Ralph W. Yarborough, the People's Senator

Edward M. Kennedy was born in 1932. He was thrown out of Harvard University in 1951 for cheating, but he eventually returned and received a degree in 1956. He also attended the University of Virginia Law School. He was elected to the Senate in 1962, taking the seat that his brother John F. Kennedy had occupied before being elected President, and served for the next 47 years. His legislative achievements included bills to provide health insurance for children of the working poor, the landmark 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, Meals on Wheels for the elderly, abortion clinic access, family leave, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He wrote the following books: My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D. C. and True Compass. He died from brain cancer on August 25, 2009 at the age of 77.

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