The End of Camelot

It is not my nature to be terribly moved by the passing of public figures and perhaps especially politicians. As a student of history I often try to take an objective look at their impact on the world and try to make a guess about who might still know who they are in a couple of centuries.

The death of Ted Kennedy this week seems to be an exception for me. I found myself experiencing a profound sense of lose. While I, of course, knew of his record, I would be hard pressed to say I was a big "fan" as it were. I think after reflecting on this for a couple of days, I have begun to realize what it was i was feeling.

Philsophically, Ted Kennedy were kindred sprits but that was not it either. For those of us who grew up in the sixties the Kennedy family has a unique place in our exprience. I remember that day when John Kennedy was shot and while not as vivid I can still envisions the images in the hotel in California when Bobby fell. These deaths along with that of Martin Luther King in many ways shaped who we would become. I know this true for me.

I think what was truly amazing about the Kennedys was that they could have done what ever they wanted in life. They were fabulously wealthy, well educated and charismatic. They really did dedicate their lives to public service. Never mind all stuff about the affairs and such. This was a family that used it power, wealth and energies to help the common man not the rich. One would be hard pressed to find another family that had so much of that drive across its breadth and I suspect it would be impossible to find another in recent history. One might have to reach back to the Grachii of the Roman Republic to find a valid comparision.

So in simple terms I mourn the passing of a generation of great men and perhaps much of the promise they brought to the American spirit. The era of Camelot has passed and we can only hope that leaders like the Kennedys are out there. Certainly, I see much of that attitude in Obama and in others. Only time will tell for sure but I am confident that in hundreds of years and perhaps even thousands of years the Kennedy family will be seen as majot architects of the world that emerged at the end of the 20th century.

I somehow believe that even now Teddy is being told by his brothers, "Good job, little brother."


I do want to add one footnote: Please God, can we please pass quality heath care reform in Ted Kenedy's honor. It would be a fitting legacy.