Listening to these accounts of Kennedy's life I have to ask

[XemaSab]

How did he DO it?

How did this man have time for the sailing and the parties and the history trips and the drinking and the painting and the sledding and the calls to friends and the letters to supporters and the funerals and the dogs and the trips overseas AND HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BEING THE HARDEST WORKING MAN IN THE SENATE?

What was his secret?

And how can the rest of us live this kind of life?

[WillyT]

1. Maybe The Old Adage...

"If you love what you do for a living, you'll never work a day in your life."

He was amazing.

[timeforpeace]

24. You nailed it with the word "reputation." Reality is a different matter.

[Cha]

32. First of all you replied to the wrong post..

secondly..are you dissing Senator Kennedy?

Because it sounds like you are and if you are ..you better head for the fucking hills.

[DaveinMD]

2. a lot of these politicians

don't sleep too much. Some people can function that way.

[sandnsea]

3. Check most Senator's schedules

Teddy was above and beyond - but most of them do in a day what I haven't done in a lifetime.

I have concluded they have an inner drive that most of us aren't even aware exists.

[targetpractice]

8. I'm convinced time works differently for some people...

...like Martha Stewart, for instance... How does she get all that stuff done.

[malaise]

35. It's easy

Some people have perfected time-management

[blm]

19. Having a dedicated efficient staff, and the resources to get it all done AND enjoy it...

by all accounts, the Kennedy and Kerry staffs are some of the best and brightest in DC as well as in Massachusetts.

[sandnsea]

39. Definitely helps

But if somebody handed you their schedule, would you even get through the birthday phone calls? lol. It constantly amazes me, and Teddy absolutely more than the rest.

[sunnybrook]

4. Don't forget mentoring

Reading to children and being surrogate father to dozens of family members. Amazing! Makes me stop and think about whining that I don't have enough time!

[XemaSab]

6. You're right

Reading to children ONCE A WEEK, and being the paterfamilias to a massive brood.

[suston96]

5. That is a great question......

It's been partially answered the last few days - he was a Kennedy - it's in their blood.

But I would like to hear more ......

[Uzybone]

7. they spend little time watching TV, on the internet etc

not a slam against any of us who watch the MSM and read the internets. Its just a fact. Very serious and driven people have little time for much of the junk that we consume as news/entertainment.

[XemaSab]

29. Apparently in the last year he got caught up on 24

and a friend of his on MSNBC just described him as an omnivorous reader.

[lunatica]

9. It helps when you have a staff that adores you and your family

A good staff creates the space for the boss to do the important things. And he had great stamina.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. You're overlooking the obvious -

Ted Kennedy had huge personal resources, as well as his professional staff.

He had a whole lot of people working for him, both as a Kennedy family member and as a senior Senator. He didn't have to do much except go to the next thing. He did his homework, which was his job, and he did a damned wonderful thing with it. He was terrific, and he was heroic.

But, he had hundreds of people who make him possible.

Do you think Ted ever signed a check? Or saw a bill? Or had to go grocery shopping?

We normal people cannot live that kind of life. We lack the resources and support staff.

You consider his immense wealth, and you realize how it was all possible. He didn't waste a moment....................................

[hedgehog]

18. Some of the talking heads ( not you) seemed to imply that of course

Kennedy was able to do so much because he was wealthy. If wealth was all you needed to ensure you'd be loved, we'd all know the names of all The Walmart siblings.

BTW - here's Open Secret's latest estimates of Senatorial wealth. Kennedy was up there, but there were plenty of others who aren't hurting for cash who've made all the impact of a dirty soap bubble:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&yea...

[LuckyLib]

23. Exactly. And even the wonderful kindnesses he could perform were built on

is staff doing the research -- calling ahead to find out where/how to contact an ill colleague, arranging for transportation to get there, keeping him posted and aware of the families of those killed in Iraq, etc. His will to do the work was his alone, but the ability to get it done can be credited to an amazing staff.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

27. I saw a quote from one of his nieces or nephews,

and it was something like, "No matter when I called Teddy, he always got back to me within half an hour."

Ted Kennedy didn't even have to answer his own phone or take messages - people did it all for him.

And he used them beautifully, yes.......................

[havocmom]

36. Yep, with such great staff attending to life's details, he got much done

The real magic was being such a caring person that he could get, and keep, such great staff.

Money helped hire the staff; one need not look far to demonstrate that truth. Well heeled scoundrels get staff too. But if one wants staff worth having, it takes more than money.

Good staff shares vision. Great staffers move mountains to bring vision to fruition. People that excellent set standards higher than just the dollar. Seems Ted had more than just money to offer to the army of people who helped free him for the leadership role he shouldered so well.

Yes, he had time because he did not have the mundane details to attend to. I always argued that every working woman needed a good wife to take care of the daily grind for her so she could do well in career.

His staff must be some of the greatest people in our nation. Wise would be the pol who managed to hire any of them. Any pol who managed to keep them working as hard for him/her would be one worth watching.

It takes nothing from him to sing their praises as well. As you say, he used them beautifully. The nation was better off for such skill.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

37. Turn on MSNBC -

the crowd gathered on the Capitol steps, waiting for the cortege, is comprised mostly of former Kennedy staffers. There are at least 500 people there.

And it's hot today, and extremely muggy. Horrible weather to be standing there, especially wearing black.

Senator Byrd is there, holding a small American flag, his palsied hand shaking as he wipes his eyes with a handkerchief.

The skies has been blue and clear all day, and now it's gotten cloudy. Looks like rain...................

[havocmom]

41. When I turned the TV on, I was wondering if you were in the crowd

Peace and Strength to you too, my dear.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

43. No, I'm not one to stand and wait -

and I don't like crowds.

But I'll go over to Arlington tomorrow - it's right down the road, ten minutes away - and make a visit. It'll be open to the public again tomorrow morning at 8 a.m...............................

[havocmom]

44. I go as a ghost with you

Thank him for me. Thank him for everything.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

45. Oh, yes - -

I promise you. Yes, I'll definitely give him our thanks. Our very big thanks.

I'll say hello to his brothers for us, too, while I'm there..................

[Spazito]

11. I wonder if part of the reason was because...

with the sudden loss of his brothers, he knew, more acutely than most, each day could be his last and so filled every minute of every day doing all that he loved?

[orpupilofnature57]

14. I think thats it , no character in a novel endured or enjoyed more.

[TahitiNut]

12. I don't think he spent much time watching TV.

[PassingFair]

13. Tons of money.

Think of what you could do, if you
had unending wealth and the ability
to hire others at will to help you
in your endeavors.

Not a slam on Ted Kennedy...

just a fact.

[calimary]

15. Then if you do have tons of money, you damn well BETTER do what he did with it.

Enabling himself to champion causes, and people. Much blessed, much obligated - as his family taught him.

[PassingFair]

Don't think for a MINUTE that I wouldn't....

[angstlessk]

17. heck, if I had tons of money and a staff of people, I would do less, not more

of course that's just me...thank God for people like Teddy, cause I couldn't get what he got done at ALL!

[itsrobert]

25. Exactly

He has/had a machine of people working for him.

[XemaSab]

30. No matter how much money you have, it doesn't buy you more hours in the day

[pitohui]

34. well, you're absolutely wrong about that, xemasab

if money is for nothing else, it DOES buy you more hours in the day

read what others have said about staff/support

what could you do if you didn't have to answer your own phone, write your own bills, cook your own dinner, drive your own car? how would the good you do be multiplied if you had a large loyal staff and large loyal family on tap to see that the good you wished to do was carried out?

this is not a slam against kennedy, he COULD have chosen to spend his life partying and who would have dared to criticize him after seeing the cost of public service to this family?

but it's just a fact of life, a poor person spends most of her time hustling for a few pennies and filling out forms and trying to make sure her kids don't get shot on their way to school, this poor person truly has fewer hours in the day and days in her life than the rich person

kennedy did much more with his resources than most, because he had heart to go with those resources

but honestly aren't there a lot of good hearts that maybe you know yourself, that will never be able to do much, because of the press to pay for food and medicine and a roof overhead?

there's a concept of disposable income, but there should also be a concept of disposable time, we don't talk about that much, because if we did, many a working class, poor, or middle class american would have to face their poverty, free time, they don't have any! -- their whole life is hurry from getting up to go to work to buy stuff so they can eat and clean house to trying to rodeo the kids to get enough sleep to be able to get up and do it all over again...

[etherealtruth]

16. Perhaps he recognized that life is short

... and tried to live a life worth living. Admittedly, I try and don't come close .... but, it doesn't stop me from trying. He succeeded in truly leading a life worth living!

[Shoelace]

20. he was a Renaissance man

who possessed an extraordinary knowledge in many fields and interests. I had a much loved uncle like that. It is as if they live in a slightly different dimension where time and space for them, seem to defy the laws of physics.
I wish I had an ounce if it!

[EFerrari]

33. That's a good way to put it. Yes, he really was!

[No Elephants]

21. Genes, training, discipline, devoted, personal and government staff, caring, etc.

[Xipe Totec]

22. If you wan't a job done fast, give it to somebody who's really busy

Because they done have time to waste.

If you give the job to domebody who doesn't have anything else to do, they'll make a career out of it.

[Jane Austin]

26. I think it's optimism.

Just as melancholy leads to not getting much done, I think maybe optimism gives one energy.

[nuxvomica]

28. He had help

Note that most of the anecdotes about Teddy revolve around him getting people to do things with him that they didn't want to do. He understood that no one in life can meet their challenges alone and his legislative history promoted the idea that no one should ever have to.

[KittyWampus]

31. He delegated authority and was secure enough to surround himself with smart people

and I think his wonderful treatment of people lead to a very dedicated staff

[blm]

38. True....he challenged them to perform and they did.

.

[gauguin57]

40. Keith Olbermann just posed that question to Doris Kearns Goodwin.

She said it was, simply, Ted Kennedy's energy AND his willingness to work harder and longer than anyone else,

[Raine]

42. That's what I wonder too

it's like he found a way to turn a 24hr day into one that was 48hr.

[InvisibleTouch]

46. That's a very good question.

"How can the rest of us live this kind of life?" I'm asking it of myself. I don't travel in his circles or work in his fields of interest, but I have lots of diverse interests and plans, though in my own life I feel like I don't get nearly as much done as I could. I'm trying to take some inspiration from him.

I think it's notable that he balanced work and play, living each aspect of life to its fullest. If you only work, you burn out. If you only play, you fritter away what time you have. One needs a sense of accomplishment as well as an infusion of joy in order to maintain one's energies. Maybe that was Teddy's secret.