Kennedy is the author of the memoir True Compass (posthumously published in 2009), as well as the nonfiction books America Back on Track (2006), In Critical Condition: The Crisis in America’s Health Care (1972), and Decisions for a Decade (1968). He also author a children’s book, My Senator and Me: A Dog’s-Eye View of Washington, DC (2006), and published a compilation of his political speeches, Our Day and Our Generation (1979).
Kennedy served in the U.S. Senate (D-MA) from 1962 to 2009, where he was famed for his oratorical skills, and his work on behalf of laws to improve health care, education, and immigration reform. Among other honors, he was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom, an honorary knighthood from the United Kingdom, twelve honorary degrees from universities, and a Nansen Refugee Award from the United Nations.