Edward M. Kennedy is widely regarded as one of the great Senators in the nation's history. He is also the patriarch of America's most heralded family. In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Kennedy speaks with unprecedented candor about his extraordinary life. The youngest of nine children born to
Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the
presidential campaign of his brother,
John F. Kennedy. In 1962, he was elected to the U.S.
Senate, where he learned how to become an effective legislator. His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love for family and an abiding faith. He writes movingly of his brothers and their influence on him; his years of struggle in the wake of their deaths; his marriage to the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy; his role in the major events of our time (from the civil rights movement to the election of Barack Obama); and how his recent diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor has given even greater urgency to his long crusade for improved health care for all Americans. Written with warmth, wit, and grace,
True Compass is Edward M. Kennedy's inspiring legacy to readers and to history.
Background Information
Joseph P. Kennedy made a fortune during Prohibition and during the early days of Holloywood, starting a family of men who would be prominent in the next two generations of American politics. John F. Kennedy was a hero in World War II, a Senator from Massachusetts, and became the first Catholic President in 1960. The election of 1960 matched two World War II veterans and resulted in Democrat John F. Kennedy defeating Republican Richard M. Nixon to become the first Catholic president. The smaller and more prestigious house of the United States Congress, the Senate has two members from each state who serve terms of six years.
