Ted Kennedy Jr. Reflects on His Father’s Legacy

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Now, new insights into Edward Kennedy's life and legacy from the senator himself. In a book published posthumously this week, Kennedy shares memories of his famous family and his political career, including the dark moments.

Yesterday, I sat down with Ted Kennedy, Jr., to talk about his father's autobiography.

It's so good to have you with us.

TED KENNEDY, JR.:

Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

As we sit here, it's been three weeks since your father passed away. How is your family doing?

TED KENNEDY, JR.:

It's been an incredible, you know, emotional experience, you know, experiencing people who have come up and just sharing with me, you know, the wonderful working relationship they had with my father.

But then, just this afternoon, I went to my father's Senate office to talk to his staff and to thank his staff. And, you know, I just couldn't hold it together, because, you know, so many of these people have just given their whole lives to my father.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The book, "True Compass," tell us about when he started working on it and how he wrote it, because he was sick for much of the time he worked on this.

TED KENNEDY, JR.:

Yes, he was. Well, writing a memoir is something that my father has wanted to do for several years, so he had actually begun writing this book a number of years ago.

And you and I talked about, you know, just before this broadcast how he took contemporaneous notes of his experiences, his meetings with different presidents, his opinions about different political moments in our country's history. He really wanted to set the record straight. I mean, you know that so many books have been written about the Kennedys — some good, some bad, of course — and many more will be written.