エドワード・ケネディ追悼文におけるRFK


http://www.newsweek.com/id/214247/page/1より。

In 1965, when both Robert and Edward Kennedy sat on the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee, the two brothers found themselves waiting several hours during a committee meeting to question a witness.


Robert passed a note to Ted: "Is this the way I become a good senator—sitting here and waiting my turn?" Ted wrote back, "Yes." Robert pressed: "How many hours do I have to sit here to be a good senator?" Ted scribbled: "As long as necessary, Robbie."


RFK was too impatient to be a good senator, but EMK relished the minutiae and drudgery of legislation, along with the cloakroom camaraderie and the dealmaking and favor-swapping that are essential to passing laws.


He possessed two qualities rarely found in our elected representatives: he did not hog the limelight, and he was never petty. For 47 years in the U.S. Senate, Kennedy patiently waited his turn, and by doing so accomplished more for the poor and dispossessed than any other senator, ever.


 この話は結構有名だと思うのですが(いろんな本で読んだエピソードだから)、E・トーマスがE・ケネディの追悼文にエドワード・ケネディの資質を浮き彫りにするために書いているというのが興味深くて、ここにのせてみました。

 ボビーの性急さがよく分ると言いますか、二人の持ち味の違いがくっきりし、ボビーはやはり疾風怒濤の60年代に向いていたなあと改めて思った次第。

 穏やかな時代だと、ボビーの資質は浮くかも。彼は動乱期に向くタイプのような気がします。