(CNN) - Three sources close to the Kennedy family say Sen. Ted Kennedy will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy presidential library in Boston.
A procession Friday will travel from the library to the Mission Church in Boston, where a funeral mass will be held. Kennedy will be buried Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery, also the final resting place of his brothers John and Robert Kennedy.
(CNN) – It may be months before the Senate seat of Edward Kennedy is filled, following his death at the age of 77 on Tuesday.
A long-term vacancy could have effects far beyond Kennedy's home state of Massachusetts, since his death deprives the Democrats of the 60-vote "supermajority" with which they can theoretically force laws through the Senate despite Republican objections.
Under Massachusetts law, a special election must be held 145 to 160 days - about five months - after a Senate seat becomes vacant. The winner of that election serves the remainder of a senator's unexpired term.
Just last week, Kennedy urged that the law be changed to allow the governor to appoint a temporary replacement until the special election can be held.
Washington (CNN) – CNN has learned that Army officials a few weeks ago met with Sen. Edward Kennedy’s staff and presented a plan that has his final resting place may be just a few feet from the graves of his brothers at Arlington National Cemetery, according to a senior Defense Department official with direct knowledge of funeral planning.
The meeting occurred at Arlington National Cemetery, the official confirmed. The plan was then given to the family by staff members. The proposed gravesite is 95 feet south of the grave of the late Senator Robert Kennedy. Arlington National Cemetery is now awaiting final word from the Kennedy family on approval of that site.
The senior official said a final decision is expected from the Kennedy family in the next two days, discussions with family representatives are ongoing at this time
Sen. Kennedy was eligible for burial at Arlington as a serving member of Congress but also on the basis he served honorably on active duty in the Army from 1951 to 1953.
The identified plot of land is currently covered with grass and is near to both Robert Kennedy’s grave and the gravesite of the late President John F. Kennedy. At this point, U.S. military ceremonial units have not received orders for participating in a funeral, but military sources say a typical congressional funeral would include military personnel at the internment, a military team to carry the casket, a firing party for a gun salute and a bugler.
Any arrangements will depend on the family wishes.
(CNN) – South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer will call on Gov. Mark Sanford to resign in a press conference scheduled for Wednesday at noon, making him the highest ranking official in the state to do so, according to a source close to Bauer.
But Bauer - who has been plotting his entrance into the 2010 governor's race - will also pledge in the news conference not to seek the top office himself if Sanford does decide to step down in the coming weeks.
The lieutenant governor will send a letter to Sanford later today asking him to step down, a move that would elevate Bauer into the governor's mansion for the remainder of Sanford's term.
That prospect is an uncomfortable one for rival Republicans in the governor's race, who believe Bauer would gain an upper hand in the 2010 race as an incumbent. And because he stands to benefit directly, Bauer also risks appearing nakedly ambitious by asking Sanford to go.
But Bauer is promising not to enter the race if he assumes the governorship - a scenario he first floated to CNN in June after Sanford revealed an extramarital affair and came under fire from members of his own party.
"What it would do is it would get the politics out of it," Bauer told CNN about his proposal at the time. "The people that are so concerned for their own political future about running for governor, would no longer be worried if I came in and became governor, because I would just say.'You know what? This is bigger than politics. I will go and lead in for the next 18 months and not run for re-election.'"
(CNN) - Several of Ted Kennedy's colleagues and friends have issued statements on the
Massachusetts senator's passing.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick: "One of the Commonwealth's brightest lights went out last night. Ted Kennedy was a compassionate, effective, visionary statesman, family man and friend. Diane and I were blessed by his company, support and many kindnesses, and miss him profoundly. We pray for comfort for his beloved wife and partner Vicki and his entire family."
Harry Reid, Senate majority leader: "Because of Ted Kennedy, more young children could afford to become healthy. More young adults could afford to become students. More of our oldest citizens and our poorest citizens could get the care they need to live longer, fuller lives. More minorities, women and immigrants could realize the rights our founding documents promised them. And more Americans could be proud of their country. Ted Kennedy's dream was the one for which the founding fathers fought and for which his brothers sought to realize. The liberal lion's mighty roar may now fall silent, but his dream shall never die."
CNN Radio reports on Kennedy's legacy:
More reactions after the jump:
(CNN) - President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy marks the "passing of an extraordinary leader."
He knew Kennedy's death was coming for some time, but was "awaiting it with no small amount of dread," Obama said from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where he has been on vacation.
Kennedy's ideals are "stamped on scores of laws" and helped mold an America that is "more just," Obama added.
The "extraordinary good that he did lives on."
(CNN) – CNN will air HBO's acclaimed documentary "Teddy: In His Own Words" on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.
The film, produced by Emmy-winning Kennedy documentarian Peter Kunhardt, traces the Massachusetts Senator's life from his childhood to his memorably speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - After a losing presidential campaign, it became clear to Edward "Ted" Kennedy that his true calling was to help shape the country's political future from the U.S. Senate.
The turning point came in 1980 when Kennedy unsuccessfully challenged President Carter in the Democratic primaries.
But Kennedy's loss was not necessarily such a bad thing, a top political historian notes.
"I think partly it related to that time when he, after 1980, he realized that he was not going to be president of the United States ... and that being a United States senator was a pretty important and powerful job in which he could do good," said Stephen Hess, author of "America's Political Dynasties."
Kennedy, 77, had represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate since his 1962 election when he was chosen to finish the unexpired Senate term of his brother, John F. Kennedy, who was elected president in 1960. The Massachusetts governor appointed Democrat Benjamin A. Smith to the seat following John Kennedy's presidential win.
Political observers have said that Smith was a mere seat warmer until Ted Kennedy turned 30 - the required age to become a U.S. senator.
"It's quite remarkable for a person who got there in 1962 at age 30 with no greater qualification for the office than his brother was president of the United States and the voters of Massachusetts respected that name," Hess said.
Last summer, as I flew toward Denver for the Democratic Convention on a small jet with Ted Kennedy, his family and a few friends, I thought of another convention 28 years before. It was the one Kennedy addressed in New York City after losing the Democratic nomination for President to Jimmy Carter. The speech Kennedy hoped to deliver in Denver would echo the earlier one, although a slight change in the closing words would make for a profound shift in mood. The robust Kennedy of 1980, announcing "The dream shall never die" was a young lion in winter, defiant in his beliefs even in defeat.
From CNN Politics
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