By RUSSELL GOLDMAN Aug. 29, 2009
President Barack Obama will eulogize Sen. Ted Kennedy, his friend, supporter and one time advisor, at a Boston funeral today for the eight-term senator who died Tuesday at age 77.
Vice President Joe Biden will also be among the hundreds of mourners expected to attend the funeral mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Roxbury, Mass. Former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are expected. President George H.W. Bush, however, will not attend.
Following the funeral, Kennedy's body will be flown to Arlington National Cemetery where he will be buried.
Today's mass follows a memorial service held at the John F. Kennedy Library Friday night, at which some of Kennedy's closest colleagues eulogized the senator.
Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Orrin Hatch of Utah joined Democrats Chris Dodd of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts to eulogize Kennedy, at what was called "A Celebration of Life."
"He was the most reliable, the most prepared, and the most persistent member of the Senate," McCain said Friday.
"He took the long view. He never gave up. And though on most issues I very much wished he would give up, he taught me to be a better senator," he said.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, as well as Kennedy's nephew, former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, D-Mass., the son of his slain brother Robert, and niece Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy also eulogized Kennedy Friday.
WKBW will air complete coverage of the Funeral from 10am until approximately 12:30pm Saturday, with a "Special Report" at 5:30pm. ABC News will have complete coverage on World News on Channel 7 at www.abcnews.com. For more, click "News Links" at the top of the wkbw.com page.
