Customer Reviews

The Senator: My Ten Years with Ted Kennedy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When this book was published it was hot stuff. A decade later it seems rather tame. Why did Burke write it? He seems to have no rancor against Kennedy and admits that everything Teddy did, he tried to outdo so the question is never really answered. The portraits of Joan Kennedy and Rose Kennedy are gentle, almost tender ones. The best part of the book is when Burke gets out of Kennedy's bedroom and starts talking about the political goings on behind the scenes. The chapters on the failed 1980 campaign and Kennedy's relations with the Carters are fascinating.

Richard Burke provides highly personal look into the life of Ted Kennedy during the years he spent as a staffer for him. He describes what it was like to work for Ted Kennedy in their professional and personal relationship. He also talks about the personal side of Kennedy's 1980 primary race against then President Jimmy Carter.

Kennedy was a hero to Burke and although he sees Kennedy for what he really is and at times, at his worse, he still doesn't try discredit the man or put him down for what he's done. Burke sometimes tells about how he tried to save Kennedy from himself in his overindulging in drugs, sex, and drinking.

Sometimes you might wonder if its all true though, but Burke admits that during his years with Kennedy, he was no angel either making it more plausible. Its not really a dirty little kiss and tell book. Its more of a personal look at Ted Kennedy by someone that was close to him and knew him well.

In the end, as Burke says, Kennedy for all his flaws cannot do a lot of harm as the respected Senator that he is now, so long as he doesn't become President, but his chance has already passed.

The author worked closely with Ted Kennedy through most of the '70s and the very early '80s as a member of his Senate staff and personal go-to guy, and had very personal access to both the Senator and his family. The book is mainly about the Senator's vices and his family's troubles during that period (which the author was deeply involved in).

I was hoping for more politics and policy. The author vaguely alludes to legislative accomplishments, but doesn't really discuss any. From reading the book, I would gather that the time between saving democracy during the Watergate crisis and the 1980 presidential election was one big party, with some family drama thrown in. The section on the 1980 presidential election was good.

It's clear that Kennedy made bad choices in that period, which was, literally for me, a lifetime ago; some were personal, some were political. What struck me was how many of the unattractive features described by the author reminded me of our current president: the sense of entitlement, a lack of accountability, intense competitiveness, demands for loyalty, and a strange snobbishness (Kennedy thought the Carters were unsophisticated but, according to the author, also thought that the hostage crisis couldn't be helped by President Carter's efforts to understand the situation by *gasp* reading books about Iran). On the plus side, both men have a strong devotion to family.

I didn't really like the book; I finished it only because I'd started it, and I didn't have much else handy at the time. If you are interested in Kennedy dirt, though, this book has it in spades. It's not for everyone, but maybe it's for you.

I am a die hard Kennedy fan and this is one of my favorite Kennedy books to date; however, you will appreciate it more if you have a background in "Kennedy history" which helps put some of the Senator's personal problems in perspective. For this purpose, I highly recommend Laurence Leamer's books The Kennedy Men and the Kennedy Women both of which I have also read.

This is a very human story where no details are spared. If you want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly you will definitely enjoy it, but don't pick it up if you can't handle reading about drugs, sex, and extramarital affairs.

Burke is brutally honest about the highs and lows of being the right hand man to arguably the most powerful person in Washington at the time, and the personal sacrifices he had to make in order to perform his job. As Kennedy's Administrative Assistant (Chief of Staff), Burke tucked him into bed at night and woke him up in the morning. He was intimately involved in major family decisions and knew the Senator and his family better than almost anyone else. His book serves as a wise word of caution to anyone who aspires to work on Capitol Hill. Being "in" and having access to the rich and powerful doesn't guarantee happiness and in Burke's case led to self destruction.

After reading Burke's book, I now understand why when I interned in Kennedy's DC office we (the interns) were not allowed to speak to the Senator unless he addressed us first. And because Kennedy would never recognize the vast majority of the 100+ interns working in his offices at any given time, he never said hi to us either. We were told that the Senator's high profile was the reason for this restriction, but after reading Burke's book I'm willing to bet anything that the real reason was that his staff was trying to protect him from his own impulses (i.e. not get near too many attractive women).

I noticed several readers commented that the book didn't focus enough on the Senator's legislative accomplishments and rated it lower because of this. How ridiculous! Burke clearly states that his purpose is not to give a comprehensive chronology of Kennedy's record, but rather to shed light on those aspects of the Senator's life which he was most intimately involved in.

I respect Burke for having the courage to come out with this story. His readiness to own up to his own faults is admirable and as he says at the end of his book, it's important for voters to know just who they are electing. This book has not changed my favorable opinion of the Senator, but it has helped me understand him better.

I read this book in 1992.I couldn't put it down.Richard Burke gives us an inside look into Ted Kennedy's life for ten years while he was working for the Senator.Ted was Richards Idol,but soon discovered what a shattered Idol he was.After reading this book,you realize Ted Kennedy is a nice guy,but not very bright,and Richard praise's Rose Kennedy as a wonderfull,caring person.If your interested in the Kennedy's like I am,you will enjoy reading "The Senator."

Of the many books I've read on the Kennedy family, this is one of my least favorites. It only spans a ten year time period, and mainly covers Ted Kennedy's extra-marital affairs. Of course, this isn't the only thing that's covered, but it's the main subject of the book. Joan Kennedy's alcholism is mentioned, but it doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg, and the same goes for Ted and Joan's marriage. It's an interesting read, but only if you don't already know alot about Ted Kennedy. If you do, you won't learn too much. Also, I think that the author is biased since he was employed by Ted for a period of 10 years. I've just finished reading "Jackie Ethel Joan" by Randy Taraborrelli. Although this book isn't primarily about Ted Kennedy, you do learn a lot more about his marriage to Joan, their problems, his presidential campaign and how he used Joan during that particular era. This information (very fascinating, and will make you see Ted Kennedy in an entirely different light) isn't included in Richard Burke's book.

I found this book at a "free read" and am glad I picked it up.
I feel that Mr. Burke gives what appears to be honest insight into his observation working first from afar then eventually beyond close at hand to Senator Kennedy. I believe the positives of this book far outweigh any negatives one might find in the disclosure of personal family happenings. This book actually has caused me to see Senator Kennedy in a more human, approachable image that as formerly, simply focusing on his family heritage regarding money, fame, etc. My heart goes out to the whole Kennedy family who has suffered tragedy after tragedy in spite of all their wealth which only brings home the truth that money cannot buy happiness. I strongly urge one to read this book. I am glad I did.

Reads like an expose'. Details of Senator Kennedy's life as a romancer of women, drug use and political deals. Author was very close to EMK for many years, obviously felt let down by the experience and lets it all go. No one emerges from this recounting without more than some tarnish on their shield.

This is an amazing book. Burke became the enabler, the one who worked hard to keep Ted from destroying himself in public. Bill Clinton and Ted are cut from the same cloth. They don't believe in the consequences of their actions. They are above the law and everything else.

Burke, once Ted Kennedy's personal secretary and family friend, writes a tell-all story of the senator's private life during the 1970's. Mr. Burke consumes more than 300 pages to inform the reader that Senator Kennedy often used drugs and had extramarital affairs. Mr. Burke, while condemning Kennedy's private life, states that he admired the legislative skills and positions of the senator, but offers no analysis or insight into how the senator's private life affected his legislative duties. Did Kennedy miss votes? Did he initiate less legislation? Was he less effective dealing with colleagues, either through diminished capacity or soiled reputation? The reader is left to wonder.

Mr. Burke, in a tattle-tale manner, relishes the opportunity to expose sordid details of the senator's personal life along with those of many other Kennedy family members. The reader is told of countless liaisons, most of which do little to further inform the reader. Senator Kennedy, as a public figure, is fair game, but Burke goes beyond the senator, exposing the private lives of the senator's children, nieces, nephews and deceased brothers. Burke's motives for divulging the transgressions of children are unclear and reveal, at best, poor judgment on Burke's part.

This boorish and aimless book is as much a story of the exploits of a senator and his family as it is of a groupie's rapid rise and fall within the political fast-life of DC, and of the lingering resentment harbored upon once again being on the outside looking in. The groupie: Mr. Burke.