150 of 161 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"a definitive look at Senator Kennedy's life", February 18, 2009
Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy reaches its "definitive look" goal with a balance of stately respect for its subject and uncompromising disclosure of available information. This biography begins with the 2008 news of Edward Kennedy's diagnosed malignant glioma and then rewinds to his childhood, relating anecdotes about his clowning, good cheer, and bad spelling, among other things. The years in boarding schools, at Harvard, in military service, at Harvard again, and in law school receive their due. As a newly-minted lawyer, he worked on brother Jack's campaigns for the U.S. Senate and then the presidency. With John F. Kennedy in the White House, a not-yet-thirty Ted didn't get much help (at least overtly) from either JFK or the attorney general, Robert Kennedy, when he campaigned for a Senate seat. His first election victory in 1962 marked the beginning of an unbroken string of re-elections and forty-six years (and counting) in the most exclusive club in the world.
LAST LION neither digs up new knowledge nor relies on new interviews. Instead, it modestly triumphs as a synthesis of already available but scattered mainly journalistic material. It engagingly and fluently covers both the personal and professional milestones of Senator Kennedy's life. Editor Canellos and the team of Boston Globe reporters who brought this material together don't avoid controversies and scandals such as the Harvard cheating episode and, of course, Chappaquiddick. In fact, the biography consigns about thirty-four pages to events surrounding the Mary Jo Kopechne death, including Kennedy's statement that, " 'I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not report the accident to police immediately.' " But this isn't a tabloid expose or a hack job; the facts are presented, but generally the steady tone of LAST LION is empathetic and admiring in a low-key manner.
Ted Kennedy's personal life -- his marriage to Joan that ended in divorce, his years of returned bachelorhood and "dating," and then his marriage to attorney Vicki Reggie in 1992 -- also receives its due but isn't stressed out of proportion. Often mentioned -- and rightfully so -- is Kennedy's surrogate fatherhood to his many nieces and nephews. The children of John and Robert Kennedy needed someone to attend their first communions, their school and sports events, and he, they testify, was always there. As LAST LION notes, however, the children could not escape their own share of scandals and problems.
This biography doesn't fixate on (or gloss over) the watershed assassinations of President Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy. In the long term, their deaths forever remain personal tragedies for the youngest brother, but they also put pressure on him to "finish" their legacies in the White House, leading to several attempts to secure the nomination before he resolved to remain a legislator. Many stories of Kennedy's kindnesses to fellow senators and his ability to reach across the aisle to get legislation passed are also a part of LAST LION, particularly in the last decades after Kennedy decided " '...the pursuit of the presidency is not my life. Public service is."
In all, Kennedy has authored "roughly 2500 major bills." George Washington reportedly told Thomas Jefferson, " 'We pour our legislation in the Senatorial saucer to cool it.' " Kennedy has had other ideas. The book notes: "...Ted marshaled all the Senate protocols and courtesies to the service of a quietly aggressive political agenda." In the 2008 presidential election, Kennedy refused to endorse a Democrat for some time, but finally, to the dismay of many Hilary Clinton supporters, he rallied to Obama's side. And President Obama has said of him, " 'He is somebody who battled for voting rights and civil rights when I was a child. I stand on his shoulders.' "
Ted Kennedy inspires passionate feelings from both his supporters and detractors. Whichever camp you, reader, fall into, this book is recommended. Ted Kennedy's determination to live a public life in government under hardships of his own and not his own making is attentively and thoughtfully documented in LAST LION. 4.5 stars.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a very enjoyable, balanced biography, May 25, 2009
I really enjoyed this book. I need to preface this review by saying that I am an independent voter from Massachusetts. I have voted for Ted Kennedy for the US Senate, but did not vote for him when he ran for president. In short, I think I went into this book open minded. I already knew much from the early part of the book, Ted's younger years, through bios I have read about Jack and Bobby Kennedy. I did enjoy learning more about "the other Kennedy" in those early chapters. As the book got into the 70's and 80's, there was much that I learned about Ted Kennedy, and I found so much of his behind-the-scenes work in the Senate fascinating. This book definitely touches upon Ted's many flaws in his personal life, in that they did have an effect on his public life. I felt that this book covered the man and the senator quite well. It was a very engaging read. This biography was respectfully written, and avoided some of the details of Ted's indiscretions. I felt it was accurate, but did not look to embarrass him. This book lets the reader see why Ted Kennedy is such a respected senator by so many in both parties. There's lots to like about this book. This book does not attempt to psycho-analyze Ted. Yet, Ted Kennedy does come alive in this, especially in the second half of the book.
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35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Balanced and Well-written, March 19, 2009
I was amazed that the review count was so low until I noticed that the people who actually had read it gave it high marks while those who gave it one star chose to attack the subject. The high reviewers did a much better job than I ever could at detailing the highs and lows of the life of Ted Kennedy as detailed in the book. What was amazing to me was how the accounts of Kennedy's life corresponded with what I remember as it happened (yes, I am that old that I remember it all).
I would like to note that the one-star reviewer who said it was a sad title rip off missed the very beginning that explains the title. I don't know how they missed it if they read the book. Anyway, it was a quote by John McCain: "I've described Ted Kennedy as the last lion of the Senate...He remains the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results."
I hope the book does well on the charts as it is highly readable and thorough and it doesn't try to make the failings or triumphs of Kennedy any more or less than they actually were or still are.
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