Kennedy remembered as compassionate champion of the less fortunate

Senator Kennedy's flag-draped casket stood in front of the podium in a large auditorium at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in the city's Dorchester section. The wall of glass behind the speakers showed a sweeping view of Boston Harbor.

Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, recalled that Kennedy "worked his heart out for me" in the presidential race in 2004, bringing his "humor, energy and eloquence" to bear on potential voters.

While campaigning together, he recalled, Kennedy would tell the crowd, "I want to talk to you about a bold, handsome, intelligent leader … But enough about me, now I'll talk about John Kerry."

Kerry said he had received hundreds of notes over the years, including one thanking Kerry and Teresa, his wife, for the gift of a vintage bottle of wine. "I just hope that I've aged as well as this wine," Kennedy wrote, Kerry recalled.

Kerry also spoke of Kennedy's kindnesses, noting his visits to fellow politicians of both parties when they were ill and mentioning a phone call he received just two weeks ago from Kennedy as Kerry recovered from surgery.

"Ted knew the dark night of loss. I think that's why his empathy was global and deeply personal," Kerry said.

Closing his remarks, Kerry said that the day after Kennedy's death he had looked out at the water at the Kennedy compound and saw that it was a beautiful day for sailing.

"I thought to myself with certainty he's on a schooner now, he's sailing" with other deceased members of his family, "trading stories with their parents and Teddy at the helm steering a steady course. Sail on, my friend, Sail on," Kerry said.

Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, described Kennedy as a "warm, passionate, thoughtful, tremendously funny man, who loved his country deeply. ... He was a champion for countless people who otherwise may not have had one."

Vice President Joe Biden credited Kennedy with getting him elected by campaigning decades ago for him at an event in Wilmington, Del. After the post-election accident that killed his wife and daughter, Biden said, Kennedy took him under his wing when he arrived in Washington.

"He sort of took on the role of being my older brother. He just was there all the time," he said.

"For 36 years, I had the privilege every single, solitary day of going to work every morning with Teddy Kennedy," he said. "He crept into my heart and, before I knew it, he owned a piece of it."

Biden said Kennedy's secret as a legislator was "his lack of vitriol, his lack of pettiness forced some of the less generous members of our community to act bigger than they were. It was remarkable to watch."

The praise for Kennedy wasn't limited to just his fellow Democrats.

Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, recounted that when he came to the Senate in 1977 he had told his constituents that he was going to fight Kennedy.

"I hadn't the slightest idea that I would eventually have a strong working relationship with, and love for, the man that I came to fight," he said.

Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said, "We disagreed on most issues, but but I admired his passion for his convictions … and his uncanny sense for when differences could be bridged and his cause advanced by degrees."

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, the final speaker, said her uncle had a special relationship with every one of his 28 nieces and his 60 grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

"He never told us what to do. He just did it himself, and we learned from his example," she said.

The opening prayer was offered by offered by the Rev. Gerry Creedon, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington, Va., who is a long-time friend and has spoken highly of Kennedy’s commitment to the poor and his opposition to the war in Iraq.

One of the most poignant moments of the night came during the singing of “The Impossible Dream,” one of Kennedy’s favorite songs. Broadway actor Brian Stokes Mitchell’s booming baritone completely filled the room while Vytas Baksys played a black Steinway piano. In a room that so far had been filled mostly with laughter, attendees began taking out Kleenexes and wiping away tears. At the end of the song, Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, walked over to Mitchell and gave him a hug and kiss.

A video tribute was presented by the documentarians Ken Burns and Mark Herzog.

The memorial followed two days of public mourning for a powerful statesmen and exalted lawmaker who was also an intimate figure for many workaday constituents in Massachusetts, who saw him in their neighborhoods and considered him one of their own. Kennedy, 77, died late Tuesday night at his Cape Cod home.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of Kennedy's constituents lined beach roads, highways and city streets from Hyannis Port to Boston, weeping and applauding as Kennedy’s hearse rolled along a 70-mile route from his cherished summer refuge, over the Sagamore Bridge, to the city of his birth. Thousands more descended Thursday night and today on the Kennedy library for a public viewing of his casket. Kennedy family members, including the senator’s widow, Vicki, greeted many of the mourners, expressing gratitude for their outpouring of support.

Police and library officials said at least 50,000 attended by the time the doors closed to the public at 3 p.m. today.

President Obama is expected to deliver a eulogy Saturday at Kennedy’s funeral Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mission Hill. Mourners will include the former presidents George W. Bush, Carter, and Clinton; former vice presidents Gore, Mondale, and Quayle; and foreign dignitaries.