U.S. Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the last surviving brother of the political family, died last night after more than a year battling brain cancer, according to CBC. Kennedy, 77, was surrounded by his family in Hyannis Port, Mass. when he passed.

Kennedy was one of the longest serving senators in American history, spending almost a total of 47 years in office. He was originally elected in 1962 when his brother, John F. Kennedy, was president. In 1980, he sought the Democratic party nomination against sitting president Jimmy Carter but his plans were ruined by a scandalous car accident in Martha’s Vineyard in which he pleaded guilty to leaving the scene.

Kennedy then devoted his career to senate work. He was a staunch advocate for universal health care in the United States, and wrote more than 2,500 bills including the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, Meals on Wheels for the elderly, and access to abortion clinics.

“I’ve benefited from the best of medicine, but I’ve also witnessed the frustration and outrage of patients and doctors alike as they face the challenges of a system that shortchanges millions of Americans,” he wrote in the Boston Globe this May.

Kennedy was also a strong critic of the war in Iraq.

During last year’s presidential candidacy, Kennedy personally endorsed Barack Obama. Despite his weakened condition, Kennedy attended Obama’s inauguration this January, but collapsed of fatigue at a luncheon following the ceremony. In a press conference earlier today, Obama expressed condolences to Kennedy’s family.

“His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives,” Obama said in the press conference.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is married to Kennedy’s niece Maria Shriver, also issued a statement this morning to express his grief on behalf of the family.

“Teddy taught us all that public service isn’t a hobby or even an occupation, but a way of life and his legacy will live on,” Schwarzenegger said in his statement.

Kennedy was the youngest of nine in the Kennedy family, and the only son to die of natural causes.

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