Kennedy, Edward M(oore)

known as Ted Kennedy

born Feb. 22, 1932, Brookline, Mass., U.S.

U.S. senator.

He is the youngest son of Joseph P. Kennedy and the brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. He graduated from Harvard University in 1956 and received a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1959. In 1962 he was elected to the former U.S. Senate seat of his brother John, who became president in 1960. Elected Democratic majority whip in 1969, he was considered a front-runner for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination. In 1970 he was involved in a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island, near Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in which a companion in his car was drowned. Kennedy was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident. Though he was reelected to the Senate in 1970, he decided against seeking the presidency in 1972. He won a third full term in 1976 and was again a serious contender for the Democratic nomination in 1980, but he withdrew during the convention. In subsequent years his presidential prospects were limited by memories of the Chappaquiddick incident and by his somewhat raffish personal life. In the 1980s and '90s he continued to represent Massachusetts in the Senate, where he was a forceful spokesman for liberal causes, including civil rights, consumer protection, and national health insurance.

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