Ted Kennedy

As it’s third longest-serving member, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts was one of the United States Senate’s most important members.

A member of America’s most storied and tragic political family, Kennedy was first elected to the Senate in 1962, beginning a 47-year career that saw him re-elected a record nine times. Known as the “Lion of the Senate,” over the course of his service, Kennedy cast 15,235 votes and was a tireless champion of the issues he felt most passionate about: equal rights, immigration reform, voting rights, education, and health care, which he called, ‘the cause of my life.” President Obama said of Kennedy, “For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health, and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts.”

Though his campaign for the democratic presidential nomination in 1980 was unsuccessful and he lost to Jimmy Carter, partly due to the controversy surrounding the infamous Chappaquiddick incident in 1969, Kennedy served on several successful committees. He was Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a member of many others.

Kennedy passed away in 2009 and although he was known as a fierce liberal, he was greatly respected by his colleagues on both sides of the isle and he is remembered as one of the country’s most tenacious and passionate political figures.