If it wasn’t for Ted Kennedy, I’d probably be unemployed now. You see, when I was in college I wanted to be a journalist. Unfortunately and tragically, that’s not a place these days for those looking for job security. Like a scene from Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, I can see my guardian angel pointing to a cubicle in some half-filled newsroom as the place I would have toiled if Kennedy had never lived.
Luckily for me, I had an opportunity to work for the senior senator from Massachusetts. During college, I was an intern in Kennedy’s Senate press office—thinking I would get some valuable Capitol Hill experience as I began my career as a reporter. But I was instantly impressed by his commitment to public service, and awed by his ability to use legislative power to improve people’s lives both in America and around the world. Like the Jimmy Stewart character in Capra’s movie, Kennedy had a profound impact on millions of lives and many generations through landmark legislation. We would be a different society without Ted Kennedy.
Inspired, I changed course. I no longer wanted to be a journalist. Politics and government would be the life for me. So immediately after graduation, I went back to DC to work for Kennedy from 1984 to 1987. Let me share with you three things that made that experience great and three things that made it challenging.
Working for a Great Man
1. Kennedy attracted talented people like a magnet, and he did it for decades. I had the opportunity to work with the best legislative staffers and political organizers of our generation. Two helped me a lot: Carey Parker, brilliant and publicity-shy, was Kennedy’s legislative director for four decades. If there were a legislative staffer Hall of Fame, Carey would be a first-ballot inductee. The late Paul Tully, a legendary presidential campaign organizer, was my boss and has an organizing institute named after him at the Democratic National Committee.
2. When you worked for Kennedy, you knew you were working for a great Senator. But you were also working for a historic figure who happened to be patriarch of America’s best known family. Oh yeah, he also was the national standard bearer for health care, civil rights, arms control, immigration, and many other issues. You figured out quickly that this was not a typical Senate office and this was not a 9-5 job.
3. Kennedy was a serious man, dealing with serious issues. But he had a humorous and playful side, too. Our office softball team was nicknamed the “Ted Sox.” Kennedy played only rarely. But when we played the staff of the Speaker of the House, both Kennedy and Tip O’Neil showed up. Kennedy played first base and heckled O’Neil each time he came to bat. I think we won. Regardless, Kennedy claimed we did.
The Challenges of Greatness
1. Kennedy may have been the hardest working Senator and you had to keep up with as a staffer. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else having a more demanding schedule. Kennedy was always on the go, but always did his homework. Each night, including weekends, he would take home “the bag” —an old leather satchel filled with staff memos and briefing papers. He read everything and would scribble margin notes. I remember one time Kennedy catching a questionable number in a lengthy spreadsheet that Tully and I prepared.
2. “The Senator” (that’s what we called him, or “EMK” in staff memos) always wanted to be prepared. As a staff, we were insanely prepared. For example, his policy briefing books were extra thick and contained a tremendous amount of information. For speeches that required the use of a teleprompter, we had to have a back up hard copy on the podium just in case something happened to the prompter. During my time, nothing ever did—but we were prepared.
3. Kennedy was the leader of a political dynasty, which means there were generations of people all over the country who worked for him and his deceased brothers. Most of the time, this was great because the Kennedy network is loyal, dedicated, and helpful. We say proudly that once you work for the Kennedys, you always work for the Kennedys. But on occasion, it would be challenging trying to accomodate disparate interests and opinions—especially from the older generation. I remember a few times hearing someone tell me (usually with a thick Boston accent): “You know, for Jack (or Bobby) we used to do it differently.” I felt like saying: “Okay but that’s before you had computers and databases, right?” I never did say that, but I was tempted.
Yesterday, Pres. Barack Obama called Ted Kennedy “the greatest United States Senator of our time.” Many Democrats and Republicans will agree. I was honored to have worked for him.
Jude Barry, a one-time San Jose Inside blogger, is a former Ted Kennedy staffer in Washington, DC. We asked him to tell us how he got his start with legendary Massachusetts politician and give us some insight into what it was like working for Kennedy.
The post Remembering Ted Kennedy appeared first on San Jose Inside.
