Kennedy: 'Greatest senator' -- Obama

Television note: MSNBC will air a planned documentary, The Kennedy Brothers, at 9 pm EDT tonight, in addition to its already scheduled time of 7 pm Thursday as noted below. CNN's Larry King Live will devote its show at 9 pm EDT tonight to the memory of the senator from Massachusetts.

by Mark Silva and updated at 3 pm EDT

Praise for Sen. Edward M. "Ted'' Kennedy, the last of three Kennedy brothers who captured the American's public imagination in the 1960s and who dominated the Washington debate through the final decades of his nearly 47-year career in the Senate, rolled across party lines today.

The iconic Massachusetts Democrat who died at the age of 77 after a year-long bout with brain cancer was 'the greatest U.S. senator of our time,'' President Barack Obama said today.

"His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws reflected in millions of lives,'' Obama said in a personal statement delivered from a lawn of the Martha's Vineyard retreat where he and his family are vacationing. Obama cited Kennedy's legislative hand in the granting of "dignity'' for senior citizens, educational opportunity for children and hope for "all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just -- including myself.''

"The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party,'' Obama said, "But in the United States Senate I can think of no one who engendered more respect... from both sides of the aisle... That's one of the reasons he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most extraordinary (leaders) to ever serve democracy.''

Obama, whose own campaign for president received a significant early boost with a primary endorsement by Kennedy, spoke at a vacation home not far from the Hyannisport, Mass., Kennedy compound where the senator was convalescing and died.

The president was awakened this morning by Marvin Nicholson, special assistant to the president and White House trip director, at 2 am EDT to inform him of Kennedy's passing. Obama spoke with Kennedy's wife, Vicki, by telephone at 2:25 am.

"The hope still lives, and the dream shall never die,'' Kennedy had said the night that he conceded to a Democratic National Convention that the party had nominated President Jimmy Carter for a second term, rebuffing Kennedy's final bid in 1980 for his party's nomination for the office his brother, John F. Kennedy, had won and brother Robert F. Kennedy had died seeking. Those words were echoed today in the remembrances of Ted Kennedy.

Obama is portrayed in a documentary that MSNBC already has prepared to air about the Kennedy brothers Thursday evening as the newest torch-bearer for dreams that the three Kennedy brothers had carried for five decades of American politics.

"Teddy spent a lifetime working for a fair and more just America,'' Vice President Joe Biden said today. The former and longtime member of the Senate from Delaware and Kennedy colleague called the late senator's wife this morning.

"For 36 years, I had the privilege of going to work every day... and being a witness to history,'' Biden said in an emotional personal statement in Washington. "In that process, every day I was with him, and this is going to sound strange, but he restored my sense of idealism and my faith in the possibilities of what this country can do.... It was infectious... He made everybody he worked with bigger, both his adversaries and his allies...

"He was kind of like an anchor,'' said Biden, speaking at length about the personal comfort that Kennedy had lent him during his own personal tragedies, the loss of his wife and child in a car accident early in his Senate career. "It was never about him, it was always about you..

"We will never see the likes of him again,'' Biden said.

Kennedy, who had served nearly 47 years in the Senate and had made health-care one of his dearest causes in a career marked by success at bipartisan negotiations on major legislation, had been absent for the past several months of the health-care debate.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who had worked with Kennedy in recent years on the passage of an immigration reform bill in the Senate - only to see it fail in the House - had said Sunday that Kennedy's absence had a "huge'' impact on the failure of health-care negotiations to get further than they have.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who flirted with his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, called Kennedy one of the great "liberal Democratic'' senators of all times.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), majority whip in the Senate and one of Obama's earliest and principal supporters in the president's bid for the White House, said that "today there is an empty chair in our Senate and an empty feeling in our hearts.''

Kennedy's "voice roared as he battled for the poor and the victims of injustice yet he had a smile that could light a room, a laugh that would draw a crowd and a heart always ready to share your sorrow,'' Durbin said in a statement issued this morning.

"The liberal lion's mighty roar may now fall silent, but his dream shall never die,'' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement issued by his office this morning: "It was the thrill of my lifetime to work with Ted Kennedy. He was a friend, the model of public service and an American icon...

Reid, attempting to help Obama enact the health-care insurance overhaul that had been one of Kennedy's causes, cited Kennedy's work:

"Because of Ted Kennedy, more young children could afford to become healthy,'' Reid said. "More young adults could afford to become students. More of our oldest citizens and our poorest citizens could get the care they need to live longer, fuller lives. More minorities, women and immigrants could realize the rights our founding documents promised them. And more Americans could be proud of their country.''

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell today called Kennedy "one of the giants of American political life, a longtime Senate colleague, and a friend.'' McConnell (R-Ky.), a fierce adversary in the most recent health-care negotiations, said: "No one could have known the man without admiring the passion and vigor he poured into a truly momentous life. ''

Sen. John Kerry, the junior but also seasoned senator from Massachusetts and Democratic nominee for president in 2004, said in a statement today that "we have lost a great light in our lives and our politics, and it will never be the same again.

""No words can ever do justice to this irrepressible, larger than life presence who was simply the best -- the best senator, the best advocate you could ever hope for, the best colleague, and the best person to stand by your side in the toughest of times....

"He faced the last challenge of his life with the same grace, courage, and determination with which he fought for the causes and principles he held so dear,'' Kerry said of Kennedy. "He taught us how to fight, how to laugh, how to treat each other, and how to turn idealism into action, and in these last fourteen months he taught us much more about how to live life, sailing into the wind one last time.''

"He worked tirelessly to lift Americans out of poverty, advance the cause of civil rights, and provide opportunity to all,'' said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) a close friend of Kennedy. "He fought to the very end for the cause of his life - ensuring that all Americans have the health care they need.

""The commitment to build a stronger and fairer America, a more perfect union, was deeply ingrained in the fiber of who he was, and what he believed in, and why he served,'' Dodd said. "That's why he stands among the most respected Senators in history. But it was his sympathetic ear, his razor wit, and his booming, raucous laugh that made him among the most beloved.''

Kennedy's long absence and now departure from the health-care debate underway was not overlooked in the memorials flowing today.

"As we move forward with health reform legislation, his absence will be palpable.,'' said House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) "But let us use his inspirational words as our guide, to rise to our best ideals and finally provide decent quality health care to all Americans as a fundamental right, not a privilege.''

The bipartisan praise that flowed for Kennedy today was a measure of the impact that the Democrat, the third-longest serving senator of all time, had in decades of lawmaking.

Mitt Romney, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts who had challenged Kennedy for his Senate seat in 1994 and who sought the GOP presidential nomination last year, today called Kennedy a "big-hearted, unforgettable man.

"In 1994, I joined the long list of those who ran against Ted and came up short,'' Romney said. "But he was the kind of man you could like even if he was your adversary.

"I came to admire Ted enormously for his charm and sense of humor - qualities all the more impressive in a man who had known so much loss and sorrow,'' Romney said. "I will always remember his great personal kindness, and the fighting spirit he brought to every cause he served and every challenge he faced.''

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican married to the Kennedy family in his union with Maria Shriver , said today that Kennedy was "the rock of our family: a loving husband, father, brother and uncle. He was a man of great faith and character.

"Teddy inspired our country through his dedication to health care reform, his commitment to social justice, and his devotion to a life of public service,'' Schwarzenegger said. "I have personally benefited and grown from his experience and advice... Teddy taught us all that public service isn't a hobby or even an occupation, but a way of life and his legacy will live on."

Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, a former Republican National Committee chairman retiring after one term in office, praised Kennedy for his work on immigration.

"I came to know him well through our work on immigration reform where he was a tough negotiator, and someone who knew how to reach bipartisan agreement for the good of an issue,'' the Cuban-born Martinez said. "He will be remembered as the Lion of the Senate for his voice, his style, his work, and his allegiance to always do what he thought was best for our country.''

Obama, who had served less than one term as the junior senator from Illinois before election as president last year, said in a written statement issued earlier today: "I valued (Kennedy's) wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've profited as president from his encouragement and wisdom.

"An important chapter in our history has come to an end,' Obama, one of the youngest men elected president, said of the passing of Kennedy, whose brother John had been even younger at election to the White House. "Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time.''

"And the Kennedy family has lost their patriarch, a tower of strength and support through good times and bad,'' Obama said.

Christi Parsons contributed from Oak Bluffs, Mass.