Kennedy, who passed early Wednesday, was a benchmark for all aspects and issues of American political life. For Irish America, however, he was much more than that.
A man who wore his Irishness on his sleeve, carried it in his heart and nurtured in his soul, Ted Kennedy was the face of the American Irish most familiar to the people of the world.
For almost half a century, even as he wrestled with the issues that would determine the course of modern American history, Kennedy invoked Irish wisdom and wit as he faced the challenges of his own life, and the challenges facing Ireland itself.
History will record that Kennedy was a pivotal figure in the emergence of U.S. policy towards Ireland and the Northern Ireland Troubles during the 1990s.
It is entirely reasonable to assume that without the active support and intervention of Senator Kennedy, the Clinton administration might have baulked at the idea of allowing Sinn F