MASSACHUSETTS: Edward M. Kennedy, the iconic “liberal lion” of the U.S. Senate and reigning patriarch of a legendary family political dynasty, died of brain cancer Tuesday night at his Cape Cod, Massachusetts, home.

Kennedy was first elected in 1962. Throughout his career, he witnessed everything from the Vietnam War and Woodstock to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the election of the nation's first African-American president.

“Given our political differences, people are sometimes surprised by how close Ronnie and I have been to the Kennedy family. But Ronnie and Ted could always find common ground, and they had great respect for one another.

I will miss him,” said Nancy Reagan of the Massachusetts senator’s passing. During his tenure, Kennedy authored more than 2,500 bills in the United States Senate. Kennedy’s liberal voice in his four decades in the Senate championed legislation on education, health care, voting rights and the minimum wage.

In a written statement, President Obama said: “For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts… our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time.” LINK