30 Roll Call Thursday, September 16, 2010 OPINION Working With Kennedy Was Tough, Rewarding

such a call, and we had a pool of outside sources who would turn on a dime to help the Senator. He was a visual thinker and loved using charts to illustrate his points. We had pre- pared more than 100 charts on the econo- my, and he had stacks and stacks of charts on health care, education and other issues he held dear. We learned with experience that he was more likely to make a particu- lar argument if we created a chart than if BY HOLLY FECHNER we included it in the written speech. The minutes before the speech were of- Guest Almost nothing ten tense. The Senator wanted to hear the amazed me more in major points repeated back to him, and Observer my eight years work- he wanted to quickly run through dozens ing for Sen. Edward Kennedy than real- of charts to put them in order. Just be- izing that he was nervous just before he fore speaking, Kennedy also would have QUOTABLE gave a speech on the Senate fl oor. Not Beth, his assistant, call his sister Jean in his face redder. The high school pages always, but often. New York so she could turn on C-SPAN to would stop and gather around the rostrum And it wasn’t for a lack of experience watch him. We never knew whether it was to sit and listen to the thunder. The pack or preparation. brotherly love or a need to picture some- of reporters in the press gallery would “Patriotism is a little The morning of a speech, the Massa- one in the television audience whom he grow. Like the civil rights leaders he knew chusetts Democrat would draw his staff could address. and so admired, Kennedy’s best speeches like strength. If you’ve together and we would prepare in his The Senate fl oor is smaller than one were fi lled with rhythm and repetition. offi ce as if for a grueling oral exam. No would expect, and most of the time, it is For a six-month stretch during the last got it, you don’t have a hushed, almost lonely place. A junior recession, Kennedy spoke on the fl oor to wear it on your Senator presides while signing letters or about the economy almost every day. He catching up on reading. The high school spoke of the dignity of work and the pain sleeve.” Like a star pitcher pages deliver bills and fi ll water glasses. of unemployed workers and their fami- The parliamentarian reviews documents. lies. He reminded us of growing inequali- Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) with a long windup, The party secretaries quietly negotiate ties in wages and wealth. He told us how (1943-) Kennedy never the next votes. some parents were working harder and Commencement address, Middlebury Then Kennedy would break the si- harder but still couldn’t make ends meet. College, Middlebury, Vt., May 1989 rushed his delivery. lence by delivering yet another stem- Workers, he said, should be safe on the job winder from his back-row desk. He was and they should be able to join a union. He liked to start out not a tall man, particularly when I knew He declared that parents shouldn’t have deliberately and him in his 70s, but he had an outsize to choose between the kids they love and “You ain’t learning physical presence with his large head and the jobs they need. And he said that no build to a peak. famous shock of Kennedy hair. Most of one who works for a living should have to nothing when you’re all, he was an orator in the grand Senate be in poverty in a country as great as the tradition. His speeches brimmed with United States. talking.” passion. Finally, spent and dripping with sweat, Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas) one wanted to be the staff member who Like a star pitcher with a long windup, the Senator would conclude. He would didn’t know the answers to one of his Kennedy never rushed his delivery. He thank us on the way out the door, and we’d Sign in Senate off ice questions. liked to start out deliberately, lay out his return to our offi ces to prepare for another When he was debating an increase in position, then build to a peak. He gen- grueling, thrilling day in the Senate. the minimum wage, for example, it wasn’t erally began with the written text, but His voice has been silent a year now, enough to tell him how many returned quickly left it after a page or two — often, but his messages are as relevant as ever. Iraq War veterans were working for the to read from a primary source, particu- He was a great man because after decades minimum wage — we had to fi gure out larly the underlying bill. He would then of public service, he still cared — about the how many spouses of those currently cite a study — holding it up and waving it major issues of the day, about the people serving were making minimum wage. around with a reference to the highlight- who needed his voice and about winning We would do our best to anticipate his ed and annotated pages — before turning on their behalf. questions, but every day on the fl oor with to his stacks of charts, which allowed him Kennedy we’d face a minor crisis or three to improvise off a series of themes and Holly Fechner is an attorney at Covington — an unanswered question or a piece of arguments. & Burling. She was Kennedy’s policy missing information. Of course, we had With each passing minute, Kennedy’s director and chief labor counsel from 1999 staff back at our offi ce standing by for just voice grew louder, his gestures larger and to 2007.

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