Why We Could Use Sen. Ted Kennedy Now
One of the things that I inherited from my grandfather was a love of the Kennedys. As a kid, I had a scrapbook for John F. Kennedy, and I proudly had buttons from his 1960 presidential campaign that my great-grandmother gave me.
I was fascinated by the Kennedy mystique.When I graduated from college and began working on Capitol Hill, I was lucky enough to have some interaction with U.S.
Sen. Ted Kennedy and his staff. My roommate for five years worked for him, and she was quite popular with her colleagues because of her epic sense of humor.She introduced me to Paul Donovan, who at the time was Kennedy’s press secretary and later would become his chief of staff.
Paul turned out to be a mentor. He had his share of tense media interactions when the senator stepped out of line, most notably with the Kennedy’s Palm Beach imbroglio in May of 1991 and the rape trial of the senator’s nephew William Kennedy Smith.The congressman I worked for also had several personal and professional embarrassments and controversies that were fodder for the media.
