Kennedy's enduring legacy in Colorado

Sen. Edward Kennedy's legacy in Colorado is one of compassion for the under privileged. Through four decades, he touched the lives of many thousands here, both directly and indirectly.

We talked to some of those in Colorado who knew Kennedy and his work on several fronts. They remember Kennedy as very down to earth and caring. Someone with a brilliant understanding of the nuances required to build public policy. And a man with a real commitment to give back some of the privilege into which he was born.


When a terminally ill Senator Kennedy gave his historic speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver one year ago Pat Waak, who had worked with him for more than 30-years, was sitting just a few feet away.

"And was incredibly moved," Waak, the Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, told me, "Because I knew that it had been touch and go about whether he was going to get there."

Waak says Kennedy's passion to help the downtrodden is what will mark him in history.

"This is a man who spiritually believed that he had a responsibility to give back to his community and the way he could do it was to create an atmosphere of change for them," she said of the man she first met in the '70s while working for the vice presidential campaign of Sargent Shriver, husband of Kennedy's sister Eunice.

Those who run Colorado Special Olympics say Kennedy's decades-long support has let them make dreams come true for untold thousands.

"You could see that in all his work," said Colorado Special Olympics CEO Mindy Watrous. "Whether it's healthcare reform, whether it's people with different abilities, whether it's the elderly, I mean you can see his influence and his belief in public service throughout some of the greatest things that our nation now has to offer."

"What most impressed me about Senator Kennedy," said Dr. Richard Krugman, Dean of the University of Colorado-Denver School of Medicine, "was how well he got along with senators who you wouldn't believe he'd get along with."

Krugman knew Kennedy for nearly 30-years and says the late Senator understood the importance of research and teaching facilities like UCD, who are training and supporting a whole range of medical professionals to meet future needs.

"He knew that if you gave everyone in America healthcare, access to health care as he always hoped, that somebody would need to be there to take care of them," Krugman said. ""And that we were facing real workforce shortages even back in the '60s and '70s when he started and we're facing them again now."

Without one of their champions to lead the fight.

Dr. Krugman says he worked closely with Kennedy in the U.S. Senate, when Krugman did a year long fellowship on health policy.

He says he doesn't know of anyone there today who has Kennedy's understanding of health care issues.