Text size:

Ted Kennedy has cancerous brain tumor

Staff and wire reports

May 21, 2008

WASHINGTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor yesterday in what could be the grim final chapter in a life marked by exhilarating triumph and shattering tragedy. Some experts gave the liberal lion less than a year to live.

Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital said the 76-year-old senator, who has served in the Senate since 1962, has suffered no additional seizures since a weekend incident that landed him in the hospital.

"Over the course of the last several days, we've done a series of tests on Sen. Kennedy to determine the cause of his seizure," said Dr. Lee Schwamm, vice chairman of the hospital's department of neurology, and Dr. Larry Ronan, Kennedy's primary care physician. "He has had no further seizures, remains in good overall condition, and is up and walking around the hospital."

The doctors said that "preliminary results from a biopsy of the brain identified the cause of the seizure as a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe." Noting that "the usual course of treatment includes combinations of various forms of radiation and chemotherapy," the doctors said decisions about his care will be finalized after further testing.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada read the news release to Democratic senators during their weekly luncheon yesterday. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska described the reaction as stunned silence.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont said later, "I'm having a hard time remembering a day in my 34 years here that I felt this badly."

New York Sen. Charles Schumer called Kennedy "a mentor to so many of us" in the Senate and "the best legislator I've ever worked with."

"He knows how to get things done," Schumer said. "He has a knack: Part of it's intelligence, part of it's skill and part of it's experience."

The news was also announced at the weekly Republican luncheon, where Sen John W. Warner of Virginia said senators immediately bowed their heads and said a prayer.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), spoke to reporters briefly. "Sen. Kennedy has been a fighter all his life," she said, noting that she'd learned the news from his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island. "I know that his fighting spirit will hold him in good stead now."

Kennedy was first elected to the Senate to finish the term of his brother, John F. Kennedy, who had become president in 1961. He was re-elected in 1964 and for seven more terms. "Teddy" became an uber-uncle to the children of his slain brothers - President Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and Robert F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1968.

A staunch champion for education and health care, Kennedy's personal troubles - a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island in which a young woman, Mary Jo Kopechne drowned - marred his reputation. And a run for the Democratic nomination against incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980 made the Massachusetts senator infamous for not having a ready answer to a question about why he was running for president.

But in the last 20 years, Kennedy has reached across the aisle to partner with Republicans such as Arizona's John McCain on issues such as immigration. "I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate, and I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results," McCain said.

And his endorsement of Barack Obama cemented his reputation as the keeper of the Kennedy mantle. "He fights for what he thinks is right," Obama said. "And it's our job now to support him in the way that he has supported us."

Obama's Democratic opponent, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said, "Ted Kennedy's courage and resolve are unmatched, and they have made him one of the greatest legislators in Senate history."

In a statement, President George W. Bush said, "Ted Kennedy is a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength and powerful spirit. Our thoughts are with Senator Kennedy and his family during this difficult period."

The last brother

Ted Kennedy and his famous family

Rosemary Kennedy born 9/13/1918 died 1/7/05, natural causes

Eunice Kennedy Shriver born 7/10/21