Central Texans remember Ted Kennedy

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Supporters of Senator Edward M. Kennedy are recalling his final visit to Texas on February 21, 2008.

It came less than a month after he endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama for president. The Massachusetts Democrat visited the campus of Texas State University for an Obama rally.

After the event in San Marcos, Kennedy told KXAN Austin News, "One thing Barack Obama has been able to do, much like my brothers were able to do, is to challenge the country."

Austin's first family of politics has a longtime connection with the Kennedys. Lyndon Johnson was vice president under John F. Kennedy.

The LBJ Library and Museum released a telephone conversation between Edward Kennedy and President Johnson. In 1964 the two men talked about Kennedy's recovery from an airplane accident:

EMK: "Mrs. Johnson called and you've been awfully kind during this... And we're really appreciative, and my parents are too."

LBJ: "You just tell 'em we're ready to do anything and everything they you want done and we'll elect you by a bigger vote than you got before."

EMK: "I know it! God, now you're really gonna have to pull me through up here!"

LBJ: "Well, just tell 'em that I'll fill your speaking engagements."

EMK: (laughs) "Well, I certainly shall. That was awful kind of you, but we'll be looking forward to getting back down there."

President Johnson's daughter, Luci Baines Johnson released the following statement:

"Senator Kennedy was our family's cherished friend and the defender of the flame for social justice our parents believed in - decent health care, education, and civil rights for every American.

He could have had a life of self service; he chose a life of public service. He was our nation's great 'possibilitarian' - who brought Americans of divergent thought together to further a common good. Our hearts are heavy for his beloved family and our country. Generations of Johnsons are praying Senator Kennedy's dream for an America where healthcare is a right, not a privilege, will become the just tribute he deserves."

"My initial reaction was sadness and shock," said former Labor Secretary Ray Marshall, who is now a member of the faculty at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT.

"Most of this world's really big problems are political, and there are not many people who were in Teddy Kennedy's class in being able to get things done, and to reach across the aisle to know how far to go in compromising legislation in order to get acceptance," Marshall said.

Austinite Lance Armstrong got the news while attending a global cancer forum in Dublin, Ireland.

"We'll miss him, the fight against cancer in the United States will miss him and the fight against cancer around the world will miss him," Armstrong said. "And this debate on health care in the United States will also not be the same without him."