Patrick Kennedy Ends Kennedy Era

The Kennedy era ends when Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island exits his U.S. House seat next month, leaving a city council post in California as Camelot’s sole remaining political holding. The Kennedy’s have held the presidency,congressional seats and the public’s imagination for more than 60 years.The son of the late Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy said he has no qualms about walking away from politics.

His departure marks the first time in 63 years there will not be a Kennedy serving in elected office in Washington. Kennedy plans to continue the tradition by championing a national effort to boost brain research. He hopes to implant the same importunateness that his late uncle, President John F. Kennedy, inspired during the 1960s with his challenge to Americans to put a man on the moon.”In my family, the legacy was always public service, and that didn’t necessarily mean public office,” Kennedy, 43, said in a recent interview on Capitol Hill with The Associated Press.

He recited a long list of Kennedy family members who have decline politics and chosen lives as activists promoting issues such as human rights ,women’s issues, and the environment. Kennedy’s exit from the nation’s capital marks a bittersweet turn for one of America’s most powerful and prominent political families. “It is a milestone,” said Allan J. Lichtman, an American University history professor. “Frankly, it’s not as if there’s a new generation of Kennedys ready to move into public life in a major way.” Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said it has become more difficult over the years for Kennedy family members to extend their brand of liberalism outside the Northeast.”As the country has grown more conservative,” West said, “it’s been harder for the Kennedys to win elective office.”