Ted Kennedy

(with smiles they shared among themselves) the paying guests. Along the redbrick walks of Cambridge, on the gold coast of Mount Auburn Street, in clubs with names like Spee or Fly, the gentleman s C was respectable. In some of the clubhouses or athletes suites, where eggheads and day students grinding for grades might find themselves the subject of mockery, academic indifference was a mark of honor. Yet there were always a few of the legacy sort who, for lack of effort or talent, or temperament, would come to ill starred ends, face suspension, and place the school in an awkward position. Leighton sought, in his letter to Joseph Kennedy, to head this off. While we believe that no students have been admitted to Harvard who do not have the capacity to do good college work, the transition to university conditions is not always easily made, wrote the tactful dean. We ask for your cooperation in notifying us if . . . you have reason to believe your son is having difficulty.

Write us about him, as fully as you are willing, with references to his individual qualities and needs, the dean urged Kennedy, in case he has deficiencies in his earlier education or weaknesses in character or health we ought to know about.

In fact, there was reason for Joseph to believe that Edward Kennedy Ted or Teddy, sometimes Eddie, to family and pals might find the transition difficult. It s not that Ted was not gifted. Far from it. The last of the Kennedy boys was tall and handsome, with a robust physique, arboreal quads, a million dollar grin and an exuberant sense of humor. His thick, wavy dark brown hair would last a lifetime and the mighty Irish jaw was assertive if pr

National Catholic Reporter

In his magnificent, engrossing biography of Ted Kennedy, Farrell captures the full arc of the longtime Massachusetts senator s evolution, from his silken, Darwinian childhood to essential patriarch of his family dynasty. The National Book Review


Engrossing narrative . . . An exemplary study of a life of public service with more than its share of tragedies and controversies. Kirkus (starred review)

Masterful account . . . The book shines in its vivid accounts of backroom political dealmaking, as Farrell enlivens his exhaustive research and expert analysis with a novelist s pacing. The result is the definitive one-volume biography of a consequential American lawmaker. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

With hundreds of books published about the Kennedy dynasty, it may seem that there is nothing new to be learned, yet Farrell s focused and canny research produced a fresh, multifaceted portrait of a man conflicted by history, stalked by demons, and dedicated to ideals. Equitable and discerning, Farrell s nuanced biography is a valuable addition to the Kennedy canon. Booklist (starred review)

Given the volumes that have been written about Ted Kennedy, his family and his legacy it is quite reasonable to think there is nothing you could read that would deepen your view about this legend of a human being. Yet John Farrell s epic account puts the lie to that. It s all here the triumphs, the unspeakable tragedies, the self-inflicted wounds, and the abiding feeling Kennedy had every day that whatever he stood and fought for would eventually outweigh the cloud of fate that followed him across all the years. This might be the best, most honest assessment ever written about the life of a man marked for greatness and grief in equal measure. Mike Barnicle

A stunning achievement by a masterful biographer. Ted Kennedy emerges from the shadows of Kennedy family lore to take center stage at last. John Farrell s prodigiously researched, elegantly written biography offers readers a rounded, no-holds-barred portrait of a flawed, troubled, gifted man of many parts: son, brother, husband, father, politician, statesman, senator, failed presidential candidate, and power broker, stalked from childhood by tragedy and heartbreak, some of it self-inflicted, whose legacy may, in time, equal, if not surpass, that of his brothers. David Nasaw, author of The Patriarch and The Last Million

John Farrell has given us a gripping account of a complex life, one that is inseparable from the complex life of the nation. Farrell goes well beyond the Kennedy myth to give us the man in full his great achievements, his terrible mistakes, his complicated psychology. Louisa Thomas, author of Louisa

We should all be glad that John A. Farrell spent decades thinking about Teddy Kennedy before deciding to write: he has the wisdom to see him in full. He gets it all. I love this book. Lawrence O Donnell, author of Playing with Fire