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108-672: Among other activities, the center organizes dozens of yearly events for journalists, scholars and the public, many of which take place at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum . Courses taught by Shorenstein Center professors are also an integral part of the Harvard Kennedy School's curriculum. Since its founding in 1986, the center has also emerged as a source for research on US campaigns , elections and journalism . The center hosts visiting fellows each semester, who produce research on

216-634: A Gallup Poll still had him in first place in the Democratic nomination race with 28 percent. George McGovern was close to clinching the Democratic nomination in June 1972, when various anti-McGovern forces tried to get Kennedy to enter the contest at the last minute, but he declined. At the 1972 Democratic National Convention , McGovern repeatedly tried to recruit Kennedy as his vice presidential running mate, but Kennedy turned him down. When McGovern's choice of Thomas Eagleton stepped down soon after

324-493: A November 1962 special election in Massachusetts to fill the vacant seat previously held by his brother John, who had taken office as the U.S. president. He was elected to a full six-year term in 1964 and was re-elected seven more times. The Chappaquiddick incident in 1969 resulted in the death of his automobile passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne . He pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident and received

432-421: A 31–26 margin to become Senate Majority Whip , the youngest person to attain that position. While this further boosted his presidential image, he appeared conflicted by the inevitability of having to run for the position; "Few who knew him doubted that in one sense he very much wanted to take that path", Time magazine reported, but "he had a fatalistic, almost doomed feeling about the prospect". The reluctance

540-542: A B average for his senior year, and finished barely in the top half of his class. Kennedy graduated from Harvard at age 24 in 1956 with an AB in history and government. Due to his low grades, Kennedy was not accepted by Harvard Law School . He instead followed his brother Bobby and enrolled in the University of Virginia School of Law in 1956. That acceptance was controversial among faculty and alumni, who judged Kennedy's past cheating episodes to be incompatible with

648-716: A broad range of topics. Papers have included "Riptide: What Really Happened to the News Business," by John Huey, Martin Nisenholtz and Paul Sagan ; "Did Twitter Kill the Boys on the Bus?" by Peter Hamby of CNN and Snapchat ; and "Digital Fuel of the 21st Century," by Vivek Kundra , who was the first chief information officer of the United States from March 2009 to August 2011 under President Barack Obama . In 2016,

756-426: A civic culture at Harvard University by increasing voter registration and participation among students, staff, and faculty." During the 2018 midterm election, HVC launched the first-ever Harvard-Yale Votes Challenge. HVC integrated voter engagement and registration into First-Year Orientation in 2019. For the 2020 election , 390 volunteers from all 12 degree-granting Harvard schools worked to mobilize voters during

864-722: A compromise based on Nixon's plan—but with mandatory participation by employers and employees through premiums to private health insurance companies—but gave up when unable to get more than a 13–12 majority of his committee to support his compromise plan. In the wake of the Watergate scandal , Kennedy pushed campaign finance reform ; he was a leading force behind passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 , which set contribution limits and established public financing for presidential elections. In April 1974, Kennedy travelled to

972-531: A decent opportunity to go back to Britain" (a position he backed away from within a couple of years). Kennedy was sharply criticised by the British and Ulster unionists, and he formed a long political relationship with Social Democratic and Labour Party founder John Hume . In scores of anti-war speeches, Kennedy opposed Nixon's policy of Vietnamization , calling it "a policy of violence [that] means more and more war". In December 1971, Kennedy strongly criticized

1080-548: A deferential attitude towards the senior Southern members when he first entered the Senate, avoiding publicity and focusing on committee work and local issues. He lacked his brother John's sophistication and Robert's intense, sometimes grating drive, but was more affable than either. He was favored by Senator James Eastland , chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson , despite his feuds with John and Robert, liked Ted and told close aides that he "had

1188-693: A favorable response in messages sent to him, Kennedy announced on July 30 that he would remain in the Senate and run for re-election the next year. In January 1970, an inquest into Kopechne's death was held in Edgartown, Massachusetts . At the request of Kennedy's lawyers, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered the inquest to be conducted in secret. The presiding judge, James A. Boyle, concluded that some aspects of Kennedy's story of that night were not true, and that negligent driving "appears to have contributed" to

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1296-553: A few days earlier. The Iranian hostage crisis , which began on November 4, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan , which began on December 27, prompted the electorate to rally around the president and allowed Carter to pursue a Rose Garden strategy of staying at the White House, which kept Kennedy's campaign out of the headlines. Kennedy's campaign staff was disorganized and he was initially an ineffective campaigner. There

1404-493: A good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: "Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not." At

1512-540: A goodwill mission in late December 1977, meeting with leader Deng Xiaoping and eventually gaining permission for a number of Mainland Chinese nationals to leave the country; in 1978, he also visited the Soviet Union and Brezhnev and dissidents there again. During the 1970s, Kennedy also showed interest in nuclear disarmament , and as part of his efforts in this field even visited Hiroshima in January 1978 and gave

1620-585: A leading role, with Senator Jacob Javits , in the creation and passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971 . In October 1971, Kennedy made his first speech about The Troubles in Northern Ireland : he said that "Ulster is becoming Britain's Vietnam", advocating for the withdrawal of British troops from the six northern counties, called for a united Ireland , and declared that Ulster Unionists who could not accept this "should be given

1728-591: A model and won beauty contests, but she was unfamiliar with politics. After the couple became engaged, she grew nervous about marrying someone she did not know that well, but Joe Kennedy insisted that the wedding should proceed. The couple was married by Cardinal Francis Spellman on November 29, 1958, at St. Joseph's Church in Bronxville, New York , with the reception being held at the nearby Siwanoy Country Club . Ted and Joan had three children: Kara (1960–2011), Ted Jr. (b. 1961) and Patrick (b. 1967). By

1836-631: A new federal program that eliminated the limit on hospital days, added income-based out-of-pocket limits, and added outpatient prescription drug coverage. In April 1974, Kennedy and Mills introduced a bill for near-universal national health insurance with benefits identical to the expanded Nixon plan—but with mandatory participation by employers and employees through payroll taxes—both plans were criticized by labor, consumer, and senior citizen organizations because of their substantial cost sharing. In August 1974, after Nixon's resignation and President Ford's call for health insurance reform, Mills tried to advance

1944-669: A nine-nation Latin American trip in 1961, FBI reports from the time showed Kennedy meeting with Lauchlin Currie , an alleged former Soviet spy, together with locals in each country whom the reports deemed left-wingers and Communist sympathizers. Reports from the FBI and other sources had Kennedy renting a brothel and opening up bordellos after hours during the tour. The Latin American trip helped to formulate Kennedy's foreign policy views, and in subsequent Boston Globe columns he warned that

2052-564: A non-profit that works on solutions to challenges with trust & truth in news, set up a home base at the Shorenstein Center. The network includes more than 100 organizations that help newsrooms & tech companies verify news. This announcement is part of the Shorenstein Center's broader work and research in the area of combatting fake news. In February 2017, the Shorenstein Center hosted a conference on fake news, bringing together academics and practitioners to discuss solutions to

2160-866: A party must sail against the wind" and in particular should provide health care as "a basic right for all, not just an expensive privilege for the few." In May 1979, Kennedy proposed a new bipartisan universal national health insurance bill—choice of competing federally regulated private health insurance plans with no cost sharing financed by income-based premiums via an employer mandate and individual mandate, replacement of Medicaid by government payment of premiums to private insurers, and enhancement of Medicare by adding prescription drug coverage and eliminating premiums and cost sharing. In June 1979, Carter proposed more limited health insurance reform—an employer mandate to provide catastrophic private health insurance plus coverage without cost sharing for pregnant women and infants, federalization of Medicaid with extension to all of

2268-697: A political celebrity. Despite generally similar ideologies, their priorities were different. Kennedy told reporters that he was content with his congressional role and denied presidential ambitions, but by late 1977 Carter reportedly saw Kennedy as a future challenger to his presidency. Kennedy and his wife Joan separated in 1977, although they still staged some joint appearances. He held Health and Scientific Research Subcommittee hearings in March 1977 that led to public revelations of extensive scientific misconduct by contract research organizations, including Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories . Kennedy visited China on

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2376-735: A public speech to that effect at Hiroshima University . He became chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1978, by which time he had amassed a wide-ranging Senate staff of a hundred. As a candidate, Carter had proposed health care reform that included key features of Kennedy's national health insurance bill, but in December 1977, President Carter told Kennedy his bill must preserve a large role for private insurance companies, minimize federal spending (precluding payroll tax financing), and be phased-in to not interfere with Carter's paramount domestic policy objective—balancing

2484-521: A two-month suspended sentence . The incident and its aftermath hindered his chances of becoming president. He ran in 1980 in the Democratic primary campaign for the party's nomination, but lost to the incumbent president, Jimmy Carter . Kennedy was known for his oratorical skills . His 1968 eulogy for his brother Robert and his 1980 rallying cry for modern American liberalism were among his best-known speeches. He became recognized as "The Lion of

2592-585: A year or two if they demonstrated good behavior during that time. In June 1951, Kennedy enlisted in the United States Army and signed up for an optional four-year term that was shortened to the minimum of two years after his father intervened. Following basic training at Fort Dix in New Jersey , he requested assignment to Fort Holabird in Maryland for Army Intelligence training, but

2700-437: Is being constantly compared with two brothers of such superior ability." Ted's brothers were not in favor of his running immediately, but Ted ultimately coveted the Senate seat as an accomplishment to match his brothers, and their father overruled them. John asked Massachusetts Governor Foster Furcolo to name Kennedy family friend Ben Smith as interim senator for John's unexpired term, which he did in December 1960. This kept

2808-610: Is central to its mandate and day-to-day offerings. The resource has been recognized by the American Library Association for the quality of work made available on the site. Harvard Institute of Politics#John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum The Institute of Politics ( IOP ) is an institute of Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University that was created to serve as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and to inspire Harvard undergraduates to consider careers in politics and public service. Following

2916-412: Is going to whip whose what." Nevertheless, Kennedy lost three New England contests. Kennedy did form a more coherent message about why he was running, saying at Georgetown University : "I believe we must not permit the dream of social progress to be shattered by those whose premises have failed." However, concerns over Chappaquiddick and issues related to personal character prevented Kennedy from gaining

3024-503: Is little evidence that Kennedy truly wanted to be president; the incoherent answer to Mudd was an example of what Walter Mondale , who knew Kennedy well from the Senate, described as his way of avoiding a topic by "using words, but they didn't come together somehow". Chris Whipple of Life , who was present for the Mudd interview, wondered if Kennedy's answer was "consciously or otherwise, an act of political self-destruction ... The campaign

3132-662: The Chicago Tribune ; and Debbie Cenziper and Sarah Cohen of The Washington Post . Other prizes and lectures given by the Shorenstein Center include the David Nyhan Prize for Political Journalism, the T.H. White Lecture on Press and Politics and the Richard S. Salant Lecture on Freedom of the Press. The John F. Kennedy School of Government has always recognized that engagement with the media should be part of

3240-539: The COVID-19 pandemic . Organizers sent 94,297 text messages, distributed over 1700 stamps to students, and recruited 121 campus organizations to a pledge committing to 100% voter participation. Founded in 2000, the Harvard Public Opinion Project (HPOP) aims to track young Americans' (18- to 29-year-olds) attitudes toward politics and public service. Undergraduate members, in conjunction with

3348-670: The Court of St. James's , in London , England. His formal education started at Gibbs School in Kensington, London. He had attended 10 schools by the age of eleven; these disruptions interfered with his academic success. He was an altar boy at the St. Joseph's Church and was seven when he received his First Communion from Pope Pius XII in the Vatican . He spent sixth and seventh grades at

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3456-668: The Fessenden School , where he was a mediocre student, and eighth grade at Cranwell Preparatory School, both in Massachusetts . He was the youngest child and his parents were affectionate toward him, but they also compared him unfavorably with his older brothers. Between the ages of eight and sixteen, Ted suffered the traumas of his sister Rosemary's failed lobotomy and the deaths of two siblings: Joseph Jr. in an airplane explosion and Kathleen in an airplane crash. Ted's affable maternal grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald ,

3564-455: The John F. Kennedy Federal Building and went so far as to break one of its glass walls. Kennedy was again much talked about as a contender in the 1976 U.S. presidential election , with no strong front-runners among the other possible Democratic candidates. Kennedy's concerns about his family were strong, and Chappaquiddick was still in the news, with The Boston Globe , The New York Times Magazine , and Time magazine all reassessing

3672-866: The Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts became Ted's principal residence. In 1959, Kennedy was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar . In 1960, his brother John announced his candidacy for President of the United States and Ted managed his campaign in the Western states. Ted learned to fly and during the Democratic primary campaign he barnstormed around the western states, meeting with delegates and bonding with them by trying his hand at ski jumping and bronc riding . The seven weeks he spent in Wisconsin helped his brother win

3780-659: The Matterhorn in the Pennine Alps . After 21 months, he was discharged in March 1953 as a private first class . Kennedy re-entered Harvard in the summer of 1953 and improved his study habits. His brother John was a U.S. Senator and the family was attracting more public attention. Ted joined The Owl final club in 1954 and was also chosen for the Hasty Pudding Club and the Pi Eta fraternity. Kennedy

3888-1057: The National Cancer Act of 1971 , the COBRA health insurance provision , the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 , the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 , the Ryan White AIDS Care Act , the Civil Rights Act of 1991 , the Mental Health Parity Act , the S-CHIP children's health program , the No Child Left Behind Act , and the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act . During the 2000s, he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts. Over

3996-564: The National Teachers Corps . Kennedy initially said he had "no reservations" about the expanding U.S. role in the Vietnam War and acknowledged that it would be a "long and enduring struggle". Kennedy held hearings on the plight of refugees in the conflict, which revealed that the U.S. government had no coherent policy for refugees. Kennedy also tried to reform "unfair" and "inequitable" aspects of conscription . By

4104-604: The New Hampshire primary led to Robert's presidential campaign starting in March 1968, Ted recruited political leaders for endorsements to his brother in the western states. Ted was in San Francisco when his brother Robert won the crucial California primary on June 4, 1968, and then after midnight, Robert was shot in Los Angeles and died a day later. Ted Kennedy was devastated by his brother's death, as he

4212-602: The Soviet Union , where he met with leader Leonid Brezhnev and advocated a full nuclear test ban as well as relaxed emigration, gave a speech at Moscow State University , met with Soviet dissidents , and secured an exit visa for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich . Kennedy's Subcommittee on Refugees and Escapees continued to focus on Vietnam, especially after the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Kennedy had initially opposed busing schoolchildren across racial lines , but grew to support

4320-603: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 to explicitly ban the poll tax at the state and local level (rather than just directing the Attorney General to challenge its constitutionality there), gaining a reputation for legislative skill. He was a leader in pushing through the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 , which ended a quota system based upon national origin. He also played a role in the creation of

4428-581: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, the Kennedy Library Corporation raised more than $ 20 million for both the construction of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston , and the creation and endowment of an institute at Harvard University dedicated to the study of politics and public affairs. More than 30 million people from around the world, including school children, contributed to

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4536-627: The 1970s, the marriage was in trouble due to Ted's infidelity and Joan's growing alcoholism . Ted and Joan established Massachusetts residency after buying a townhouse on Charles River Square in Boston , and a home on Squaw Island, Cape Cod . During Ted's tenure in the U.S. Senate, the Kennedys lived in a townhouse in Georgetown , Washington, D.C., and later, a 12,500-square-foot house in McLean, Virginia . From 1982 until his death in 2009,

4644-519: The 1980 congressional elections. Kennedy decided to run in August 1979, when polls showed him with a 2-to-1 advantage over Carter; Carter's approval rating slipped to 19 percent. Kennedy formally announced his campaign on November 7, 1979, at Boston's Faneuil Hall . He had already received substantial negative press from a rambling response to the question "Why do you want to be President?" during an interview with Roger Mudd of CBS News broadcast

4752-579: The Harvard football team and worked hard to improve his blocking and tackling to complement his 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 200 lb (91 kg) size. In the season-ending Harvard-Yale game in the snow at the Yale Bowl on November 19 (which Yale won 21–7), Kennedy caught a pass to score Harvard's only touchdown; the team finished the season with a 3–4–1 record. Academically, Kennedy received mediocre grades for his first three years, improved to

4860-662: The IOP's director of polling, John Della Volpe , conduct the largest national survey of the millennial generation. These form a tracking poll in the fall and a more comprehensive poll in the spring. After analyzing the data, the committee shares its findings in a nationally covered media release. The IOP is also home to and publishes the Harvard Political Review (HPR), a quarterly, non-partisan journal of political affairs written, edited, and managed by Harvard College undergraduates. The following individuals make up

4968-738: The Internet. Originally known as the KSG Forum, it was renamed in 2002 in tribute to the president's son , who had served on the Institute of Politics' board of directors until his death in 1999. The forum was renovated in 2003. In 2018, students at the IOP started the Harvard Votes Challenge (HVC) in collaboration with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation . The university-wide initiative "strives to build

5076-588: The Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy officially opened in September 1986. At the ceremony an address was given by Benjamin C. Bradlee , with remarks by Senator Kennedy, Walter H. Shorenstein and others. Two years after the Shorenstein Center's founding, veteran journalist Marvin Kalb became its director. He worked to raise the center's profile, and under his leadership

5184-614: The Nixon administration's support for Pakistan and its ignoring of "the brutal and systematic repression of East Bengal by the Pakistani army". He traveled to India and wrote a report on the plight of the 10 million Bengali refugees . In February 1972, Kennedy flew to Bangladesh and delivered a speech at the University of Dhaka , where a killing rampage had begun a year earlier. The Chappaquiddick incident had greatly hindered Kennedy's future presidential prospects, and shortly after

5292-561: The Senate when he died. He is ranked fifth in U.S. history for length of continuous service as a senator . Kennedy was the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and U.S. attorney general and U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy , and the father of U.S. representative Patrick J. Kennedy . After attending Harvard University and earning his law degree from the University of Virginia , Kennedy began his career as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, Massachusetts . He won

5400-424: The Senate" through his long tenure and influence. Kennedy and his staff wrote more than 300 bills that were enacted into law. Unabashedly liberal, Kennedy championed an interventionist government that emphasized economic and social justice , but he was also known for working with Republicans to find compromises. Kennedy played a major role in passing many laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ,

5508-410: The Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics: Edward M. Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and the prominent Kennedy family , he was the second-most senior member of

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5616-412: The Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics was established, followed by the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting . Kalb directed the center until 1999, and during that time formalized its fellowship program; developed the introductory course on press, politics and public policy; and expanded the Kennedy School's curriculum. On July 1, 2000, Pulitzer Prize –winning journalist Alex S. Jones

5724-576: The Time Inc. News Group. The Shorenstein Center traditionally hosts 5–6 fellows per semester. These fellows are well-established practitioners in media, politics and public policy. They serve as mentors to students and hold study groups to share their experiences with the Harvard Kennedy School community more broadly. Each fellow produces a final research paper that contributes to ideas and innovation in their respective areas of expertise. Past fellows have included Maria Ressa, Bob Schieffer, Richard Stengel and Judy Woodruff. In September 2017, First Draft News,

5832-433: The University of Virginia's honor code; it took a full faculty vote to admit him. Kennedy also attended The Hague Academy of International Law during one summer. At Virginia, Kennedy felt that he had to study "four times as hard and four times as long" as other students to keep up. He received mostly C grades and was in the middle of the class ranking, but won the prestigious William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition. He

5940-503: The center produced a series of four reports analyzing media coverage of the 2016 US presidential election , authored by Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press. The Shorenstein Center also awards the annual Goldsmith Awards Program, which includes the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the Goldsmith Book Prize . Past winners have included James Risen and Eric Lichtblau of The New York Times ; Patricia Callahan , Sam Roe and Michael Hawthorne of

6048-422: The chaotic August 1968 Democratic National Convention , Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley and some other party factions feared that Hubert Humphrey could not unite the party, and so encouraged Ted Kennedy to make himself available for a draft . The 36-year-old Kennedy was seen as the natural heir to his brothers, and "Draft Ted" movements sprang up from various quarters and among delegates. Thinking that he

6156-482: The concept, and an advisory board and committee were formed. Those consulted included political scientist Richard Neustadt ; attorney and educator David Riesman ; journalists James C. Thomson Jr. , David S. Broder , J. Anthony Lukas and Dan Rather ; newspaper executives Otis Chandler , Katharine Graham and William O. Taylor II ; researcher Stephen H. Hess ; Foreign Affairs editor James F. Hoge, Jr. ; and television executive Frank Stanton . An endowment fund

6264-412: The convention, McGovern again tried to get Kennedy to take the nod, again without success. McGovern instead chose Kennedy's brother-in-law Sargent Shriver . In 1973, Kennedy's 12-year-old son Edward Kennedy Jr. , was diagnosed with bone cancer ; his leg was amputated and he underwent a long, difficult, experimental two-year drug treatment. The case brought international attention among doctors and in

6372-432: The course of his Senate career, Kennedy made efforts to enact universal health care , which he called the "cause of my life". By his later years, Kennedy had come to be viewed as a major figure and spokesman for American progressivism . On August 25, 2009, Kennedy died of a brain tumor ( glioblastoma ) at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts , at the age of 77. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery . Kennedy

6480-549: The death of Kopechne. A grand jury conducted a two-day investigation in April 1970 but issued no indictment, after which Boyle made his inquest report public. Kennedy deemed its conclusions "not justified." Questions about the incident generated many articles and books during the following years. At the end of 1968, Kennedy had joined the new Committee for National Health Insurance at the invitation of its founder, United Auto Workers president Walter Reuther . In May 1970, Reuther died and Senator Ralph Yarborough , chairman of

6588-445: The deaths of his brothers, Kennedy took on the role of a surrogate father for their children. By some reports, he also negotiated the October 1968 marital contract between Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis . Following Republican Richard Nixon 's victory in November, Kennedy was widely assumed to be the front-runner for the 1972 Democratic nomination. In January 1969, Kennedy defeated Louisiana Senator Russell B. Long by

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6696-502: The defeat had allowed Kennedy to focus more on issues and committee work, where he could exert influence independently from the Democratic party apparatus. Kennedy began a decade as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee . In February 1971, Nixon proposed health insurance reform—an employer mandate to offer private health insurance if employees volunteered to pay 25 percent of premiums, federalization of Medicaid for

6804-446: The federal budget. Kennedy and labor compromised and made the requested changes, but broke with Carter in July 1978 when he would not commit to pursuing a single bill with a fixed schedule for phasing-in comprehensive coverage. Frustrated by Carter's budgetary concerns and political caution, in a December 1978 speech on national health insurance at the Democratic midterm convention, Kennedy said regarding liberal goals that "sometimes

6912-405: The final examination for a science class. At the end of his second semester in May 1951, Kennedy was anxious about maintaining his eligibility for athletics for the next year, and he had a classmate take his place at a Spanish exam. The ruse was discovered and both were expelled for cheating. As was standard for serious disciplinary cases, they were told they could apply for readmission within

7020-558: The first contested primary of the season there and a similar time spent in Wyoming was rewarded when a unanimous vote from that state's delegates put his brother over the top at the 1960 Democratic National Convention . Following his victory in the presidential election, John resigned from his seat as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, but Ted was not eligible to fill the vacancy until his thirtieth birthday on February 22, 1962. Ted initially wanted to stay out west rather than run for office right away; he said, "The disadvantage of my position

7128-429: The full Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee and its Health subcommittee, lost his primary election, propelling Kennedy into a leadership role on the issue of national health insurance . Kennedy introduced a bipartisan bill in August 1970 for single-payer universal national health insurance with no cost sharing , paid for by payroll taxes and general federal revenue. Despite the Chappaquiddick controversy of

7236-555: The fund. In 1966, the Kennedy Library Corporation presented Harvard University with an endowment for the creation of the Institute of Politics. The IOP does not offer formal courses or degree-granting programs. IOP hosts the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, located at Harvard Kennedy School. The forum regularly hosts speeches, debates, and panel discussions. Since its founding in 1978, the Forum has hosted more than 1,000 events, seen by live audiences totaling more than 650,000 people and millions more via cable television, teleconferencing, and

7344-399: The incident and raising doubts about Kennedy's version of events. (The Times would in 1977 describe Chappaquiddick as Kennedy's Watergate. ) In September 1974, Kennedy announced that for family reasons he would not run in the 1976 election, declaring that his decision was "firm, final, and unconditional." Kennedy was up for Senate re-election in 1976 . He defeated a primary challenger who

7452-438: The incident he declared that he would not be a candidate in the 1972 U.S. presidential election . Nevertheless, polls in 1971 suggested he could win the nomination if he tried, and Kennedy gave some thought to running. In May of that year he decided not to, saying he needed "breathing time" to gain more experience and to take care of the children of his brothers, and that "it feels wrong in my gut." Nevertheless, in November 1971,

7560-696: The media, as did the young Kennedy's return to skiing half a year later. Son Patrick was suffering from severe asthma attacks . The pressure of the situation mounted on Joan Kennedy. On several occasions, she entered facilities for treatment of alcoholism and emotional strain, and she was arrested for drunk driving after a traffic accident. In February 1974, Nixon proposed more comprehensive health insurance reform—an employer mandate to offer private health insurance if employees volunteered to pay 25 percent of premiums, replacement of Medicaid by state-run health insurance plans available to all with income-based premiums and cost sharing, and replacement of Medicare with

7668-409: The newborn's godfather, a request his parents honored, though they did not agree to his request to name the baby George Washington Kennedy (Ted was born on President George Washington 's 200th birthday). They named the boy after their father's assistant. As a child, Ted was frequently uprooted by his family's moves among Bronxville, New York ; Hyannis Port, Massachusetts ; Palm Beach, Florida ; and

7776-643: The news to their invalid father, who had had a stroke two years earlier. On June 19, 1964, Kennedy was a passenger in a private Aero Commander 680 airplane that was flying in bad weather from Washington, D.C. to Massachusetts. The plane crashed into an apple orchard in Southampton, Massachusetts , on final approach to the Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield . The pilot and Edward Moss (one of Kennedy's aides) were killed. Kennedy

7884-681: The nomination and polls showing another likely defeat in the New York primary, Kennedy prepared to withdraw from the race. However, partially due to Jewish voter unhappiness with a U.S. vote at the United Nations against Israeli settlements in the West Bank , Kennedy staged an upset and won the March 25 vote by a 59–41 percent margin. Carter responded with an advertising campaign that attacked Kennedy's character in general without explicitly mentioning Chappaquiddick, but Kennedy still managed

7992-578: The party with one of the women, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne . Driving a 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 , he attempted to cross the Dike Bridge, which did not have a guardrail at that time. Kennedy lost control and crashed in the Poucha Pond inlet, a tidal channel. Kennedy escaped from the overturned vehicle, and, by his description, dove below the surface seven or eight times, vainly attempting to rescue Kopechne. Ultimately, he swam to shore and left

8100-410: The poor with dependent minor children, and support for health maintenance organizations . Hearings on national health insurance were held in 1971, but no bill had the support of House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee chairmen Representative Wilbur Mills and Senator Russell Long . Kennedy sponsored and helped pass the limited Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 . He also played

8208-531: The potential to be the best politician in the whole family." On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was presiding over the Senate —a task given to junior members—when an aide rushed in to tell him that his brother, President Kennedy, had been shot . His brother Robert soon told him that the President was dead. Ted and his sister Eunice immediately flew to the family home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, to give

8316-644: The practice as it became a focal point of civil rights efforts. After federal judge W. Arthur Garrity ordered the Boston School Committee in 1974 to racially integrate Boston's public schools via busing, Kennedy made a surprise appearance at a September 1974 anti-busing rally in City Hall Plaza to express the need for peaceful dialogue and was met with extreme hostility. The predominantly white crowd yelled insults about his children and hurled tomatoes and eggs at him as he retreated into

8424-471: The previous year, Kennedy easily won re-election to the Senate in November 1970 with 62 percent of the vote against underfunded Republican candidate Josiah Spaulding , although he received about 500,000 fewer votes than in 1964. In January 1971, Kennedy lost his position as Senate Majority Whip to Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, 31–24, probably because of Chappaquiddick. He later told Byrd that

8532-712: The problem. The conference was co-sponsored by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, as well as Northeastern University. In response to online misinformation, the Shorenstein Center created the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review , a peer-reviewed , open-access journal . The Journalist's Resource is a free reference website based at the Shorenstein Center. It makes leading media research and insights on topical news items available to journalists, bloggers, students and professors. Peer-reviewed research

8640-420: The provision of health care . His wife Joan did the campaigning for him in the regular 1964 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts , and he defeated his Republican opponent by a three-to-one margin. Kennedy was walking with a cane when he returned to the Senate in January 1965. He employed a stronger and more effective legislative staff. He took on President Lyndon B. Johnson and almost succeeded in amending

8748-403: The region might turn to Communism if the U.S. did not reach out to it in a more effective way. Kennedy also began speaking to local political organizations. In the 1962 U.S. Senate special election in Massachusetts , Kennedy initially faced a Democratic Party primary challenge from Edward J. McCormack Jr. , the state Attorney General . Kennedy's slogan was "He can do more for Massachusetts",

8856-490: The same one John had used in his first campaign for the seat ten years earlier. McCormack had the support of many liberals and intellectuals, who thought Kennedy inexperienced and knew of his suspension from Harvard, a fact which became public during the race. Kennedy also faced the notion that with one brother President and another U.S. Attorney General , "Don't you think that Teddy is one Kennedy too many?" But Kennedy proved to be an effective street-level campaigner. His charm

8964-459: The scene of an accident and was given a suspended sentence of two months in jail. That night, he gave a national broadcast in which he said, "I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not report the accident to the police immediately," but he denied driving under the influence of alcohol and also denied any immoral conduct between him and Kopechne. Kennedy asked the Massachusetts electorate whether he should stay in office or resign; after getting

9072-499: The scene, with Kopechne still trapped inside the vehicle. Kennedy did not report the accident to authorities until the next morning, by which time Kopechne's body had already been discovered. Kennedy's cousin Joe Gargan later said that he and Kennedy's friend Paul Markham , both of whom were at the party and came to the scene, had urged Kennedy to report it at the time. A week after the incident, Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving

9180-496: The school's focus, and initially this role was fulfilled by the Harvard Institute of Politics (IOP). In 1974 Jonathan Moore became the institute's director, and under him the IOP sponsored conferences and invited journalists to Harvard as fellows. In 1980 Moore drafted a proposal for a Harvard center on the press, politics and public policy. Kennedy School dean Graham Allison and Harvard president Derek Bok supported

9288-456: The seat available for Ted. Meanwhile, Ted started work in February 1961 as an assistant district attorney at the Suffolk County, Massachusetts District Attorney's Office (for which he took a nominal $ 1 salary ), where he developed a hard-nosed attitude towards crime. He took many overseas trips, billed as fact-finding tours with the goal of improving his foreign policy credentials. On

9396-436: The street helped bring a record-setting victory margin that gave credibility to John's presidential aspirations. Ted graduated from law school in 1959. In October 1957 (early in his second year of law school), Kennedy met Joan Bennett at Manhattanville College ; they were introduced after a dedication speech for a gymnasium that his family had donated at the campus. Bennett was a senior at Manhattanville and had worked as

9504-518: The support of many people who were disillusioned with Carter. During a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago, Kennedy had to wear a bullet-proof vest due to assassination threats, and hecklers yelled "Where's Mary Jo?" at him. In the key March 18 primary in Illinois, Kennedy failed to gain the support of Catholic voters, and Carter won 155 of 169 delegates. With little mathematical hope of winning

9612-502: The tennis team and was in the drama, debate, and glee clubs. Like his father and brothers before him, Ted graduated from Harvard College . In his spring semester, he was assigned to the athlete-oriented Winthrop House , where his brothers had also lived. He was an offensive and defensive end on the freshman football team; his play was characterized by his large size and fearless style. In his first semester, Kennedy and his classmates arranged to copy answers from another student during

9720-419: The time of a January 1968 trip to Vietnam, Kennedy was disillusioned by the lack of U.S. progress, and suggested publicly that the U.S. should tell South Vietnam , "Shape up or we're going to ship out." Ted initially advised his brother Robert against challenging the incumbent President Johnson for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 presidential election . Once Senator Eugene McCarthy 's strong showing in

9828-462: The very poor, and adding catastrophic coverage to Medicare. Neither plan gained any traction in Congress, and the failure to come to agreement represented the final political breach between the two. (Carter wrote in 1982 that Kennedy "ironically" thwarted Carter's efforts to provide a comprehensive health-care system for the country. In turn, Kennedy wrote in 2009 that his relationship with Carter

9936-421: Was "unhealthy" and that "President Carter was a difficult man to convince – of anything." ) Kennedy decided to seek the Democratic nomination in the 1980 presidential election by launching an unusual, insurgent campaign against the incumbent Carter. A midsummer 1978 poll showed that Democrats preferred Kennedy over Carter by a 5-to-3 margin. Through summer 1979, as Kennedy deliberated whether to run, Carter

10044-436: Was able to make a millionaire an underdog" —and with the family political machine's finally getting fully behind him, Kennedy won the September 1962 primary by a two-to-one margin. In the November special election, Kennedy defeated Republican George Cabot Lodge II , product of another noted Massachusetts political family, gaining 55 percent of the vote. Kennedy was sworn into the Senate on November 7, 1962. He maintained

10152-562: Was angry at his support for school busing in Boston . Kennedy won the general election with 69 percent of the vote. The Carter administration years were difficult for Kennedy; he had been the most important Democrat in Washington ever since his brother Robert's death, but now Carter was, and Kennedy at first did not have a full committee chairmanship with which to wield influence. Carter in turn sometimes resented Kennedy's status as

10260-556: Was born on February 22, 1932, at St. Margaret's Hospital in the Dorchester section of Boston, Massachusetts . He was the youngest of the nine children of Joseph Patrick Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald , members of prominent Irish American families in Boston. They constituted one of the wealthiest families in the nation after their marriage. His eight siblings were Joseph Jr. , John , Rosemary , Kathleen , Eunice , Patricia , Robert , and Jean . His older brother John asked to be

10368-488: Was closest to Robert among those in the Kennedy family. Kennedy aide Frank Mankiewicz said of seeing Ted at the hospital where Robert lay mortally wounded: "I have never, ever, nor do I expect ever, to see a face more in grief." At Robert's funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral , Kennedy eulogized his older brother: My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as

10476-749: Was created by the IOP, and other donations came from the Boston Globe , Cox Enterprises , Walter Cronkite and General Electric . In all, these efforts raised $ 5 million for professorships, programs and fellowships. In March 1985, Joan Shorenstein , a producer of the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather , died of cancer at age 38. Her parents, Walter H. and Phyllis J. Shorenstein , were interested in creating an initiative that would honor their daughter's passion for journalism and politics, and spoke with Edward M. Kennedy , Allison, Bok and Moore. The Shorensteins' gave an initial gift of $ 5 million, and

10584-645: Was dropped without explanation after a few weeks. He went to Camp Gordon in Georgia for training in the Military Police Corps . In June 1952, Kennedy was assigned to the honor guard at SHAPE headquarters in Paris, France. His father's political connections ensured that he was not deployed to the ongoing Korean War . While stationed in Europe, Kennedy traveled extensively on weekends and climbed

10692-479: Was elected head of the Student Legal Forum and brought many prominent speakers to the campus via his family connections. While there, his questionable automotive practices were curtailed when he was charged with reckless driving and driving without a license . He was officially named as manager of his brother John's 1958 Senate re-election campaign ; Ted's ability to connect with ordinary voters on

10800-520: Was in part due to the danger; Kennedy reportedly observed, "I know that I'm going to get my ass shot off one day, and I don't want to." Indeed, there were regular death threats made against Kennedy for much of the rest of his career. On the night of July 18, 1969, Kennedy was at Chappaquiddick Island hosting a party for the Boiler Room Girls , a group of young women who had worked on his brother Robert's presidential campaign. Kennedy left

10908-514: Was named director of the Shorenstein Center. Since taking over, he has enhanced the fellowship program, launched initiatives to increase student engagement and broadened the advisory board. The Shorenstein Center is one of the most active programs at the Harvard Kennedy School , and has hosted more than a thousand speakers since 1986. It is currently run by Nancy Gibbs, former editor in chief of Time and former editorial director of

11016-414: Was not intimidated despite his 28 percent approval rating, saying publicly: "If Kennedy runs, I'll whip his ass." Carter later asserted that Kennedy's constant criticism of his policies was a strong indicator that Kennedy was planning to run for the presidency. Labor unions urged Kennedy to run, as did some Democratic party officials who feared that Carter's unpopularity could result in heavy losses in

11124-535: Was on athletic probation during his sophomore year, and he returned as a second-string two-way end for the Crimson football team during his junior year. He barely missed earning his varsity letter . Green Bay Packers head coach Lisle Blackbourn asked him about his interest in playing professional football. Kennedy demurred, saying he had plans to attend law school and "go into another contact sport, politics." In his senior season of 1955, Kennedy started at end for

11232-441: Was only being seen as a stand-in for his brother and that he was not ready for the job himself, and getting an uncertain reaction from McCarthy and a negative one from Southern delegates, Kennedy rejected any move to place his name before the convention as a candidate. He also declined consideration for the vice-presidential spot. Senator George McGovern remained the symbolic standard-bearer for Robert's delegates instead. After

11340-485: Was over. His heart just wasn't in it". The Chappaquiddick incident emerged as a more significant issue than the staff had expected, with several newspaper columnists and editorials criticizing Kennedy's answers on the matter. In the January 1980 Iowa caucuses that initiated the primaries season, Carter demolished Kennedy by a 59–31 percent margin. Kennedy's fundraising immediately declined and his campaign had to downsize, but he remained defiant, saying "[Now] we'll see who

11448-408: Was pulled from the wreckage by fellow Senator Birch Bayh , and spent months in hospital recovering from a severe back injury, a punctured lung , broken ribs and internal bleeding. He suffered chronic back pain for the rest of his life. Kennedy took advantage of his long convalescence to meet with academics and study issues more closely, and the hospital experience triggered his lifelong interest in

11556-441: Was such that one delegate at the party convention said "He's completely unqualified and inexperienced. And I'm going to be with him". In a televised debate, McCormack said "The office of United States Senator should be merited, and not inherited", and said that if his opponent's name was Edward Moore, not Edward Moore Kennedy, his candidacy "would be a joke". Voters thought McCormack was overbearing—a Kennedy supporter said "McCormack

11664-668: Was the Mayor of Boston , a U.S. Congressman, and an early political and personal influence. Ted spent his four high-school years at Milton Academy , a preparatory school in Milton, Massachusetts , where he received B and C grades. In 1950, he finished 36th in a graduating class of 56. He did well at football there, playing on the varsity in his last two years; the school's headmaster later described his play as "absolutely fearless ... he would have tackled an express train to New York if you asked ... he loved contact sports". Kennedy also played on

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