridge on the Massachusetts resort island after a night of partying. He never fully explained why he didn't report the accident to police until after the body was found. It wasn't the first or last time that flawed judgment dogged him.

Despite often very public missteps, Kennedy showed a remarkable resilience. He became the patriarch of a star-crossed family dynasty that over the years has endured what seems like more than its share of tragedy.

As the last of the "Kennedy brothers," he projected a larger-than-life aura that some praised and others loathed. As with Helms, seldom was there a middle ground. Like him or not, we knew where he stood.

Sadly, his death came as Americans agonize over his career goal of reforming the U.S. health care system.