News today that the last of the Kennedy brothers, Teddy Kennedy has died after a long battle with a brain tumour.

Despite living in the shadows of his more famous martyred siblings John and Robert for much of his life (and with the ghost of his brother Joseph who was killed in WWII – Teddy was the only one of the four brothers to die of natural causes), Teddy Kennedy was a highly influential figure in US politics for decades.

He was also a figure that courted much controversy for a variety of reasons;

His hard drinking and womanizing was legendary, but almost cost him his career in 1969, when he drove a car off a bridge at Chappaquiddick near his home, killing his female passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign worker for his brother Robert.

He was an outspoken supporter of Irish Republicanism for many years, which didn’t make him many friends in the UK, but he later became instrumental in the negotiations between the British government, The Ulster paramilitaries and Sinn Fein which largely brought an end to the 30 years of violence, still ironically referred to as “the Troubles”.

In the US, Teddy was a dominant force in liberal politics for decades; in 1962 he became the country’s youngest senator and as a senator in Massachusetts, he was re-elected 7 times. He championed healthcare and education reform, was an outspoken opponent of the Bush regime, the Iraq war and prisoner abuse scandals, and was a valued supporter of President Obama.

Perhaps now he is reunited with his brothers

…and if he is, I bet he’s buying the first round.

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