Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the US Senator, whose life was marked with triumph and tragedy who evolved as a dubious choice for the post to one of the most influential senators in US history has reportedly died. He was 77.

Kennedy, an influential figure in the Democratic party who belonged to the “cursed” family of the Kennedy’s was reported to have died late on Tuesday night. “Edward M Kennedy, the husband, father, grand father, brother and uncle we loved so deeply, died late on Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port,” said the Kennedy family in a statement. “We have lost the irreplaceable center of our family.

He loved this country and devoted his life serving to it,” the statement released by the Kennedy family said. Reports suggest that Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in the year 2008, although the late Senator had got it operated then.

Edward Kennedy’s life had encountered several dramatic swings, comprising of both ups and downs. Kennedy gained an entry to the Senate only because that the seat was vacant after his brother John was elected as the US president. Once elected in the year 1962, Kennedy never left the post, holding his position till his sad demise on Tuesday at a time when America is going through a turbulent situation.

The US President Barack Obama called him a “lion of the Senate”, when he received his endorsement.

Kennedy showed “how much could be done on Capitol Hill with great skill and political dexterity,” said Sean Wilents, a professor of history at Princeton University in New Jersey.