1. I'm Steve Ember. And I'm Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Senator Edward Kennedy. He served in the United States Senate from the state of Massachusetts for almost forty-seven years. 2. He was one of its longest-serving and most influential members. He was the Senate's leading liberal Democrat. But his life was filled with tragedy as well as success.
3. Edward Kennedy was a member of the most famous political family in America. He was born in nineteen thirty-two in Boston, Massachusetts. Known as Ted or Teddy, he was the youngest of nine children born to the Irish Catholic family of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. His father was a wealthy businessman with powerful connections.
4. During his childhood, the future senator attended ten different schools in several cities before he started college. He attended Harvard University as had his father and brothers. He served two years in the Army in the nineteen fifties. Then he attended law school at the University of Virginia.
5. Joseph Kennedy told his friends that his sons would one day run for president. The oldest son, Joseph Kennedy Junior, was expected to be the first to do so. But he was killed in nineteen forty-four during service as a Navy pilot in World War Two. The second oldest son, John Kennedy, became president in nineteen sixty-one.
6. The next year, Edward Kennedy was elected to the Senate seat formerly held by his brother John. John Kennedy was killed in nineteen sixty-three after only two years as president.
7. In nineteen sixty-eight, Robert Kennedy, a senator from New York, sought the Democratic nomination for president. He was killed in Los Angeles after winning the primary election in California. Edward Kennedy spoke at his brother Robert's funeral:
8. EDWARD KENNEDY: "My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as 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."
9. After the death of Robert, the youngest Kennedy brother became the family's political leader. It first appeared that he might have a clear path to the White House. But those hopes ended in nineteen sixty-nine.
10. Senator Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. A passenger in his car, Mary Jo Kopechne, was killed. The car sank in the water but Ted Kennedy was able to escape. He left the accident and waited hours before he reported it to the police.
11. A week later, he pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving an accident and was given a two-month suspended sentence. This incident greatly harmed his public image. Ted Kennedy asked voters in Massachusetts whether he should resign from the Senate. He received thousands of messages telling him not to quit.
12. In nineteen eighty, he sought the Democratic presidential nomination. But Democrats nominated President Jimmy Carter for a second term. Defeated for the nomination, Senator Kennedy spoke at the Democratic Convention.
13. EDWARD KENNEDY: "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
14. After the deaths of his brothers, Ted Kennedy became the head of his extended family. He acted like a father to his thirteen nieces and nephews, the children of his dead brothers.
15. Through the years he dealt with many family problems. His son Teddy lost his leg to cancer at the age of twelve in nineteen seventy-three. His other children, Patrick and Kara, also had health problems. He and his wife Joan ended their marriage in nineteen eighty-two.
16. Three of Mister Kennedy's nephews died young and tragically. Another was tried and found not guilty of rape charges in nineteen ninety-one. The senator was called to testify at the trial.
17. Edward Kennedy had his own problems with drinking and women. But his life became more steady after he remarried. He married Victoria Reggie in nineteen ninety-two.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário