he was a different man than t teddy kennedy was. they didn't grow to teddy kennedy's age. vickie changed him from the character he was in the 1980s. he had the opportunity to develop all through life. as john meacham said, there are a lot of mistakes and blunders done wrong in that life, and an awful lot that was done right. >> mistakes and of course, that's too often we underline all the mistakes people make in public life and we don't, again, especially, i think this is the time. let's not enlarge him in death. at the same time, everybody in washington, d.c., i think mike barnicle, he's a unique character this way. everybody in washington, d.c., that knew ted kennedy, everybody that worked with him had wonderful things to say about him. it's the last line that he hung on his wall. it is, if only america knew the real ted kennedy. you have been on the phone with somebody that knows ted kennedy. known him for a long time. >> vice president of the united states. i'm sure vice president biden wouldn't mind my telling about this. he called about, you know, he's stunned and sad

and here i was an irish-catholic kid from scranton, pennsylvania, who only thought of teddy kennedy innother specialist from boston, massachusetts, one of your great hospitals. sitting next to me, who i never asked for and didn't know i needed, but i needed. he was the prod who convinced me to -- to go to the senate because i had told my governor after that election, the governor-elect to be precise, my brother did that we were going to appoint someone else that i didn't want to go to the senate. and it was your brother who came to see me to tell me that i owed it to my deceased wife and my children, at least to be sworn in and stay for at least six months. and when i got to the senate, he would literally come by once or twice a week to my office in the middle of the afternoon and i didn't want to be there, i wanted to get home, i didn't want to be around. and john, he took me for the first time i ever went to the senate gym. he'd come by and take me to the senate gym. i'll never forget the first time he took me. i hadn't met any of these famous players. i got sworn in late compared to

if you met teddy kennedy, if you knew teddy kennedy, if you encountered teddy kennedy, at wake or doughnuts doughnut shop on tremont street in boston, you would like the man. if you like the man, it is pretty easy to get along from that point on. >> you know, this morning in "the new york times," they -- they have an article, bill delahunt, about how the big irish families are going the way of the kennedys. they are no more. certainly not as many as there used to be. i wonder, though, what we are hearing about ted kennedy and what i love so much about you. is this an irish politician? is this something that is in the dna? is this something that you learned growing up in boston? >> you know, joe, as i said earlier, you know, the -- the kennedy extended family went far beyond kinship. there are so many people that i have encountered in the past several days that have told the different anecdotes. they felt really -- kennedy was their father. a surrogate father. i mean, this is not hyperbole. it is not exaggeration. he just had a capacity and an ability to touch everybody and to bring them in

but ted kennedy, i want to make sure that school in boston reminds everybody how hard teddy fought forse things. vickie and family, thanks, thank you for who you are. thank you. >> john culver was a harvard classmate of senator kennedy's, football teammate, worked in his senate office, moved back home to iowa, served in the congress of the united states, and then the senate of the united states. great friend for a long time, john culver. >> thank you very much, paul. to vickie who as orrin hatch said was the love of ted's life. to his sister jean smith who always told me that she was ted's favorite sister. [laughter] >> and to all the children, ted's children, vickie's children, and all the extended kennedy family, in a real sense everyone here in the room who i think feels very strongly part of that extraordinary family. it was in the winter, i believe, of 1975 and ted called me and said i'd like you to come up to boston with me and they suggested several sites for the john f. kennedy museum and library and i'd like you to come along, so i did. i remember it was a winter day, rather c

and here i was an irish catholic kid from scranton, pennsylvania, who only thought of teddy kennedy andund, literally, vicki, there was another specialist from boston, massachusetts, one of your great hospitals, sitting next to me. who i had never asked for and didn't know i needed, but i needed. he was the prod who convinced me to go to the senate, because i had told my governor after that election, the governor-elect, to be precise, my brother did, to appoint someone else. i didn't want to go to the senate. and it was your brother who came to see me and to tell me that i owed it to my deceased wife and my children to at least be sworn in and stay for at least six months. when i got to the senate, he would come by once or twice a week. i didn't want to be there. i wanted to get the hell home. i didn't want to be around. and john took me the first time i went to the senate gym. he would come by and take me to the senate gym. i remember the first time he took me. i had never seen any of these players. i got sworn in late. i'll never forget walk into the senate gym and him introducing me

as the obituaries are being prepared, is it possible to separate teddy kennedy from the kennedy story or is it all kind of one big story rolled into one? >> reporter: well, it's going to be very difficult to separate. i mean, certainly as senator kennedy has his own story of what he has done for his state. the money he has brought to massachusetts. again, going back to what i said, what he has done for sort of the less -- you know, the people who are hurting the most in communities. certainly he is part of that kennedy mystique. he was always the face in recent years whenever there was tragedy in the kennedy family, whenever there are funerals, he was always sort of the strong one there supporting the widow, supporting, you know, the other family members who were going through a difficult time. he always seemed so strong. that is something that i don't think you can separate. he is, you know, a kennedy. at the end of the day that's what he is. you can look at what he has done on capitol hill. look at what he has done here in the state of massachusetts. you can't separate that from the

what you see in teddy kennedy's life is a result of more than 40 years at the task. the long, hard work of more than 40 years putting his name up over 500 pieces of legislation. working on more than 2,500 bills. there is something to be said about people who sort of work at the task. over a full lifetime. the accomplishments that come not just in a flash but that long, arduous work that comes from real dedication. >> well said, david gergen. thanks to you. >> thank you. >> let's go back to chad real quick to see if we can get a sense of what's going on with the motorcade itself. look at the people that are lining the route who are stopped to watch the senator go by. >> it is interesting. i guess, chad, he is going to his mother's church where we understand there might be a brief stop, not positive. we'll watch it if it happens. then, he is going on to faneuil hall and jfk library and museum. >> and driving over the rose kennedy garden there in downtown boston, the green space there. starting down here, hyannis port, traveling up pilgrim's highway past plymouth. we ca

i was just an irish catholic kid from scranton pennsylvania who only thought of teddy kennedy and there you was on the phone. -- here he was on the phone. he called me in the hospital almost every day. i turned around, literally, there is another specialist from boston, mass. sitting next to me. i did not ask for them, and i did not know i needed them. he was the prod that convinced me to go to the senate, because i had told my governor after that election, that we're going to appoint someone else and i did not want to go to the senate. your brother came to see me and said i owed it to my deceased wife and children to be sworn in. and stay for at least six months. and when i got to the senate, he would literally come by once or twice a week to my office in the middle of the afternoon. i did not want to be there. i wanted to get the hell home. he took me aside and said -- and he would take me to the senate gym. this was the first time i met any of these players. i got sworn in late. i'll never forget walking in and him introducing me to senators who were stark naked. i remember oh, my

this morning, teddy kennedy, these two leaders shared that in common. didn't notice. aybe that's why ted kennedy was tr like that. >> they both noticed. they didn't carry the easy resentment that comes too quickly now in politics and in the media. explode in public. they didn't have that about them. >> yeah. is pat buchanan still with us? talk about that? again, you knew ted kennedy and worked with ronald reagan. you wouldn't usually team them together, but there were quite a few similarities. >> sure in terms of what mike was talking about. there's no bitterness, no sin similar in ronald reagan. n n none at all. he was a popular kid. loved life. goes hollywood becomes a movie start. a troubled first marriage. he didn't go through the tragedies and jolts and tremendous hits that teddy kennedy took when he was a boy, when his brother was killed in the war, jack kennedy and his other brother bobby killed within five years of each other. he's 36 years old and everybody saying you must run for president of the united states. kennedy went through a troubled life and didn't

are you a little bit surprised that with teddy kennedy, not to say he is a visitor in washington, but obviously a lot of people here don't have any particular ties, any hometown ties to ted kennedy. are you surprised at the outpouring of respect and affection for him here? >> no. i think all americans love a good story. the kennedys are an epic story. you heard from some people that they're there to witness history, even the ones who do not make the connection personally to ted or did i think that's part of it. i think this is a chapter, a really significant chapter what happens next the kennedys is debatable, but this is a significant event, and i think it captivates americans. he was certainly -- the things he was involved in, the achievements in his life, were far beyond massachusetts. it doesn't surprise me. >> julie: i have to ask you janice, as an on the sunday boston globe, it was my first job out of college, as the paper been going crazy the last few days? >> crazy, i don't. there is a word actually to express it. but there is so much going on so much pride in the state right

intensive care unit to see me when my life was 1 foot in the grave and another on a banana peel, teddy kennedye to fort wayne to see about his friend, vernon jordan. in july of 1980, when i was still in the new york hospital recovering from that, ted kennedy was campaigning in the bronx. i heard it on the radio and saw it on television. before the afternoon was over, unexpectedly, he was in room 1719 at new york hospital to visit and give comfort to his friend, vernon jordan. he was incredibly compassion that -- compassionate when it came to his friends. he was one who was not only sympathetic, but he would stand by you and prompt you what -- and prompt you up when you were leaving. i will never forget those hospital visits. tavis: you referenced 1980. that was the year that he decided to run against jimmy carter. he was trying to wrest the democratic nomination from then- president jimmy carter. let me ask you specifically what kennedy did in that race. >> i think it created a kind of ambivalence. we had elected carter in 1976. the black vote made a huge difference in putting him in the white

hatch came to the senate with the idea of stopping teddy kennedy, as he put it, directly stopping teddyennedy because he represented so much of the eastern liberal establishment and its push for issues like health care. before you knew it, teddy kennedy was working with orrin hatch. that was just how effective he was at working together on things that they could agree on and actually got through cobra, for example, to help out of work people buy health insurance. and wic, women, infant and children programs. things like that is what ted kennedy has been so effective in doing, and i think if anybody could get some senators to support a public option, he could do it. right now there aren't enough votes for the public option in the senate. >> susan, i have a bias here and i'm allowed to have a bias. i believe in national health insurance, but i believe it could be done incrementally and i think it should be done workably. i'm not one of those who believes it's better to die in a good cause than to succeed. i have watched that happen with ted kennedy refusing to deal with nixon back when he

i was just an irish catholic kid from scranton pennsylvania who only thought of teddy kennedy and theere you was on the phone. -- here he was on the phone. he called me in the hospital almost every day. i turned around, literally, there is another specialist from boston, mass. sitting next to me. i did not ask for them, and i did not know i needed them. he was the prod that convinced me to go to the senate, because i had told my governor after that election, that we're going to appoint someone else and i did not want to go to the senate. your brother came to see me and said i owed it to my deceased wife and children to be sworn in. and stay for at least six months. and when i got to the senate, he would literally come by once or twice a week to my office in the middle of the afternoon. i did not want to be there. i wanted to get the hell home. he took me aside and said -- and he would take me to the senate gym. this was the first time i met any of these players. i got sworn in late. i'll never forget walking in and him introducing me to senators who were stark naked. i remember oh, my

the proceedings will go on at 5:30 tomorrow evening at arlington where teddy kennedy will get his final resting place alongside his brothers, bobby kennedy and president john f. kennedy. trace: we will have much more on that later. in the meantime, will the death of senator kennedy help or hurt democrats and health care debate? the political wrangling over his senate seat began even before he died. the democrats want to change an important role, except it is the same rules they did not want to change back in 2004. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed. mom: that's why i go to walmart. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices. vo: like dell, hp and toshiba. save money. live better. walmart. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time. she is the greatest thing ever. woman: one little smile, one little laugh.

he finally said the death of the fourth brother, meaning teddy kennedy, he said this was almost anotherthe office for the tv news. >> that's a little casual, i would say, but certainly teddy kennedy story invariably went back to john f. kennedy and bobby kennedy and that footage is moving. i was actually born in cambridge, massachusetts. i was there on president kennedy was shot in 1963. not in dallas in massachusetts. it was an unbelievable emotional weight -- way that even a five year old could figure out where was going and how powerful it was. our media are legitimately tapping into the opportunity to talk about the history of the last 50 years this country as well as teddy kennedy himself. >> we heard a lot about the liberal line this week are good was there enough work done to go beyond the clichÉs to make them more and communal, a paper figure i guess question mark stack i think so. i think a lot of stories point out that was really only after he was unable to explain to roger mudd why he wanted to be president in an infamous interview and after the joke of acne that's what happe

can't you ask teddy kennedy to come and speak, too? i said, i don't know, i will ask him. ant you to come out and go sailing with me, do this, i said, great. i said, ted, i have a favor to ask of you. he said, you do, what is that? i said, you remember frank metz and, my administrative assistant. he said, good guy, good guy. i said, he is now the mission president of the mormon church, 200 young mormon missionaries in boston, massachusetts. my home town. i said, yeah. [laughter] forgive me. i have asked vicki to forgive me already. he said, what about it? i said, well, he would like you and me to come up and speak to his young missionaries. he said, done, just like that. i said, i have another favored ask you. he said, what is that? well, he would like to get you to get nothing. he said, done! the next day, got into the office and i got this nice letter from teddy and i got it to him. i saw him later in the day and he was reading the letter and his hands were shaking. he said, what else did i agree to that night? [laughter] [applause] >> i try telling these things my eyes s

kennedy family. that is where they are here today. to them, he is on call teddy -- uncle teddy. we have a bus backing up at the end of the street. it is a 70-mile journey that the motorcade will be making as it leaves the kennedy compound here in hyannis port and travels up through route 6 before it finally reaches boston. right now, the barnstable police are waiting to get on their motorcycles. they are among those who will be part of this motorcade and ensure that is a safe journey up to boston. we're waiting for them to hop on their vehicles. back to you. martha: it is worth mentioning that in this house -- this is where the final decision was made for jack kennedy to run for president. some of the biggest decisions in the political lives of this family, two runs at the presidency for teddy kennedy and his brothers. the biggest moment for those decisions happened right here. you see the pictures of the football fans back when president kennedy on the lawn in front of the compound. you're watching history -- whatever side of the aisle you stand on, you were clearly watching his

we need what teddy kennedy has gen us. we nd what he has left us.ope that we will get many more like him. tavis: filly, for those who will take annterest in the nobility ofublic service, what is the abing lesson thate ought to take from the life and legacy of ted keedy? >> he showed us the wa he was an exame, 4 glorious years in the united stes sene, and he served well,e served long we are the beneficiaries of tha service. tavi a great lder inis own right, vernon jordan, with his thoughts about edward kenndy o massachusetts. mr. jordan, thank you for the opportunity. >> any time, my friend. tavis: also, i spoke with douglabrinkley. your tughts on the life and legacy of ted knedy? >> this past year, he did an oral history prect in virgia which will be healthy -- which will be a help desk doars. ere will be a lot of new informationhere. this is a legislativeiant. people talk aot about john kennedy and bobby kenned ted kennedy fought for the -- fought for the disenfranchised anthe poor and elderly. he has been pushing for universal health care since al

the succession law that teddy kennedy wanted is crucial. vicki kennedy actually called the state senate president, to lobby for this law. and it does appear that the opposition in the house and the senate to this bill is receding, just a bit. both the speaker of the house and the senate president, have pledged to took at it. >> might be a decision sooner than we think. what about health care? we've been hearing in the last 24 hours, win one for the gipper. we've heard talk of naming a health care reform bill after senator kennedy. >> that's robert byrd. he's called kennedy the heart and soul of the senate. i think democrats want to do that. especially his best friend in the senate, chris dodd, who is likely to take his seat now permanently, as chairman of that health committee. but this debate has been fierce all across the country. sympathy for ted kennedy is there. i don't think it's going to fundamentally change the dynamic of the debate, based on my reporting. >> thanks to you, george. >>> i want to go back to chris now. he had a chance

the same thing was true with teddy kennedy as he went back to hyannis port.ing today, some 87 members of his family in buses and cars, according to the press. neighbors who turned out with their dogs, kids and bikes. it was a sense of neighborhood and losing a neighbor that i think was quite moving as the motorcade began and now has this next stage in boston where john king is. >> john, you spoke to senator kennedy's wife, vicki, his nephew, rfk jr. i want to play some of what he said about his uncle. let's play that. >> i think teddy ultimately had a wonderful life and he was just a naturally happy person. he felt a pain, he was engaged in his life. >> john, what are the events over the next several days? >> reporter: anderson, let me start with the event still going on. there are thousands waiting. the doors are supposed to close in more than a half hour. it will not. they will keep it open. there are thousands waiting. this is the most diverse crowd i've seen, young and old, brown and asian, many in wheelchairs and walkers. they're coming to pay their fina

teddy kennedy has been pushing for universal health care since almost day one in the senate in 1962.had the full wind at his back pushing for voting rights, civil rights. he is an unambiguous liberal icon, an american icon an international icon, who even went to south africa and spent time with bishop tutu in the release he did days of apartheid and came back and announced the apartheid regime there. everything teddy kennedy did their that the stamp of caring about people and he is one of our great political figures. tavis: you know that we have these at inflow conversations about liberalism, the "l" word, and for the balance of his career he never shied away from the word. what do you make of that? >> that is right, and he was important for the democratic party. bill clinton said he was a new democrat, people played with the word progressive. he was a proud liberal. he thought it was part of the tradition of theodore roosevelt 's new nationalism and fdr's new deal and lyndon johnson and great society. he was a proud liberal. now liberal is back in vogue. barack obama has really lear

the beauty and why the kennedy family and why teddy in particular was so drawn. this really was like, you know, franklin roosevelt going back to hyde park, that's what revived him. and hyannis port became what revived teddy kennedy on so many occasions, because you look out over the water. it's very serene today. you know, it's quite sparkling. and you can just see that it's a peaceful place. >> yeah. >> for him. and i think in some ways, you know, the perfect place for him to die. because he was with family, and he was in the place that he loved. >> david, i'm going to ask you to stand by, and doug brinkley, you as well, because you'll be joining kyra phillips in just a moment. so, let's do this. let's do the handoff. let's push forward now with the next hour of "cnn newsroom" with kyra phillips. >> thanks, tony. >>> well, farewell to hyannis port. you're looking at the live picture right here. any moment now ted kennedy is going to leave his beloved family compound for the last time, and we're going to be following his procession all the way to boston, mass. th

but teddy kennedy was one of a kind. >> reporter: ted kennedy began his final journey from the house where a political dynasty was born. a military escort. and the family. so soon after burying eunice shriver. enduring a second funeral in as many weeks. his wife, vicki who shepherded him through his battle with cancer, helping him survive long enough to witness one last political victory, the election of barack obama. his first wife, joan. jean kennedy smith, now the sole survivor of the original family. caroline saying good-bye to her uncle and surrogate father. another reminder that the public man was also because of past tragedies the patriarch of a vast extended family. a family never forgetting those who serve. and as they headed out, the neighbors sharing memories of a sail across the sound on a cold thanksgiving day. >> it was about 25 degrees. you know he decided he wanted to have oyster stew on nantucket. off he went. pull up the blankets sang irish ballads the whole way to stay warm. >> reporter: and strangers. >> our hearts are here and with his family that has given so mu

we've heard from the children of teddy kennedy. send it back to you. >> trace: you can see the staffers and mourners waiting to say their goodbyes to senator kennedy. some are gathering on constitution avenue along the route the kennedy motorcade will take on the way to article ton national cemetery. caroline is live and once the body arrives at andrews, how long then before the motorcade will pass your position? >> it could take some time. everything is fluid we're being told by the organize es. we expect the motorcade to come through 7:00. this is the next place it will go after cameron's position there on the senate steps. we're seeing people starting to line the streets. it's notable, this is similar route taken by two older brothers, by john f. kennedy after his assassination. they, too, went through the streets of the city and passed the lincoln memorial and over the memorial bridge before the final resting spot over in arlington cemetery. >> trace: we have the dignitaries and we saw them all morning long. this is kind of a ch

kennedy sr. passes away in november of 1969. and then in november of 1973 teddy jr. diagnosed with cancer in his right leg. the leg is amputated. six months later, the kennedy name is making headlines once again. joan is arrested in virginia for drunk driving. ted and joan's marriage is also in trouble, crumbling under the weight of joan's drinking problem and the rumors of ted's affairs. the family fractures in 1977 when joan moves out of the couple's virginia home and relocates to boston. >> their marriage had fallen apart really when joan had moved to boston. they weren't ever legally separated and they did see each other occasionally. >> ted remains in washington. he has established himself as a major voice in the senate and is positioning himself to run for the presidency in 1980, challenging incumbent president jimmy carter. >> i had no doubt that jimmy carter was going to lose to ronald reagan, and that if the democratic party didn't put up a real alternative, someone who was strong and seen as strong, that we would lose that election. >> kennedy's main legisl

nothing that ted kennedy would like to have seen more than to see his dear friend, chris dodd, take his life's work to the finish line. >> unable to do the kind of compromising that teddy was able to do. is there anybody in the senate who comes close to being the legislator that ted kennedy was? >> not in the same way. there are people who can make a deal on a very specific subject. but kennedy who had the knack of dealing with republicans, democrats, on a whole variety of issues. i mean, we think of him as a legislator on health care. but his touch was on so many other subjects, immigration and law reform. and you can't keep up with all the things that he was involved with. gwen: when you think about civil rights, for instance, we know that he was involved in voting rights act. but sism rights to him was also -- but civil rights to him was also title nine for women sports and opposing the defense of marriage amendment and immigration. and even minimum wage to him seemed a sism right issue and talked about health care as a right, not a privilege. and karen mentioned this idea of incrementalism and how hard he has been working at it over the years. does that apply also

none at this point that seem on a path toward what teddy kennedy eventually became. >> indeed. y senator kennedy, 1980, the dream shall never die speech. he put a new spin on those words at the democratic national convention 28 years later in support of barack obama. listen to this. >> we are told that barack obama believes too much in an american of high principle and bold endeavor but when john kennedy thought of going to the moon, he didn't say, it's too far to get there. we shouldn't even try. our people answered his call and rose to the challenge and today, an american flag still marks the surface of the moon. yes, we are all americans. this is what we do. we reach the moon. we scale the heights. i know it. i've seen it. i've lived it. we can do it again. there is a new wave of change all around us and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination, not nearly victory for our party but renewal for our nation and this november, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of americans. so with barack obama and for you and for me, our country will be committe

there are so many people who were meeting throughout the day members of the family, teddy kennedy iiiandson of the late senator, i spoke with him a little while ago and here's what he had to say. >> it's pretty cool to see how many people my grandfather had respected in a good way. it's really a nice feeling that he has done so much good. he's in a better place now, but he's gone from us. so it's good and bad. >> just 11 years old, teddy kennedy iii, he said i'm going to need this tape, i'm going to use it for my campaign. >> the fourth generation begins under the watchful eyes of peter alexander on the steps of the white house. >> congressman jim clyburn represents south carolina's sixth congressional district, he joins us tonight from columbia, south carolina. it's always an honor to speak to you, sir, you're a hero, you've grown up and you have led the civil rights movement. the kennedy brothers, it seems like jack was almost drag gooned in this service in the early 1960s. then bobby came along and after martin luther king was killed, he got very passionate. where did he fit in all

catholics, they would have been unwelcome in new port so the kennedys created their own aristocracy here. >> the older ones were at school and he held teddy on his knee. >> this is rose kennedy from a 1962 film promoting her son's first campaign for the u.s. senate. >> every other time when the women have had the boat, the kennedies have won, so i hope you will not disappoint us at this time. >> it wasn't a runoff. but family tradition the kennedy compound used to be open to the public every year on rose kennedy's birthday. >> i was very surprised it was not like a glitzy, it was not like walking into a rich person's house. the rugs were worn, the furniture was worn, the cushions were lumpy. then they took us into another room where rose was sitting and flanked rather poignantly by eunice and ted. on the wall, lots of photographs of her sons and none of her daughters. >> the compound included several adjacent houses owned by other members of the kennedy clan. >> this is my brother's house. >> in 2004, senator kennedy gave george stephanopoulos a tour. >> it's in that house where he heard that he was elected president. caroline woke him up

today, both president and vice president pay tribute to the teddy kennedy they knew, they respected,nd they loved. >> since teddy's diagnosis last year, we've seen the courage with which he battled his illness. and while these months have no doubt been difficult for him, they've also let him hear from people in every corner of our nation and from around the world, just how much he meant to all of us. the outpouring of love, gratitude, and fond memories to which we've all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in american history touched so many lives. his ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives. and seniors who know new dignity and families who 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. >> don't you find it remarkable that one of the most partisan, liberal men in the last century, serving in the senate, that so many of his -- so many of his foes embrace him, because they know he made them bigger. >

kennedy had little affection for carter and vice versa. >> president carter probably regarded teddy kennedyr the kennedys i thought they regarded carter as sort of a bumpkin. >> in 1979 with carter's popularity at a record low teddy decided to revive the kennedy party and do what his brother bob di, run against a sitting democratic president. >> today i formally announce that i'm candidate for president of the united states. >> there did seem to be this family legacy to be satisfied to be the president and more than he obviously knew from watching his brothers that the presidency had a power that no matter how big a senator you could be you could still do more for the things you cared about if you were president. >> he did it in some degree of discomfort because he's taking on a president of his own party. he also i think had personal reservations about whether his personal skills fit well with the presidency. >> that became clear after kennedy agreed to a high profile television interview with cbs's roger mudd taped prior to announcing his candidacy. >> why do you want to be president? >>

tell me a little bit about lbj's relationship with teddy kennedy and how that evolved and changed ofrse of lbj's five years in office. >> well, in fact, one of the tapes has lbj calling teddy kennedy to congratulate him on an appearance on "meet the press" in the spring of 1964. but, you know, lbj as you know well, carlos, had these complicated relationships. huge antagonism between him and robert kennedy. jackie kennedy who loved her brother-in-law robert pretty much felt the same way as he did by 1966, '67. oddly enough, lbj always said teddy is the one i really like. he has always treated me decently even though teddy had turned against the vietnam war by 1968, they had a pretty civilized relationship. and, you know, no one would have known it in a time but that was in a way a precursor the time of relationships that ted kennedy maintained in the senate with people like orrin hatch with whom he very much disagreed. >> michael, tell me a little bit about it teddy kennedy's decision not to run for the presidency in 1976. we all know that 1972 seemed too close to chappaquiddick and w

he finally said the death of the fourth brother, meaning teddy kennedy, he said this was almost anothere for the tv news. >> that's a little casual, i would say, but certainly teddy kennedy story invariably went back to john f. kennedy and bobby kennedy and that footage is moving. i was actually born in cambridge, massachusetts. i was there on president kennedy was shot in 1963. not in dallas in massachusetts. it was an unbelievable emotional weight -- way that even a five year old could figure out where was going and how powerful it was. our media are legitimately tapping into the opportunity to talk about the history of the last 50 years this country as well as teddy kennedy himself. >> we heard a lot about the liberal line this week are good was there enough work done to go beyond the clichÉs to make them more and communal, a paper figure i guess question mark stack i think so. i think a lot of stories point out that was really only after he was unable to explain to roger mudd why he wanted to be president in an infamous interview and after the joke of acne that's what happened there

each brother had his own style. >> jack kennedy was an intellectual and teddy idolized him. ennedy was a hard-driven, relentless striver and ted was not. he was gregarious and friendly. >> reporter: in 1963, tragedy struck again. president john f. kennedy was assassinated in dallas. >> ted took jack's death very hard. he worried when bob was running for president. worried he might get shot. >> senator kennedy going into the kitchen area to retire. >> reporter: his worst fears came true. five years after jack's death, robert was gunned down at the ambassador hotel in los angeles. >> after robert was killed, he wasn't dead for an hour before people started walking up to ted and telling him he ought to run for president. and he was utterly shaken by it. >> as he'd many times, some men see things as they are and say, why. i dream things that never were and say, why not. >> he realized that the rest of his life wouldn't be spent on his own terms. it would be spent trying to live up to the legacy of two martyred brothers. >> just a day doesn't go by where i'm not thoughtful about t

edward moore teddy kennedy. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: hour after hour, they came by the thousands to the kennedy library not far from downtown boston. ordinary americans who wanted to pay their last respects to the senator they called teddy. many visibly moved as they filed by senator kennedy's coffin. >> well, i was completely overwhelmed, actually. >> civil rights and, you know, minimum wage and he really was a voice of the poor. and, you know, the common person. >> reporter: the line of waiting mourners stretched into the night. suddenly along the line came senator kennedy's widow, hugging and kissing, even though she had never met, returning their affection for teddy. >> we're so honored they came out to pay tribute to my husband. >> reporter: the senator's coffin had arrived before nightfall by a military guard from washington. nearly 100 members of the kennedy clan were on hand. here caroline kennedy, bobby son chris, and robert kennedy jr. the kennedy family saying thank you to americans

during lent and battles stopped during holy days and i noticed when ronald reagan died, as when teddy kennedy died and was buried, you had three, four days when the country at least on from television and the message out from washington and from the television screen was one of unity, coming together, positiveness, of setting aside rank or and bitterness, you have those time also, i think, we certainly had it at the inaugural and it was durp down on the mall, joe, and i was there. democratic revival but it was a time of good feeling. these times do pass after the -- after the peace of god or truce of god ends. and we are going to find out if this -- endures in any way when we get back and to washington and it is not only health care but the decision on sanctions on iran. and more troops to afghanistan. the prosecution of cia interrogators. all those bitter battles come immediately back to the fore. >> what is so that if jon meacham said there will be something that binds these different players together, kegtsz them that makes them understand that -- in the end, be they liberals or conservati

senator kennedy's three children, teddy jr., kara, congressman patrick kennedy, and then behind them the family, the kennedy, the shrivers, many of them, all of them, just two weeks ago here not in boston but on the cape for the funeral of eunice shriver, the senator's sister. you see them now walking in the family procession to the john f. kennedy memorial library. scripted by the senator himself with his wife, vicki's cooperation, in his final year. wolf, every bit of this three-day remembrance and the family keeps asking us to use the word "celebration." scripted by the senator himself. and you see now more family friends going in. the family has made its way into the building, and some very close family friends and associates now going in. several catholic priests were here to greet the motorcade. vicki kennedy taking time to hug one before rushing back in to lead the procession into the library. very solemn scene, wolf. remarkable. thousands of people here and it fell so silent when they opened the back door to that hearse. >> right. it looks like all the family are now inside t

older an older, i tell you, i was in politics with kirk o'donnell and tip o'neill and ted i c teddy kennedy pat moynihan and they're all gone. what's coming up next in terms of kennedy and obama. boy, talking about the kennedy legacy and the saga. and there's one more step in this saga. the new brother, barack obama. he got the torch handed to him last year. we'll be right back to talk about that as politics continues here in america and on "hardball." ...it's like your old mop's worst nightmare. ♪ [ thunder crashes ] [ man ] love stinks. ♪ love stinks! ♪ yeah! yeah! [ female announcer ] swiffer wet cloths clean better than a mop with new cleansers that attract dirt deep into the cloth and lock it away. new swiffer wet cloths clean better, or your money back. ♪ love stinks! ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supportin

have been a more powerful portrait of all of the public and private and prayerful reasons why teddy kennedy is so beloved. >> michael said he was a man seldom alone. and often thought of as just one part of this whole family we see on display today. >> yeah, and in the memoir, the true compass that's about to come out in about two weeks, that ted kennedy wrote before his death, one of the few things he said in it that he said it took me a long time to realize that my history was inextricably a part of that of my family. >> andrea, is it -- we've heard a lot of people say, and here it is over, and modern american political history, is that accurate? is it material? is it too trite to say at this point? >> i think it's too early to say. i think we've seen incredible eloquence at the shriver funerals and this. and we've seen great thoughtfulness. ted jr. and some of the other young members of the extended family. and so i think that their contributions, either in elected politics or other endeavors, when we're seeing with special olympics and best buddies and all the other contributions, and m

kennedy sr. passes away in november of 1969. and then in november of 1973 teddy jr. ving. ted and joan's marriage is also in trouble, crumbling under the weight of joan's drinking problem and the rumors of ted's affairs. the family fractures in 1977 when joan moves out of the couple's virginia home and relocates to boston. >> their marriage had fallen apart really when joan had moved to boston. they weren't ever legally separated and they did see each other occasionally. >> ted remains in washington. he has established himself as a major voice in the senate and is positioning himself to run for the presidency in 1980, challenging incumbent president jimmy carter. >> i had no doubt that jimmy carter was going to lose to ronald reagan, and that if the democratic party didn't put up a real alternative, someone who was strong and seen as strong, that we would lose that election. >> kennedy's main legislative interest at that point was a national health care system. kennedy became convinced that carter wasn't serious about it and thought carter was not -- not really a libe