No wisdom, but nuggets anyway . . .

True Compass, Edward M. Kennedy, Twelve Hatchette Book Group, New York

Edward Kennedy's death more than a year ago was cause for the celebration, in a manner of speaking, of a dynasty that yet exercises a hold on the public imagination. It does not really matter that the dynasty, as it used to be, does not happen to be there any more. That the mystique of the Kennedys has become frayed over the years is no more in question. But, again, there is that certain reawakening of sensibilities, of memories, every time the Kennedys are mentioned. That explains the grandeur of Edward Kennedy's funeral. The fact that he was the only Kennedy brother to survive to ripe old age (he was seventy seven when he passed on) did little to stop the flow of a revival of popular interest in the clan. The Obamas and the Clintons and the Bushes and the Carters made sure, through their presence at Kennedy's memorial services in Boston, that the clan was remembered.
And now, in posthumous form, we have Kennedy's memoirs before us. True Compass ought to have come to us when Kennedy was alive; but, as he makes clear early on in the telling of the story, it was fast, oncoming cancer that came in the way. Or perhaps it was a sense in the veteran senator that death needed to be overtaken, in however slight a degree, by his narration of the tale of his life. Make no mistake about it: Kennedy's memoirs are no more profound than the way he had conducted his life right from his youth to his old age. For those ready to be peppered with wisdom by men whose political careers have spanned nearly half a century (Kennedy served in the United States Senate from 1962 till the end of his life), True Compass comes as a bit of a disappointment. But is that surprising? The Kennedys have never been known for their wisdom or acute intelligence. Glamour and wealth have been part of their lives. Yet Edward Kennedy was different from his brothers in that his legislative accomplishments were feats that neither President John Kennedy nor Senator Robert Kennedy, both of whom were driven by thoughts of occupying the White House, could match. Even so, these memoirs will likely leave the reader wondering: where are the philosophical insights one spots in long-serving politicians?
There are none. But there are other nuggets, those that give you a compact as well as complex picture of the evolution of a politician in our times. Ted Kennedy, as he was known, came to occupy his senate seat in 1962, the same that his brother John had held till he was elected to the presidency, when he was only thirty. His rival was the nephew of House Speaker John McCormack. In the course of the campaign, the young McCormack taunted Kennedy about his pedigree: 'If your name had been Edward Moore instead of Edward Moore Kennedy, your candidacy would be a joke.' The joke would eventually, and tragically, turn out to be a long ride into legislative experience. JFK's assassination would leave the clan shattered. Robert Kennedy was rendered psychologically immobile, as Ted states here. As for himself, he was presiding over the Senate on 22 November 1963 (part of tradition allowing junior senators to be in that position at times) when the news of the assassination was brought to him. Five years later, it was RFK's murder in Los Angeles, moments after he had won the California primary against Eugene McCarthy, that sent Edward Kennedy spinning into a new circle of shock. Suddenly, the baby of the family (Ted was the youngest of Joseph and Rose Kennedy's children) found himself in the position of family guardian. Two widows, Jackie and Ethel, with their children, claimed his attention. More tragedy was to come. Ted's son was to be diagnosed for cancer. His wife Joan, shattered by the two assassinations, was to succumb to drinking problems. The senator himself was nearly to lose his life in a plane crash.
No, do not go looking for gems of wisdom in True Compass. Focus, rather, on the moments Kennedy considers significant in life, those he thinks readers should know about. He is clear about his feelings where RFK's 1968 run for the presidency is concerned: he believed in 1968 that 1972 would have been a better time. Once Robert was dead, his camp followers approached Ted to take up the banner. Edward Kennedy wisely declined. But by early 1969, seeking a specific role for himself, he challenged the long-serving Senator Russell Long for the position of Democratic whip in the Senate. To everyone's surprise, he won. It would turn out to be a pyrrhic victory, seeing that he would lose it two years later --- a direct consequence of Chappaquidick.
Which of course brings up the death of Mary Jo Kopechne soon after Kennedy beat Long. With him at the wheel and Kopechne beside him, Kennedy drove his car into the river, clambered out of it, went home. Meanwhile, Kopechne died in the water. The senator goes to great lengths to give vent to his sorrow about the tragedy and makes no effort, absolutely none, to explain away Kopechne's death. It is obvious that Kennedy has been deeply scarred by the tragedy and yet there appear to be gaps in his narration of it. That it was a criminal act on his part to walk away from the scene of the disaster is a truth he does not acknowledge. It leaves the reader feeling pretty uncomfortable. The tragedy was to ruin Kennedy's chances for the White House. He aged, missed 1972 and then 1976. But then came 1980, when he challenged embattled President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination. It ended in disaster, for both men. Kennedy did not win the nomination, but he wounded Carter enough for the president to be trounced by Ronald Reagan in November of the year.
Wisdom may not be the fundamentals of True Compass. But it is a work which you cannot easily put away. You come away missing its author and his ebullience, despite the very deep flaws that marked his personal and political career.
Syed Badrul Ahsan is Editor, Current Affairs and Book Reviews, The Daily Star.