Lion of the Senate

When Ted Kennedy Rallied the Democrats in a GOP Congress

Nick Littlefield, David Nexon

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2015
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781476796178
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

An insider’s look at the two years when Senator Ted Kennedy held at bay both Newt Gingrich and his Republican majority: “For those who love politics and care about policy—and those looking for an account of how Washington used to work, Lion of the Senate is pure catnip” (USA TODAY).

The November 1994 election swept a new breed of Republicans into control of the United States Congress. Led by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, the Republicans were determined to enact a radically conservative agenda that would reshape American government. Some wanted to shut down the government. If Gingrich’s “Contract with America” been enacted, they would have shredded the federal safety net, decimated the federal programs, and struck down the regulatory framework that protects health, safety, and the environment. And, were it not for Ted Kennedy, who had defeated Mitt Romney for his Senate seat in 1994, they would have succeeded.

In Lion of the Senate Nick Littlefield and David Nexon describe never-before-disclosed maneuvers of closed-door meetings in which Kennedy galvanized his party, including the two pivotal years, 1995 and 1996, when the Republicans held control of Congress and he fought to preserve the mission of the Democratic Party in the face of the right-wing onslaught. Here is the nitty-gritty of Kennedy’s role, and the details of a fascinating, bare-knuckled, and frequently hilarious fight in the United States Senate.

“Compelling…as a story about how the Senate operates—well, how the Senate used to operate—and a story about perhaps the greatest Senate lawmaker of the second half of the twentieth century, Lion of the Senate succeeds” (The Washington Post) as a political lesson for all time. With an introduction by Doris Kearns Goodwin, this is “a fine rendering that deserves a wide readership” (Kirkus Reviews).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Note from the Authors
• Introduction by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Preface
• 1. Election Day
• 2. The Contract with America
• 3. The Failed Struggle for Health Reform
• 4. Kennedy in the Minority
• 5. Preparing the Resistance
• 6. The Struggle for the Mind of the President
• 7. Orrin Hatch
• 8. Rallying the Democrats
• 9. The Fight Begins
• 10. The Republican Attack
• 11. Senate Rules
• 12. Will the Democrats Unite?
• 13. The Capitol, the Senate, and the City of Washington
• 14. Exposing the Republican Budget Before Labor Day
• 15. The Senate Returns to the Budget After Labor Day
• 16. The First Train Wreck
• 17. The Second Train Wreck
• 18. A New “Big Idea”
• 19. Laying the Groundwork
• 20. The Clash of the Titans: Dole vs. Kennedy
• 21. Clash of the Titans, Round 2
• 22. Victory
• 23. The Children’s Health Initiative
• 24. A Dream Fulfilled: “We Owe It to Ted”
• 25. The New Challenge and the Kennedy Vision
• Epilogue
• Photographs
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright