Total Page : 532
Publisher : Twelve
Publication Date : 2009 09 14
>> Defined by Himself
This is a memoir of strength and perseverance as delineated in its final chapter Never hiding behind his family s fortune Ted Kennedy forged his own identity as a man and as a public servant never losing sight of what was expected of him and what he could accomplish Blessed with a remarkable memory for detail as well as copious notes that he references often he lays out the personal achievements and tragedies with a generosity of spirit that is not totally unexpected In 1962 I saw him on a Boston street a young man with the sun burnishing his hair Jack was in the White House the Cuban Missile Crisis was two months in the past Ted was paving the way for his run for the Senate Now over 50 years later he has filled in the story of how he found himself at the forefront of the country and of his remarkable family The roots of his lifelong quest for healthcare reform lie in his brother s ongoing health problems also in conversations with other parents held while his 12 year old son was suffering from bone cancer His relationships with seated presidents is at times surprising He does not belabor the controversies that surrounded him but addresses them realistically giving them notice but not importance Well worth the time it takes to read this book is never dull plodding anything short of enlightening
>> True
I m presuming its pretty obvious what this biography is about
The initial pages of the book cronicle Mr Kennedy s diagnosis of brain cancer his inspirational attitude to his bleak diagnosis I hate to sound dissmissive but this was actually the best part of the book for me Just witnessing Teddy s strength of character in such a horrible moment was enough for me to be satisfied picking up this book
After that moment we are led through Mr Kennedy s childhood in a somewhat rambling fashion While this section is interesting the book really shines through Teddy s political career and his family tragedies
I hoped to hear more from the George W Bush years however that would have left the book far too massive to read in less than a week What we do get is pretty good Teddy s personal recounting of some heavy stuff all within a backdrop of infallible confidence and passion
>> A Talk From Ted
Unlike his brothers Ted Kennedy had been blessed with both the gift of time for public service and seeing his children themselves grow up
Myself having a chronic medical condition I was genuinely moved how he describes waiting in the hospital while Teddy Jr received then experimental cancer treatment pp 305 312 His traumatic life experience quickly bonds him to other parents also in this identical situation
The Senator s obviously emotional writing style today enables me to have flashbacks imagining what my own father went through because I too had once laid in a children s hospital bed needing expensive treatments This is the part of the book which is really powerful And I wish that the entire book had such depth and emotional detail even if it substantively raised the price
He also provides aware of the inevitable public interest unprecedented public disclosure about Chappaquiddick This is the account which I do believe is true and I do feel his genuine remorse in the words I do feel for him
And he also describes how his life again changed after re meeting up with Victoria Reggie a Washington DC lawyer who later married him
But other parts of the book felt like he was merely skimming over the good stuff
Some of this is probably because I ve already read the unofficial but authorized biography from Adam Clymer which seemed to be more consistent in the depth of what it disclosed throughout the entire manuscript But then we did not get Kennedy humor sprinkled throughout that work
Another component is that after the disclose everything standard pioneered by President Bill Clinton s expansive autobiography and it s comparative frankness I m subconsciously expecting more from elected officials themselves Even Kennedy had problems mounting such a hurdle
Had Kennedy lived longer he either would have had to face questions about this version s content or been encouraged to perform more public disclosure before a release date Thinking about it I am convinced that the book release was timed for after his death from cancer There is a lot of good information contained within the pages But maybe this is the format which he wanted released
