The Kennedy brothers, John F. Kennedy, (left), Robert Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy, (right), in an undated photo. Ted Kennedy was the last of the legendary brothers. -- PHOTO: AP
WASHINGTON - EDWARD Kennedy's death has left America's greatest political dynasty without an obvious heir and brings down the curtain on an era of power, glamour and tragedy that captivated the world.
KENNEDYS WILL LIVE ON
Lisa McElroy, an associate professor at the Drexel University Law School in Philadelphia who also penned a biography of Ted, agreed that the power and vision of the Kennedys would live on despite the loss of the patriarch.
'Our country has evolved so much during these 40 or 50 years that the Kennedys have been such a magnificent presence,' she told AFP, referring to issues of race, women's rights and homosexuality.
WITH Sen Edward M Kennedy's death, only one of the nine children of Joseph and Rose Kennedy - Jean Kennedy Smith - survives.
Members of the family's next generation have fallen short of the iconic stature of their uncles, but continue to make their mark in public and private life.
Ted Kennedy was the last of the legendary brothers, who included assassinated president John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, slain on the campaign trail as he sought to follow JFK's footsteps into the White House.
'This is the end of an era is so many ways,' said Norman Ornstein, from the American Enterprise Institute. 'There is no junior Kennedy coming forward who will have anywhere near the force of John, or Bobby (Robert), or Ted.' Is there a logical Kennedy heir? 'The answer is no,' Stephen Hess, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington and author of 'America's Political Dynasties", told AFP.
Ted's son Patrick, a US congressman for Rhode Island, is the only remaining Kennedy to hold elected office, but he is considered a lightweight political figure in comparison.
Caroline Kennedy, the last surviving child of John F. Kennedy, aborted a bid in January to take the US Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton when she became secretary of state.
The political ambitions of Joseph Kennedy, eldest son of Robert Kennedy, have been blighted by personal problems to the extent that he too is considered unlikely to pick up the mantle.
'It's a relatively flat moment right now. Patrick is in office, the only one who has public office. Joe Junior fell off the track in Massachusetts for personal reasons, Caroline proved that elective politics was not her thing,' said Hess.
America is used to seeing elective offices handed down from parent to scion, but the Kennedys stood apart as its foremost political family, spawning generations of politicians and power-brokers.
'I think it was a point of time when America needed to believe. I think that the Kennedys were truly like American royalty, people enjoyed following their lives,' explained Ted Kennedy biographer Kerrily Sapet.
'I think he really did represent the end of the dynasty, but I think the family's legacy will live on in many ways,' she told AFP. -- AFP
