True Compass: A Memoir
Product DescriptionIn this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his  extraordinary personal story--of his legendary family, politics, and fifty years at the center of national  events.TRUE COMPASSThe youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose  Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a  key role in the presidential campaign of his brother John F. Kennedy, recounted here in loving detail. In  1962 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he began a fascinating political education and became a  legislator.In this historic memoir, Ted Kennedy takes us inside his family, re-creating life with  his parents and brothers and explaining their profound impact on him. For the first time, he describes his  heartbreak and years of struggle in the wake of their deaths. Through it all, he describes his work in the  Senate on the major issues of our time--civil rights, Vietnam, Watergate, the quest for peace in Northern  Ireland--and the cause of his life: improved health care for all Americans, a fight influenced by his own  experiences in hospitals.His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love of family, and  an abiding faith. There have been controversies, too, and Kennedy addresses them with unprecedented candor.  At midlife, embattled and uncertain if he would ever fall in love again, he met the woman who changed his  life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy. Facing a tough reelection campaign against an aggressive challenger named  Mitt Romney, Kennedy found a new voice and began one of the great third acts in American politics,  sponsoring major legislation, standing up for liberal principles, and making the pivotal endorsement of  Barack Obama for president.Hundreds of books have been written about the Kennedys. TRUE COMPASS will  endure as the definitive account from a member of America's most heralded family, an inspiring legacy to  readers and to history, and a deeply moving story of a life like no other.A Look at Edward M. Kennedy Through the  Years(Click on each image below to see a larger view)Ted Kennedy  with Bobby Kennedy at the opening of the Royal Children’s Zoo (June 9, 1938)John F.  Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M. KennedyTed  Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South BostonTed and  Vicki Kennedy (Photo by Ken Regan)