True Compass: A Memoir
Page 53
Campaigning in Illinois, 1980. Ken Regan/Camera 5
Andy Warhol helped raise $300,000 for the Kennedy for President Committee through the sale of these large red, white, and blue posters. Kerry Kennedy (l) and Jean Kennedy Smith aided the fundraising. Bettmann/Corbis
Shaking hands with Jimmy Carter at the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention, August 14, 1980. Bettmann/Corbis
With President Ronald Reagan at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, to honor my brother Bobby, June 5, 1981. Bettmann/Corbis
With my sister Jean, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, and Pope John Paul II at a Very Special Arts (VSA) performance at the Vatican, January 23, 1985. AP Photo
With Teddy, Kara, and Patrick, Parade magazine cover, 1982. Ken Regan/Camera 5
With Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, John Kennedy, and Caroline Kennedy, at John's graduation from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, June 4, 1983. AP Photo
Giving away the bride at Caroline's wedding, July 19, 1986. Denis Reggie
With the mother of the bride at Caroline's wedding. Denis Reggie
Being introduced by John at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, July 1988. Bettmann/Corbis
Leaving the JFK Library in the snow with Vicki, March 21, 1992. George Rizer/Boston Globe/Landov
Wedding photo, July 3, 1992. Denis Reggie
With Nelson Mandela, deputy president of the African National Congress, at a rally in his honor at the Esplanade in Boston before a crowd of more than 200,000 people, June 25, 1990. AP Photo
With Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, center, and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), talking to reporters on Capitol Hill, September 3, 1997. Dennis Cook /AP Photo
Waving to a crowd gathered in Menemsha Harbor aboard the yacht Relemar with President Bill Clinton, Vicki, Caroline Kennedy, Ed Schlossberg, First Lady Hillary Clinton, Vernon Jordan, and Chelsea Clinton, August 1993. Win McNamee/Reuters
At the wedding of John Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette. Denis Reggie
Little Teddy, winner of Most Improved Sailor award.
With grandkids Grace, Kiley, Ted and Max, Summer 2006.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, April 20, 2006. Stuart Ramson/AP Photo
Dressed as The Grinch for the office Christmas party.
With Splash and Sunny. Denis Reggie
"Daffodils," a painting I made for Vicki.
At the beach. BACK ROW: Caroline, Vicki, Grace, Kara, Patrick, me, Teddy Jr., and Curran. FRONT ROW: Max, Teddy, Kiki, and Kiley. Tom Fitzsimmons
Surrounded by family at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, 2008: Patrick, Curran, Teddy Jr., Kara, Vicki, and Caroline. AP Photo
The 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, August 25, 2008. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times/Redux
My birthday celebration at the Kennedy Center, March 8, 2009. President Obama joins host Bill Cosby, Frederica von Stade, Lizz Wright, Denyce Graves, and James Taylor onstage to sing "Happy Birthday." Chris Usher/UPI/Landov
With Michelle Obama at the Kennedy Center birthday celebration. Margot Schulman
The Figawi Race: Karl Anderson, EMK Jr., David Nunes, Patrick, me, John Strachan, Kiki, Sen. Chris Dodd, and Vicki.
Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day at Fenway Park in Boston, April 7, 2009. Elise Amendola/AP Photo
Discussing the signing of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, with President Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, April 21, 2009. Brooks Kraft/Corbis
On the grounds of the White House, April 21, 2009. Pete Souza/MAI /Landov
Acknowledgments
The greatest blessing to me of my more recent years has been my wife Vicki's presence in my life. Indeed, I would never have engaged in this endeavor had she not helped me to talk more openly about feelings that had long since been shut away. Our conversations are long, our banter is fast, and her humor keeps life fun. Words are very much a part of our lives, but it is also the quiet moments when, hand in hand, we invite the stillness in, which truly sustains my faith and touches my heart.
Vicki understood the story I wanted to tell before I did. She helped me address aspects of my life I'd never expressed to anyone before, and she gave me the guidance and confidence to proceed.
This project began in 2004 at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, where I have worked closely with James Sterling Young, the director of the Edward M. Kennedy Oral History Project. The oral history served as a basis for many additional conversations with my collaborator on this project, Ron Powers, and my editor, Jonathan Karp.
Ron's gifts as a prose stylist were immediately apparent to me from his acclaimed biography of Mark Twain. Over the past two years, he has infused my stories with his gift for language, his humor, his intelligence, and his compassion. It has been an honor to work with such a dedicated and talented writer.
The judgment and integrity of my attorney Robert Barnett is a matter of fact. He has been a consummate adviser and literary representative in every aspect of this process.
At the Hachette Book Group, we are especially grateful to Chief Executive Officer David Young for supporting this project. Jamie Raab, the publisher of Grand Central Publishing, has been an enthusiastic advocate from our first meeting, and we are deeply grateful for her passion and conviction throughout this process. My publisher and editor, Jonathan Karp, understood this book from the beginning and has been a wise counselor every step of the way. He has prodded me, questioned me, coaxed me, and helped me tell my story in a way that was honest and true to myself. Jon is brilliant and talented, and working with him has been a real gift.
Brendan O'Malley, PhD, and a true son of Boston's Irish community, provided masterful historic research and fact-checking; his talents added immeasurably to the work.
I'm deeply grateful to my friend and attorney Greg Craig who was also part of our team, providing, as always, superb advice and sound judgment.
Thanks as well to Deneen Howell for her outstanding legal work.
Judy Campbell and Caroline Gannon facilitated the many meetings and interviews that went into the writing of this book, and they kept my papers organized. I could not have completed the book on time without them.
Bob Shrum and Linda Semans Donovan joined together to interview me (Bob) and film me (Linda) about the book, and they produced a superb short film. I thank them both for their amazing talent, enormous contribution to the project, and most of all, for decades of friendship.
I am deeply grateful to Stephanie Cutter for all of her advice and assistance. She is the consummate professional and a master of communications.
Jim Young conducted the oral history interviews that formed the basis of much of the book. With his insight as an historian, he prodded me to think about aspects of my life and public service in new and deeper ways.
Kathy Kruse has been a liaison, organizer, facilitator and all around magician. In addition, she and Diane Pyles have been indispensable in gathering photographs from our home collection.
This book was enhanced and improved by the contributions of several outstanding public servants who are my former and present staff members, who worked on some of the issues and events covered in the book and took some of their private time to review relevant passages of the book to help confirm my recollection. I give a warm and sincere thanks to George Abrams, Jeff Blattner, David Burke, Phil Caper, James Flug, Larry Horowitz, Paul Kirk, Nick Littlefield, Michael Myers, David Nexon, Barbara Souliotis, Trina Vargo, and Sharon Waxman. I also thank Eric Mogilnicki for his help along the way and Carey Parker for the indispensable role he's played in every aspect of my public life since 1970.
Special thanks to: Twelve's superb director of publicity, Cary Goldstein; art director Anne Twomey; Denis Reggie, the extraordinary photographer (and my brother-in-law) who shot the cover photo; managing editor Bob Castillo; copy editor Roland Ottewell; interior designer Ellen Rosenblatt, production m
anager Tom Whatley; indexer Kay Banning; photo researcher Kristine Smith; chief operating officer Kenneth Michaels; production director Antoinette Marotta; advertising director Martha Otis; sales director Christine Barba; counselors Eric Rayman and Carol Ross; Joe Gargan; Twelve assistants Colin Shepherd and Laura Lee Timko; typist Meredith Fletcher of Castleton College; transcribers Connie Procaccini and Gary Girton; literary agent Jim Hornfischer (who represented Ron Powers); Ron's wife, Honoree Fleming; and everyone else at Hachette and beyond who has contributed to bringing this book to you.
Bibliography
We consulted many books and magazine articles in our research, and we gratefully acknowledge the following works.
Bradlee, Ben. Conversations with Kennedy. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1975.
------. A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Branch, Taylor. America in the King Years. 3 vols. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988-2006.
Bronner, Ethan. Battle for Justice: How the Bork Nomination Shook America. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989.
Burns, James MacGregor. Edward Kennedy and the Camelot Legacy. New York: W. W. Norton, 1976.
Cameron, Gail. Rose: A Biography of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. New York: Putnam, 1971.
Cannelos, Peter S., ed. The Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009.
Clarke, Thurston. The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America. New York: Henry Holt, 2008.
Clymer, Adam. Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography. New York: William Morrow, 1999.
Dallek, Robert. An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Drew, Elizabeth. A Reporter at Large, "1980: Kennedy." The New Yorker, February 4, 1988, 42-95.
Fink, Gary. "Fragile Alliance: Jimmy Carter and the American Labor Movement." In The Presidency and Domestic Policies of Jimmy Carter, edited by Herbert D. Rosenbaum and Alexej Ugrinsky. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.
Gordon, Colin. Dead on Arrival: The Politics of Health Care in Twentieth-Century America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Hersh, Burton. The Shadow President: Ted Kennedy in Opposition. South Royalton, VT: Steerforth Press, 1997.
Honan, William H. Ted Kennedy: Profile of a Survivor. New York: Quadrangle, 1972.
Kennedy, Edward M. America Back on Track. New York: Viking, 2006.
------. In Critical Condition: The Crisis in America's Health Care. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972.
------. The Fruitful Bough: A Tribute to Joseph P. Kennedy. Halliday Lithograph Corporation, 1965. Printed for private distribution.
Kennedy, Rose Fitzgerald. Times to Remember. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974.
Lippman, Theo, Jr. Senator Ted Kennedy: The Career Behind the Image. New York: Norton, 1976.
Lukas, J. Anthony. Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families. New York: Knopf, 1985.
Mudd, Roger. The Place to Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News. New York: PublicAffairs, 2008.
Nesi, Michael. "Lion in Winter: Edward M. Kennedy in the Bush Years; A Study in Senate Leadership." Honors thesis submitted to the political science department of Wheaton College, Norton, MA, May 19, 2007.
O'Brien, Michael. John F. Kennedy: A Biography. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005.
Perlstein, Rick. Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. New York: Scribner, 2008.
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. Journals: 1952-2000. New York: Penguin, 2007.
------. Robert Kennedy and His Times. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978.
------. A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965.
Sherrill, Robert. The Last Kennedy. New York: Dial, 1976.
Shrum, Robert. No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.
Smith, Amanda, ed. Hostage to Fortune: The Letters of Joseph P. Kennedy. New York: Viking, 2001.
Stevenson, James. A Reporter at Large, "Senator from Massachusetts." The New Yorker, August 25, 1975, 52-77.
Talbert, Jeffrey C., Bryan D. Jones, and Frank R. Baumgartner. "Nonlegislative Hearings and Policy Changes in Congress." American Journal of Political Science 29, no. 2 (May 1995): 383-405.
Thomas, Evan. Robert Kennedy: His Life. Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Walsh, Elsa. A Reporter at Large, "Kennedy's Hidden Campaign." The New Yorker, March 31, 1997, 66-81.
Weiner, Tim. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. New York: Doubleday, 2007.
Young, Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
For information about a signed,
leather-bound limited edition of
True Compass,
go to www.twelvebooks.com
ABOUT TWELVE
TWELVE was established in August 2005 with the objective of publishing no more than one book per month. We strive to publish the singular book, by authors who have a unique perspective and compelling authority. Works that explain our culture; that illuminate, inspire, provoke, and entertain. We seek to establish communities of conversation surrounding our books. Talented authors deserve attention not only from publishers, but from readers as well. To sell the book is only the beginning of our mission. To build avid audiences of readers who are enriched by these works--that is our ultimate purpose.
For more information about forthcoming TWELVE books, please go to www.twelvebooks.com.
* Quoted passages are from Times to Remember by Rose Kennedy, and my father's letters, published in Hostage to Fortune, edited by Amanda Smith. See the bibliography for elaboration.