“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” ---- Edward Kennedy

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew triumph and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died late Tuesday night. He was 77.

He was a Rabelaisian figure in the Senate and in life, instantly recognizable by his shock of white hair, his florid, oversize face, his booming Boston brogue, his powerful but pained stride. He was a celebrity, sometimes a self-parody, a hearty friend, an implacable foe, a man of large faith and large flaws, a melancholy character who persevered, drank deeply and sang loudly. He was a Kennedy.

"He was a quintessential Kennedy, in the sense that he had all the warts as well as all the charisma and a lot of the strengths. ... He was the survivor. He was not a shining star that burned brightly and faded away. He had a long, steady glow. When you survey the impact of the Kennedys on American life and politics and policy, he will end up by far being the most significant." ----Norman J. Ornstein

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/us/politics/27kennedy.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp