The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy - Bill Adler [4]
No American will ever forget watching a hijacked civilian aircraft crash into the towers of the World Trade Center, or seeing the plume of smoke rise from the Pentagon in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. No American will ever forget the sense of anger and vulnerability that swept our nation yesterday, when thousands of innocent lives were suddenly and senselessly ended by these vicious acts.
My heart goes out to the victims of this attack and their loved ones. The American people share our anger, our grief—and our resolve. We cannot bring back the lives of the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends—although we wish desperately that we could. We cannot yet fully answer the complex questions that haunt the country about this atrocity. As we search for and find the answers, we pray for the victims and their loved ones, and we hope that they will find a measure of peace and comfort from our prayers.
This is a massive tragedy for America, and we must make clear that our national resolve will not be weakened. Our country has been tested and tried in the past, and we have always emerged stronger and wiser. We will do so again now. America’s commitment to the values of freedom and justice.
—Statement on the Terrorist Attacks
in New York and Washington, DC,
September 12, 2001
History will now say on this impeachment, as they said on the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, that it was the radical Republicans. … And that is going to be the judgment of history.
—Speech opposing the impeachment
of President Bill Clinton
We are now at a major cross-road in our history. The 9/11 atrocities have forced us all to think profoundly about what is great in America. All through our shock and grief, the people’s courage never failed. 9/11 was one of the nation’s saddest hours, but the response was one of our finest hours.
That hour must not be lost. It can mark the beginning of a new era of common purpose—a return to policies which truly reflect America’s values, a return to the genuine pursuit of justice. The unselfishness we saw in 2001 must not give way to selfishness in 2003. The noble caring for one another that we celebrated then must not be succeeded now by a retreat from our ideals.
Yes, our country is strong. But it can be stronger—not just in the power we hold, but in the promise we fulfill of a nation that truly does make better the life of the world. If we rededicate ourselves to that great goal, our achievements will reverberate around the globe, and America will be admired anew for what it must be now, in this new time, more than ever—“the last, best hope of earth.”
—Statement on American values and
war with Iraq, March 13, 2003
I am announcing today my candidacy for the Senate of the United States. I make this decision in full knowledge of the obstacles I will face, the charges that will be made, and the heavy responsibilities of the office to which I aspire. … The Senate is surely one of the most important bodies in the Free World. Each year its decisions affect the hopes and lives of men and women in every part of the globe, in every state of the Union and in every town, city, and county in Massachusetts. In the months and years immediately ahead, the Senate will be deciding whether our younger citizens will receive the education they need—whether our older citizens will receive the medical care they need—whether our transportation system will flourish or falter—whether our cities will obtain new industries and whether our industries will obtain new contracts and new markets at home and abroad—whether our tax laws, our immigration laws, our anti-recession safeguards and our anti-crime laws are to be modernized and made more effective.
—Announcing his candidacy for