President Obama ended his speech tonight talking about the legacy of Sen. Ted Kennedy and his lifelong fight for health care. It was a very powerful way to end the speech.
Here is a copy of the letter Kennedy sent Obama that was delivered just after his death.
Dear Mr. President,
I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude
for your repeated personal kindnesses to me - and one last time, to
salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its
truth.
On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our
family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these
difficult months a happy time in my life.
You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.
When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the
memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days
that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the
President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that
is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause
stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally
defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the
prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned
my energy and determination.
There will be struggles - there always have been - and they are
already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I
learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will
stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the
time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding
that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you
have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material
things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are
not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social
justice and the character of our country.
And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that
soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all,
in an America where the state of a family's health will never again
depend on the amount of a family's wealth. And while I will not see the
victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will - yes, we
will - fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not
a privilege.
In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your
campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new
era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young
President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great
hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another
generation and once more on America's behalf inspires the entire world.
So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to
stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.
At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.
And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will
be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for
generations to come.
