On the day he was carried to his final resting place, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was remembered yesterday as a legislator of almost unequaled prowess, a political force who left a lasting imprint on the country, and a husband, father and patriarch whose private acts of love and devotion helped his star-crossed family endure tragedy and misfortune.
President Obama led the mourners at a solemn Roman Catholic Mass attended by 1,500 people, including three former presidents, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, where the Kennedy family dynasty was born. A steady rain fell, adding an elegiac touch to a day already drenched in sorrow.
Later yesterday, at a Virginia graveside enveloped in deepening darkness, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick offered sympathies to Kennedy relatives and "an extended family that must probably include most of America."
A squad of seven riflemen fired three volleys in a traditional military funeral ritual, and a bugler sounded taps. Lightning flickered across the sky.
Kennedy was buried near his slain brothers, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, on sloping ground at Arlington National Cemetery.
Before arriving at the cemetery, the hearse carrying Kennedy stopped at the plaza on the East Front of the Capitol. There, former Kennedy staffers, lawmakers, other congressional aides, and members of the public were gathered to pay their respects.
As the crowd broke into applause, Kennedy's widow, Vicki, emerged, offering hugs and embraces. After a short prayer service and the singing of "America the Beautiful," the motorcade proceeded along Constitution Avenue to the cemetery.
Kennedy (D., Mass.), who was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, died Tuesday night. He had served in the Senate for 47 years.
"We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office," Obama told the friends, dignitaries, and Kennedy family members seated in the majestic basilica in Boston. "We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy, not for the sake of ambition or vanity, not for wealth or power, but only for the people and the country he loved."
The president's remarks were largely shorn of political overtones, as he concentrated on the example Kennedy set for fellow politicians and ordinary citizens alike through his public and private works.
Obama spoke of Kennedy's resilience in the face of "events that would have broken a lesser man," recalling that he was the youngest of nine children, but became a rock to his family. Summoning the spirit he attributed to Kennedy in times of difficulty, Obama said, "We carry on."
Before Obama's eulogy, Edward M. Kennedy Jr. and Patrick J. Kennedy offered poignant memories of their father that brought both tears and laughter from the audience.
Ted Kennedy Jr., 47, a lawyer and investment banker who lives in Connecticut, quickly turned the congregation's tears to laughter when he recalled his father's adventuresome spirit and his determination that his children share it. "Our family vacations left us all injured and exhausted," he said.
Patrick Kennedy, 42, an eight-term House member from Rhode Island, remembered how his father would sit by his bedside, applying a cold, wet towel to his forehead to provide relief from the pain of headaches induced by asthma medication. "He remained to me a magical figure," he said.
Earlier, the Rev. Mark R. Hession, who was friend and family priest to Edward and Vicki Kennedy on Cape Cod, delivered the homily. He connected the senator's commitment to social justice and the needs of the poor to Kennedy's own experience as part of "a vibrant and caring family," whose narrative "is woven throughout the history of the nation for the past half-century."
The day's ceremonies began at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, where the senator's body had lain in repose Thursday and Friday, viewed by an estimated 50,000 people.
Early yesterday morning, Obama paid a short private visit to Vicki Kennedy. He walked across the street from his hotel to offer personal condolences to the widow of the man whose endorsement provided a critical boost to his candidacy during the 2008 Democratic nomination battle against Hillary Rodham Clinton.
At the library, Vicki Kennedy greeted a delegation of senators and House members. Throughout the day, she was praised as her husband's friend and partner, whose love and devotion helped Kennedy turn his life around and make his final years some of his best.
When it was time to leave the library, Kennedy's flag-draped casket was covered with plastic as protection against the rain. It was carried by a military honor guard walking in deliberate steps to a hearse for the drive to the basilica.
Inside the church, a remarkable collection of people gathered. They included former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura; former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn; and Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill.
Outside on the steps, huddled under large black umbrellas, stood the honorary pallbearers. They included Sen. John F. Kerry (D., Mass.), who, like Obama, owed his nomination for president in part to Kennedy's endorsement. Kerry had become devoted to Kennedy over the years and is now the state's senior senator after a quarter-century in Washington.
Bells began to toll at 10:45 a.m. as the motorcade arrived, and a few minutes later, Kennedy's casket was taken from the hearse. Vicki Kennedy and other family members stood vigil, water rolling off their umbrellas, as the casket was carried up the steep steps into the church. The procession included a coterie of priests wearing white vestments and Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston, distinctive in scarlet.
The responsorial psalm, Psalm 72, was read by daughter Kara Kennedy, and it offered testimony to Kennedy's lifelong commitment to the poor and dispossessed: "For he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save."
The Mass included music from cellist Yo-Yo Ma, tenor Placido Domingo, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who gave a haunting rendition of "Ave Maria." When the service ended, and the casket was rolled back down the aisle, the congregation joined in singing "America the Beautiful."
Cortege follows in melancholy footsteps
The brothers' bond was more than blood
Recollections of his sons
The president's eulogy
Currents
Deceased icons and flaws. Michael Smerconish
Kennedy a natural at caring. Susan Estrich
This article contains information from the Associated Press.
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