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Ted Kennedy In Vietnam

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knew he had to keep working so he could help finish what his brother had started. In memoriam for his brother, Ted Kennedy raised money to build the John F. Kennedy library at Harvard. This project would take twelve years to complete, but Ted Kennedy knew he had to finish the library because it was his way of thanking his brother for getting him his start into politics (Burns 107-108). The death of President John F. Kennedy left Ted Kennedy with a vacancy in the government. Ted Kennedy no longer received the special treatment he had as a junior senator. The political force created by the brothers was now diminished. Ted Kennedy thought he had it bad now, but it was about to get worse (Burns 108-109).
Ted Kennedy, Senator Birch Bayh, and his …show more content…

He started to speak out about the war in Vietnam. When Ted Kennedy heard about the political corruption that was growing in South Vietnam, he had to find a way to end it. Ted Kennedy started to debate about the poor military drafting and how the United States was failing the many victims hurting from the war. Ted Kennedy visited South Vietnam after a major attack that occurred on one hundred cities. Ted Kennedy was working hard on this issue when tragedy struck again. In June of 1968, Ted Kennedy’s brother, Robert, was shot and killed (Bio.com) (History.com Staff). The death of Robert Kennedy left Ted Kennedy to be in charge of the family. With tragedy consuming Ted Kennedy’s life, he kept on fighting issues and working hard. In 1969, Ted Kennedy became the youngest majority whip in the Senate and a democratic presidential nomination. Ted Kennedy seemed to have everything under control until an accident occurred that would ruin his chances for presidency. On July 18, 1969, Ted Kennedy was involved in an incident where he drove his car off a bridge in Chappaquiddick. The result of this was his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowning. This accident didn’t seem very controversial, but Ted Kennedy waited ten hours before reporting it. He claimed he waited so long because he had a concussion from trying to save her and was exhausted. This wouldn’t end well for Ted Kennedy. He pled guilty for …show more content…

Many people had a negative opinion about Ted Kennedy because of the scandal. This pushed him to work hard in the Senate and to become more effective. Ted Kennedy fought on many issues including: education, immigration, increases in federal minimum wages, voting rights, AIDs care, various consumer protection, and equal rights. He helped create the Women, Infants, and Children program where he became the driving force to help women and children, who couldn’t afford health services and assistance, receive benefits (History.com Staff). In 1980, Ted Kennedy decided to run for president against Jimmy Carter for the Democratic Nomination (History.com Staff). With Jimmy Carter’s disorganized and difficult first term, he felt threatened to give the republicans power in the government. Ted Kennedy was pretty successful by winning ten primaries. He then made a rash decision to drop out of the race. His campaign was disorganized and hurt by the questions about Chappaquiddick. In August 1980, at the Democratic National Convention, Ted Kennedy gave a speech to show everyone that he would not stop working for what is right and would push for more change

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