Edward Moore Kennedy was known in the senate as the “Liberal Lion”. The last of the original Kennedy brothers, all of whom met unusual ends. John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, and even Edward Moore Kennedy himself was in a plane crash. John F. Kennedy, Jr. died in a plane crash as well. The unusual circumstances of their deaths led many to say there was “Kennedy Curse”.

But the “Liberal Lion” would live on to an old age, and died of a more natural cause: a malignant brain tumor. Ted Kennedy had served for 46 years in the U.S. Senate, a stalwart of the far left, being viewed as a consistently liberal senator, and many consider his endorsement as a turning point for Obama in the Democratic primaries. Edward Moore Kennedy earned the nickname as the “Liberal Lion of the Senate” for his consistency and always vocal advocacy of the liberal cause, even when unpopular, or when his colleagues would shrink from those issues.