• 'Problem by problem,' Kennedy transformed himself

A decade ago, at the memorial service for John F. Kennedy Jr., yet another family member struck down at an early age, Edward M. Kennedy mourned his nephew by noting that he would not live “to comb gray hairs.”

It is the defining fact of this Kennedy’s legacy—both his standing within the Kennedy dynasty and his larger impact on American society —that he enjoyed a long and eventful life.

The youngest member of his generation did not have the cool grace of John F. Kennedy, the dazzling wit, or the easy command of language. He did not have Robert F. Kennedy’s lean, ascetic features or electric sense of purpose. He spent decades in Washington as a contemporary and sometimes painfully mortal figure, rather than one shrouded in history and myth. At the end, his death did not come in a horrible jolt of violence—the only one of patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy’s four sons of which this can be said.

Arlington

• Kennedy's absence leaves Senate void of vital dealmaker

WASHINGTON – In an era of bitter political division, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's death silenced a singular voice of bipartisanship at a time when colleagues are struggling with angry constituents and each other over an elusive plan to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Some lawmakers said Tuesday the current stalemate is the result of Kennedy's absence for the past few, crucial months. Some hope to rescue the embattled legislation as his legacy.

• Health care industry contributes heavily to Blue Dog Dems

WASHINGTON — During the first half of the year, as the Obama administration and moderate and liberal factions within the Democratic Party wrangled over the timing, shape and cost of health care reform efforts, the party's fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition pulled in $1.1 million in campaign contributions, according to watchdog organizations.

More than half the amount came from the pharmaceutical, health care provider and insurance industries — and successfully delayed voting on overhaul proposals until the fall.