Ted Kennedy, 1932 – 2009

Senator Edward Kennedy died last night at the age of 77 due to brain cancer. Details and reactions can be found in the Washington Post.

Family, friends, colleagues and rivals have all issued statements, some simple, some with issues folded in, such as Nancy Reagan’s mention of stem cell research. Others include John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Sarah Palin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nancy Pelosi, Mike Bloomberg and more.

President Obama is scheduled to speak live about Kennedy’s passing any moment. Refresh TVNewser today for details on how the networks are handling the news.

For the readers of this blog, beyond the hundreds of bills he authored, Kennedy was known as an empathetic campaigner and communicator, and a fiery orator.

Check out his clips from his 1980 “Dream shall never die” speech:

And from his DNC speech delivered exactly one year ago today:

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