Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The nation’s political elite gathered at a Roman Catholic basilica in Edward Kennedy’s hometown of Boston and bade farewell to the Massachusetts senator whose legislative career spanned almost a half century.President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden led a Washington delegation of Cabinet officials and lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senator John McCain, who attended the two-hour service. Three former presidents, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, also assembled at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help with members of the Kennedy clan, which includes California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is married to the late senator’s niece, Maria Shriver.
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Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the last lion of a storied U.S. political dynasty, was laid to rest beside the graves of his two slain brothers on a hilltop above the capital where he made his legislative legacy.
The burial at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington followed a Roman Catholic funeral Mass earlier in the day in Kennedy’s hometown of Boston. At the two-hour service, President Barack Obama and the nation’s political elite bade farewell to the Massachusetts senator whose legislative career spanned almost a half century.
“The world will long remember” Kennedy as “heir to a weighty legacy, a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; the lion of the United States Senate,” Obama said in his eulogy for the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy, slain in 1963, and New York Senator Robert Kennedy, who was murdered during a 1968 quest for the nation’s highest office.
Kennedy was given “the gift of time that his brothers were not and he used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow,” Obama said.
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Senator Edward M. Kennedy will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, after a morning funeral in his native Boston.
President Obama will deliver the eulogy at the funeral, which begins at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica at 10:30 a.m. Former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will also attend the funeral, as will 58 senators and other dignitaries.
Among those who will perform at the funeral mass are Yo Yo Ma and Placido Domingo; family members will read excerpts from the senator’s own words. Ted Kennedy Jr. and Patrick J. Kennedy will offer remembrances before the president gives the eulogy.
Mr. Kennedy’s body will then be flown to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, after which the senator will take one final trip to the Capitol — Mr. Kennedy’s work place for nearly 47 years. Current and former staff members will salute him from the steps outside the Senate chamber. From there, his hearse will travel to Arlington National Cemetery, where Mr. Kennedy will be buried at 5:30 p.m. near two of his brothers, John and Robert.
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