There is a time in our lives when all of us, even those who call ourselves “independents”, make a turn to the left or right…at least, we lean one way or the other. For me, that juncture occurred in Washington, DC, in the mid to late 1960’s. The process started as I was finishing high school and going away to college. My father, a career army officer, had taken an assignment at the Pentagon and he encouraged me to get a summer internship on Capitol Hill. It was the Kennedy Administration and little did I, or my very-Republican father for that matter, realize how those years in DC would change my life and outlook.
My grandfather was a state leader in the Republican Party and had plenty of “good ol’ boy” contacts in DC so somehow I ended up as a Capitol Hill Intern. I spent summers and then a year as an intern before getting my first assignment as a legislative liaison. Simply stated, and it’s really not so simple, that job entails being assigned to congressional offices and helping write legislation that they are sponsoring. That first assignment was in the office of the new senator from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy. You were admonished if you didn’t call him Ted. He was barely in his 30’s and treated the entire staff as compatriots…he liked that word and used it a lot.
It was such an exciting time in DC. There was electricity surging through us all that made everything going on there seem earthshaking. I would spend many of my lunch hours in the Senate gallery watching history being made. I would often pass by Ted and his brother Bobby standing outside in the hall strategizing before they entered the chamber to speak or vote. The cadre of people that JFK brought to Washington with him was amazing. Each person fit the job they were given so well. And both Ted and Bobby made their presence known very quickly…Bobby in issues of civil rights and Ted in health care.
The first piece of legislation that I helped write was about health insurance and government reform…sound familiar? It was a small step but it moved the needle closer to the green “go” zone. It took two months to write and I was part of team that was laboring over every word. We met often with Ted and his colleague Birch Bayh, who he admired and respected. We debated. We argued over words. We were demoralized by the committees that wanted to change everything we had done. We laughed when we slipped something in that didn’t get noticed by the opposition. Ted made us feel a part of every step. He recommended books and even music that would push us down different roads to reach our goal. And he worked harder than anyone to see the process through, even though he was encountering twists and turns that he’d never seen before.
That small piece of legislation moved through the system and caused a change in the government’s support of hospital care for the underserved. We had a celebration in the office when we received the word. Ted Kennedy came up to me and asked if this was my first bill project. I said it was. He put his arm around me and said “Things just don’t get any better than this.” If I was leaning before that, it was then that I made a hard left turn in my life. Somehow I understood that we could make a difference in people’s lives and that change comes in small steps but every one counts. And Ted Kennedy became the master at making every piece of legislation count. He had no peer.
When I heard the news today of Ted Kennedy’s passing, I thought back to that time in the 60’s when the world was fresher and cleaner and safer. The Kennedy family changed our world. They pushed us down new roads as a country and a people. Ted and his brothers changed my view of life forever. I was able to stick my toe into the Clinton Administration and it was special. I envy those who are part of the Obama years. These are very exciting and challenging times. But when I think back over that time in the 60’s as Ted Kennedy and his family and friends came on the scene, things really haven’t gotten any better than that. Thanks, Ted, “the dream will never die”.
Dan Mc
