A small encounter with Edward Kennedy

On the occasion of his passing, I am reminded of a small personal encounter with Senator Edward Kennedy.  In 1979, returning to Kentucky from a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, I was sitting in a Washington-bound Delta flight, awaiting takeoff from Boston’s Logan Airport. I was wearing vacation-quality tee shirt, shorts and sneakers. There was an announcement that the plane had a mechanical problem, so everyone had to get off and wait for another plane to be brought up. After about a 35-minute wait, we were allowed to re-board.
 
As I settled back into my seat near the rear of the plane, I looked up to see Senator Kennedy coming down the aisle. With him were his daughter Kara and son Patrick who proceeded to sit in the two seats next to me while the Senator and another person sat behind me. Considering the history of the Kennedys, I was struck by the apparent lack of any security people around him not to mention the fact that he was flying cattle class with the rest of us. As we waited for the plane to take off, I listened to the Senator and his children chatting back and forth over the seats.

Just after takeoff, the Senator decided to change seats, moving into the seat between me and his son Patrick, who was then about 11 years old. They began to play a card game. He asked me if I knew the game of Crazy Eights. I said no, my children had never taught me that one. As he played, he started making small talk with me like any other plane seatmate might do.  He asked about my children and then made some comments about his role as the “father” for all of the children of his brothers, adding that the girls were a particular challenge. 

At the time, there was much press speculation about whether Kennedy was going to make a run for President. When I told him that I worked in the governor’s office in Kentucky, he asked what the political thinking was in my state. I told him the Kentucky Democrats mostly seemed to be leaning toward former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter for President. 

When the plane reached the terminal gate at Washington National Airport and we got ready to get off the plane, I mentioned to the Senator that I was hoping to make a connection to an Eastern Airlines flight to Lexington, Kentucky. While we were about 35 minutes late getting in, I said the Eastern flight (which I had taken many times) is almost always late departing for Lexington and I might have a chance to make it anyway. As we walked out the loading ramp into the main terminal of National Airport (this was long before homeland security), Kennedy came from behind me, suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me all the way across the terminal to the Eastern Airlines counter. He said to the somewhat startled agent behind the counter, “This man is a friend of mine, and he needs to catch the flight to Lexington – if you can, have them hold the plane.” He then rushed off to wherever he was going.  Unfortunately for me, the Eastern flight to Lexington, for once, had departed on time, and I had to spend the night in a Washington hotel.  Later, when I told this tale to my children, they were only incredulous that I did not know how to play Crazy Eights.                        AllanDee