Political Science Quarterly
Volume 115 No. 2 (Summer 2000)

 

Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography
By Wendy Schiller. New York, William Morrow and Company, 1999.
Reviewed by Adam Clymer

 

In writing this book, Adam Clymer has accomplished a rare feat. He has produced a work that has great value to scholars of American politics as well as the general public, because it explains a single legislative career in the context of the changes in the legislative process that have occurred over the past thirty years. That career happens to belong to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who just may be the most famous senator in the latter part of the twentieth century.

Rather than focus on Senator Kennedy's family triumphs and tragedies, and his personal travails, most of the book is devoted to drawing a comprehensive picture of a master legislator. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Kennedy's partisanship or ideology, it is without dispute that he has been involved in more major legislation (and even minor) than any other senator or representative. Clymer points out that Senator Kennedy has a reputation today of being involved in the areas of health care and civil rights, but his long career has encompassed a far broader spectrum of issues, including arms control, foreign policy, immigration, crime, and even some pork barrel politics. The author adeptly shows how Kennedy increased his standing and influence in the Senate by watching, listening, and learning in his early years, and always offering the possibility of compromise. Kennedy has consistently relied on negotiation and outreach to those with whom he disagrees in order to get bills enacted into law.

Over time, he has worked successfully and repeatedly with conservative Republican senators, including Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and even former Senator Lauch Faircloth (R-NC). At the same time, Senator Kennedy was no stranger to manipulating the complex rules of the Senate to ensure consideration of legislation on the Senate floor, even at the risk of incurring the wrath of his colleagues — Democrats and Republicans alike.

But Clymer is also careful to balance the picture he draws of the hard working and dedicated Senator Kennedy with the man who makes repeated mistakes in his personal life. He does not elaborate on these mistakes but they are included in the book at the points at which they highlight the limitations that personal mistakes can have on a political career. Of course there is a good deal of discussion of the ever potential run for the presidency that never truly materialized, but this biography highlights the transition Kennedy made from potential presidential candidate to full time senator. Some senators never rebound from a failed stab at the presidency; given how much pressure Kennedy endured for over a decade, it is remarkable that he emerged to be the legislator that Clymer so accurately portrays.

As with any book, however, there are some drawbacks, but none so severe as to deter the reader. In his efforts to be clear and analytical, Clymer sometimes writes with too little emotion or enthusiasm about a particular event, or gives too little of his own thoughts about Kennedy's actions in and outside the Senate. Along these lines, the author might have included more excerpts from Kennedy's floor speeches, particularly on South Africa and civil rights, so that readers could get a sense of Kennedy's true passion for particular issues. Lastly, Clymer pays too little attention to the relationship between Kennedy and his committee and personal staff. Though he describes several key staff members over the years, the book does not adequately explore the amount of leeway and flexibility that Kennedy gave to his staff to act in his name while negotiating the legislative process.

In showing us how Kennedy has accomplished so much over these past three decades, Clymer provides an important window into the future of American politics. In a time when partisanship in the Congress seems to be at an all time high, the story of Senator Kennedy—the legislator—should be required reading for all students and scholars of American politics, as well as more than a few new members of Congress.

Wendy J. Schiller
Brown University