Ted Kennedy: Difference between revisions

Brown's victory ended the 60-vote supermajority in the Senate that the Democrats had held since mid-2009, and appeared to spell the end for health care reform legislation.<ref name="nyt032010">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/health/policy/21reconstruct.html |title=Health Vote Caps a Journey Back From the Brink |author=Stolberg, Sheryl Gay |author2=Zeleny, Jeff |author3=Hulse, Carl |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 20, 2010 |accessdate=March 24, 2010}}</ref><ref name="nyt032310"/> But Democrats rallied and passed the measure; Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]], who was instrumental in doing so, credited Kennedy's life work in her final remarks on the House floor before the final vote.<ref name="nyt032010"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.necn.com/03/21/10/Pelosi-credits-Kennedy-for-his-lifes-wor/landing_politics.html?blockID=201835&feedID=4212 |title=Pelosi credits Kennedy for 'his life's work' |publisher=[[NECN]] |date=March 21, 2010 |accessdate=March 24, 2010}}</ref> Kennedy's widow Vicki attended the signing of the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]], at which both she and President Obama wore blue "Tedstrong" bracelets.<ref name="nyt032310">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/health/policy/24health.html |title=Obama Signs Health Care Overhaul Bill, With a Flourish |author=Stolberg, Sheryl Gay | author2=Pear, Robert |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 23, 2010 |accessdate=March 28, 2010}}</ref> Congressman [[Patrick J. Kennedy|Patrick Kennedy]] brought a copy of a national health insurance bill his father had introduced in 1970 as a gift for the president.<ref name="nyt032310"/> Patrick Kennedy then laid a note on his father's grave that said, "Dad, the unfinished business is done."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.necn.com/03/24/10/Kennedy-note-Dad-the-unfinished-business/landing_politics.html?blockID=203295&feedID=4212 |title=Kennedy note: 'Dad, the unfinished business is done' |publisher=[[NECN]] |date=March 24, 2010 |accessdate=March 24, 2010}}</ref> (Patrick's earlier decision not to seek re-election meant that in January 2011, a 64-year streak of a Kennedy holding elective office in Washington came to an end,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2010/02/13/pondering_a_congress_without_kennedys/ |title=Pondering a Congress without Kennedys |author=Levenson, Michael |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=February 13, 2010 |accessdate=March 28, 2010}}</ref> but it resumed with the November 2012 election of Ted's great-nephew, [[Joseph P. Kennedy III]], to the House.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/11/06/kennedy-takes-fourth-congressional-seat-decisive-win-over-bielat/CIzhjHtyVRaVaWBykvO10J/story.html | title=Joseph P. Kennedy III wins decisively over Sean Bielat | author=Arsenault, Mark | newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] | date=November 7, 2012}}</ref> Democratic control of Kennedy's Senate seat was also regained following Brown's [[United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2012|2012 defeatloss]] to [[Elizabeth Warren]].)