the man called the lion of the senate, ted kennedy of massachusetts, the brother of president kennedy, the last surviving son of the political dynasty is dead tonight at the surviving son of the political dynasty is dead tonight at the age of 77. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

and good evening from hyannisport, massachusetts, the home of the legendary kennedy family compound. it is a quiet collection of homes tonight because it was here last night that an american political era came to an end. senator ted kennedy was the last of the kennedy men and the only one of the four kennedy brothers to die of natural causes. he died here late last night of incurable brain cancer. he was 77 years old. ted kennedy was a legend in american politics and for that matter in this part of the country. he was a lot of things -- a liberal who often reached out to the right, a man of great flaws who became a family leader. he was a towering legislator and president obama today said he was not only one of the greatest senators of our time but one of the all-time great americans. >> few words this morning -- >> his ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and

reflected in millions of lives. in seniors who know new dignity, in families that know new opportunity, in children who know education's promise, and in all who can pursue their dream in an america that is more equal and more just. including myself. >> reaction to the late night news from here spilled out from east to west across this country. it was visible today on flagpoles, lowered to half staff, the condolence book at the nearby kennedy library, and now the process of remembering begins. it's likely no two americans are going to remember ted kennedy quite the same way. tonight we begin here by remembering a colossal american life. from the looks of things it was a wonderful life. he was the son of the american ambassador to great britain, the youngest of nine. he was the toast of the town in london at the age of 6.

>> today the official opening performed by 6-year-old teddy kennedy. >> he was a lucky young man then his luck began to change. his childhood hero was his dashing older brother joe killed in a plane crash in world war ii. his older sister, kathleen, also died in a plane crash soon after the war. his brother jack, the 35th president of the united states, killed by an assassin. so was his brother bobby. his sister rosemary was left incapacitated by a lobotomy, his sister eunice died this summer. it wasn't enough that the surviving brother ted had to watch it all and endure it, but it was all public. we watched him through all of it. >> senator edward kennedy, mrs. kennedy, robert kennedy. >> and no one watching the achingly sad coverage of president kennedy's funeral in november of '63 would ever have dreamed that the kennedy, the

next two american generations would come to know best, would be ted. as the son of parents who moved around a lot, ted kennedy attended ten different schools by the time he was 11. he went to prep school, then harvard. he was good at football, but bad behavior got him thrown out. after two years in the army, he got back in. then went to law school. then the family business. he ran his brother's presidential campaign in the western states before it was his turn. >> if you are talking about too many kennedys, you should have talked to my mother and father at the time when they were getting started. >> at the age of 30, edward kennedy ran for his brother jack's old senate seat where he won despite being called out by his opponent on his qualifications. >> if his name was edward moore, with his qualifications, with your qualifications if it was

edward moore, your candidacy would be a joke. but nobody is laughing. >> early on in his senate career his life almost came to an end. >> misfortune strikes the kennedy family once again. >> flying to a democratic party event in massachusetts in bad weather his small plane crashed. two passengers died. kennedy survived with a broken back. he was pulled from the wreckage by fellow senator bye and was laid up for eight months. he won re-election while recuperating but remained in chronic pain for the rest of his life. then came the public pain of his brother bobby's assassination. >> those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us, what he wished for others, will someday come to pass for all the world. as he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those

he touched and who sought to touch him, "some men see things as they are and say why? i dream things that never were and say why not?" >> if his younger years were marked by tragedy, his later years would be marked by indiscretion. chiefly, chappaquiddick, an island in massachusetts that became shorthand for the unreported death of a young woman. campaign aide mary jo kopechne, he was found guilty only of leaving the scene of an accident. he went on national television to explain himself. >> all kind of scrambled thoughts, all of them confused, some of them irrational, many of them which i cannot recall and some of which i would not have seriously entertained under normal circumstances went through my mind during this period. >> in the years that followed in the senate, ted kennedy made a

decision to bear down and do the work. he concentrated on running the decidedly unsexy labor and public welfare committee. it had a clunky name and yet it did the business that reached deep into american life. and kennedy hired a world class staff. health care reform was always his long-term goal and his stemwinder of a speech to the party in 1978. today sounds like a preview of 2009. >> as long as i have a voice in the united states senate it's going to be for that democratic platform plank that provides decent quality health care north and south, east and west, for all americans as a matter of right and not a privilege! >> his last hope for the presidency for himself died on the stage at the democratic convention in 1980. he had challenged the incumbent president, jimmy carter, and

lost. he went down swinging. he snubbed the president with a cursory handshake. carter later lost to reagan and kennedy gave the speech of his life. >> the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die. >> again returning to his work in the senate, kennedy led the successful fight years later against robert bourke, president reagan's choice for the supreme court. with high drama and hyperbole, kennedy attacked mercilessly. >> robert bourke's america is a land in which women would be forced into back alley abortions. >> years later with americans fighting and dying in iraq, donald rumsfeld got the same treatment. >> in baseball, it's three strikes and you're out. what is it for the secretary of defense? >> the man so often called "the lion of the senate" and he was, was also a whale of a fund

raiser for both parties. democrats craved kennedy's endorsement and for the republicans he was often the perfect target. >> voted with kennedy 85% of the time. >> kennedy's home life was laced with sadness as well. his first wife, joan, years ago, acknowledged her battle with alcoholism. his son, ted jr. lost a leg to cancer. his daughter kara underwent surgery for lung cancer. his son patrick, a congressman has battled substance abuse. kennedy's modern day, low point came in 1991, a late night outing with his son and his nephew william kennedy smith. it resulted in disaster. smith was cleared of raping a local woman after a spectacular and protracted court trial. "time" magazine published a story about the senator's "grotesque image as a boozer." and the event forced an eventual change in his life. he reconnected with family

friend, vicki, a divorced mother of two, the new marriage and new mate settled the senator. it reformed him in a way. he found it easier to talk about his own failings. >> i recognize my own short comings. the falls in the conduct of my private life. >> the irrepressible irishman could never be totally contained. he seemed to attack life. his image as the life of the party was richly deserved. and ted kennedy never met a song he didn't at least try to conquer. without much success. ♪ >> sometimes even when children were present. ♪ itsy-bitsy spider climbs up the water spout ♪ >> late in life ted kennedy took on the role of family patriarch. when his niece got married, when his nephew's plane was lost, ted

was team leader and crisis manager. >> thank you, thank you. >> he proved at the '08 democratic convention he had one last hooray left in him. >> this november, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of americans. the work begins anew. the hope rises again. and the dream lives on! >> he was happiest in the senate and on the water. and when his giant heart stopped beating, a giant life came to an end. and an american era ended. he was the last of the kennedy men and the last prominent post fdr unreconstructed oversized liberal in national politics. the senate produces few lions and the last of the modern era is now gone.

funeral arrangements for ted kennedy are as they say, still being finalized tonight. here is what we know. tomorrow morning, the senator's body will be taken from here by motorcade to the kennedy library in boston where it will lie in repose, prior to a memorial service friday evening. a funeral mass will be held saturday morning in boston after which senator kennedy will be brought to arlington national cemetery where he will be buried not far from brothers robert and john. nbc news by the way will offer live coverage of the mass on this nbc station. when "nightly news" continues in a moment, more on the extraordinary life of edward m. kennedy including a conversation with some long-time friends. ♪ rsepower-generating, ecoboost™ engine in the all-new ford taurus sho that has the thirst of a v6 with the thrust of a v8.

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partners of ours at nbc news. long time boston area journalist, msnbc regular, mike barnacle is here. and doris kearns goodwin, the book "the fits jarldz and the kennedys" brought this family to life for so many readers and americans. doirs, we'll begin with you. very simple question. when people ask you what is ted kennedy like, did you answer? >> i think what i remembered most was this incredible ability to bring work and play together. we used to go vacationing with him in the caribbean. we'd be up having tropical drinks at night. bellowing with stories, and he'd be singing my wild irish rose and go to bed and i would be up sleepily in the morning. he would be out on the deck piles of senate documents in front of him starting to talk we have to talk about immigration reform, we have got to talk about the minimum wage. he was able to connect the two parts of his life amazingly. >> mike, connect him to the neighborhood. growing up as the kid, i remember the black-and-white "life" magazine photos of a

strange breed of people i had never seen them before. they wore their polo shirt collars up, and wore these tweed jackets. ton of hair, ton of teeth. they drove around in convertible, seemed to be living the life. how is he a part of that and this town? >> well, it is an oddity. growing up, you are right. these were creatures with great hair, and straight white teeth and they went to parochial school many of them and went to sunday mass and yet they lived here in this very small community, you could fit the community into an envelope. largely republican, largely conservative republican. and yet this was ted kennedy's home. this was the family home. and politics stopped at the end of scudder avenue, see it behind us. he was a neighbor here. ted kennedy, resident hyannisport here. much more so than he was a liberal, united states senator. >> doris, we said at the top of the broadcast. is it an accurate, an era in american politics ended last

night when his heart stopped beating? >> i think there is no question about that. certainly there may be kennedy children that will stay in public life. but that family, joe kennedy sr.'s family, rose kennedy's family this is gone. the brothers are gone. think about it. joe kennedy jr. dies in world war ii then the responsibility goes on to jack's head. jack dies it goes on to bobby. bobby goes on to teddy. teddy carried it in a way, the caboose of the family, used to call him the little guy, he became the engine of this family, the patriarch of not only the senate but of his family. you know when he was born, jack at 14 wanted to call him george washington because he was born on washington's birthday. think about how much of his life though, washington will be remembering. he is one of the great senators of all time. >> and they're missing quite simply, their neighbor here in hyannisport here tonight. my thanks to you both for coming by. doris kearns goodwin and mike barnacle as they say in this part of the country. when nbc "nightly news" continues here in just a moment. more on the death of senator ted

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advair. now you know. we want now to cover some of the other news of this day. starting with news on the economy tonight. new home sales jumped 9.6% in july. spurred on by lower prices and a rush to lock in that $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers before the deal expires. and this is a big move. new home sales have riz sen fou months in a row. 70% below their peak in '05. wall street was little changed on this trading day. the dow up over 4 points.

we have new numbers on how successful the cash for clunkers trade in program was in the end. the government counts 690,000 clunkers taken off the road, almost $3 billion worth of vouchers submitted by car dealers. on the list of the top five brands of cars that people actually purchased -- the only american based car brand was the ford focus. it has been another bad day for american forces in afghanistan. two more u.s. troops killed today as we have been reporting. august is now on track to be the single deadliest month of the afghan war. at least for u.s. military forces in the region. we also have a consumer recall to report. 5.5 million window blinds and roman shades are being recalled. 5.5 million of them. because three children have been strangled by the cords. the blinds were sold under

various names at ikea, pottery barn, target. national chain stores. we'll put more on our website tonight. we sadly have to report that another prominent american has died, the well known writer dominique dunn. television viewers may remember his rise to prominence while covering the oj simpson trial. but his readers knew him as an accomplished and prolific writer and journalist. he wrote almost a dozen books in his lifetime. and until recently, when he decided to focus on a new novel, he wrote a monthly feature in "vanity fair" magazine zone. he covered often the rich and famous, among others, the kennedy family. when "nightly news" continues tonight. more on our top story here this evening, the death of senator ted kennedy and why for this family, this is the spot they returned to again and again for strength. is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will.

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with the chantix and with the support system, it worked. it worked for me. (announcer) talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you. (announcer) we're back here in hyannis port, massachusetts, on a late summer evening. earlier today the wind was up to 20 knots out of the west. tonight it is hot and humid. it is getting still. neighbors are coming out. it avenue the kind of night when you used to see ted kennedy on

the street on the dock on his sailboat. he was after all a citizen of this town. known by all, if not loved by all, and so the people here today were remembering him. our report tonight from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: hyannisport, the kennedy touch stone for eight decades. the family would travel the world but they always came back to this hamlet by the sea. the kennedy legend forged in touch football games on the manicured lawn. their vitality and come pet nifness on vivid display. it was here they waited through the long election night in 1960 when john the second son won the presidency. >> so now my wife and i prepare for a new administration and for a new baby. thank you. >> reporter: three years later, senator ted kennedy would come here to tell his father the president had been shot. the draw in hyannis port, the water, at every stage of life,

the kennedys sailed. on nantucket sound they found adventure testing their boats and themselves. none more so than ted kennedy. this man crewed for him in races and fun. >> he loved racing. ñ out on that boat for two, three hours and it would just invigorate him. >> reporter: as the second generation of kennedys grew up, the family's familiar rhythm of great joy and great sorrow would continue at the cape. senator kennedy walked caroline down the aisle, here with the pride that neither he nor jackie could contain. a decade later, anguish as he received the body of john jr., who crashed his plane into the waters off martha's vineyard. after the senator's cancer diagnosis, the sea would once again be his refuge. taking long sails on his beloved boat "maya" tonight she stands in silent salute to her captain who now has embarked on what he once called "the next great

voyage." anne thompson, nbc news, hyannis port. and depending on where you're watching this broadcast tonight, for a lot of you we'll be back right after a short break. or after your local programming, for more of our special coverage tonight of the death of senator ted kennedy. if it wasn't air on your nbc station, where you are, it will be on our website. station, where you are, it will be on our website. nightly.msnbc.coco dealer: during the autobahn for all event, you can get great deals. it's perfect. i just want to make sure it's the right decision. future...us? we got here as quick as we could. look it's the cc. you don't pay for scheduled maintenance, you get the car of your dreams...