True Compass: a memoir by Edward M. Kennedy (2009; Twelve, ISBN 978-0-446-53925-8)
OK. True confession time again. As a life-long Democrat, I grew up with a picture of President John F. Kennedy hanging in the den of my family’s little two bedroom suburban rambler in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood of Duluth. I was eight years old when I attended President Kennedy’s last speech in Minnesota at the University of Minnesota-Duluth Gymnasium in September of 1963, a little over a month before he was assassinated. I don’t remember much of the event other than I was bored to tears; we (my mom and I) were on a bench seat way up near the rafters of the gym while my dad, a local DFL leader, was down by the stage with the other dignitaries; and that I fell asleep somewhere during the message. I wasn’t an R.F.K fan; I was, of course, a Humphrey man in 1968, just like my dad. And the events on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969, even though I was only 13, turned me off to Teddy’s political ambitions. But, as this wonderfully paced family saga turned memoir reveals, I was wrong to judge the youngest Kennedy so harshly.
True Compass shares iconic faith with Tim Russert’s memoir reviewed below and does so in a similar vein: tying the principles and beliefs of the largest Christian denomination to the actions of the individuals occupying the memoir. Above all, through the tragedies endured by Senator Kennedy individually and as the titular head of the Kennedy clan, this is indeed a story of great faith centered around a rock of Catholic belief named Rose.
Beyond being a story of an American political dynasty, True Compass is also a fascinating study of the United States Senate and how it used to work (in a bipartisan fashion) before the advent of gross partisanship which began with Watergate, was exacerbated by successive Republican administrations, and which culminated in the weird and senseless attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton over a lie and a few drops of semen on a dress. Kennedy’s book is a historical record, a love story of a boy for his family, and a gift to all of us. In the end, Senator Kennedy should be forgiven for his indiscretions and praised for his service to our country. 5 stars out of 5.
