Kennedy to Be Buried Saturday at Arlington Cemetery

By Kent Klein
Washington
29 August 2009

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, niece of Sen. Kennedy, addresses memorial service at John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, 28 Aug 2009

The late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy will be buried Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.

Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama will deliver a eulogy at the liberal icon's funeral Mass in Boston.

Mr. Obama will pay tribute to Senator Kennedy's life and career, before about 1,500 people at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, a Roman Catholic church in Boston. Former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will be among those in attendance.

Kennedy died of brain cancer Tuesday, at the age of 77.

The senator will be buried later Saturday just across the Potomac River from Washington, in a small, family ceremony, near the graves of his slain brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

Vice President Joe Biden was among the speakers who honored the legendary lawmaker at a three-hour "celebration of life" Friday night in Boston. He told Kennedy's children how much he admired the man with whom he served in the Senate for 36 years, saying, "Your father was a historic figure. He was a heroic figure beyond that."

An honor guard stands at the casket of Senator Edward Kennedy at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, 27 Aug 2009

Biden says his fellow Democrat persuaded him to keep his office after his wife and daughter died in an automobile accident. The vice president says Kennedy's character was an inspiration.

"He constantly renewed my faith and optimism in the possible. I never once saw your father with a defeatist attitude. I never saw him petty. I never saw him act in a small way. And as a consequence, he made us all bigger," said Biden.

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who was one of Kennedy's fiercest political opponents, was also one of his best friends. The senator from Utah said, "It is a great honor for me to be here with you today, to talk about a man I have so much regard for, so much reverence for, with whom I have done battle for 33 years, and have enjoyed every minute of it."

The late senator's nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy, a former congressman, says his uncle taught him to fight tirelessly to help people in need. The former congressman said, "He was always there. He was telling me, 'Never, ever, ever, ever, ever give up. You stay in the race.'"

Mourner offers salute while standing near flag-draped casket of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy as he pays his respects at John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, in Boston, 28 Aug 2009

An estimated 50,000 people filed past Senator Kennedy's flag-draped coffin Thursday and Friday in Boston to pay their last respects.

Kennedy represented the northeastern state of Massachusetts in the Senate for 47 years, making him the third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history.

Fellow lawmakers and all the living former presidents have praised Ted Kennedy for reaching across party lines to pass education, health care and civil rights legislation.