"I Know I May Never Be President"

By Ed Magnuson.

As the last brother in a Democratic Party dynasty, Edward Kennedy has been a powerful voice and divisive force in presidential politics for nearly 15 years. Each campaign season, the Massachusetts Senator has been chalked up as the front runner for the Democratic nomination that his brother John won and Robert sought. But burdened by family responsibilities and the lingering scandal of Chappaquiddick, Kennedy spurned the challenge in 1972, 1976 and 1984. When he did summon the will to run in 1980, he performed dismally and was trounced by the incumbent President Jimmy Carter.

Last week, as all signs seemed to point toward a reach for the top in 1988, Kennedy, 53, backed out once again. "I know," he acknowledged, "that this decision means that I may never be President." He added: "The pursuit of the presidency is not my life. Public service is."

The Senator's withdrawal statement came in the form of a somewhat stilted five-minute videotaped speech on two Boston television stations. He alluded fleetingly to "the passions, on both sides, invariably inspired by any Kennedy campaign for President." But he gave no clear reason for his decision. Since the presidential campaign season has grown increasingly long, he said, "anything I do or say now will naturally be seen through the lens of 1988." He concluded that "the best way to advance the values you and I share--peace on earth, economic growth at home and compassion for all Americans--is to be a United States Senator, and not a candidate for President." At a Boston press conference the following morning, a more relaxed Kennedy quipped, "Well, here I don't go again." He repeated his contention that the issues he cares about get submerged when everything he does is viewed as a move to advance his presidential ambitions. He had been irked last January when his trip to South Africa had been put in a campaign context, and he feared that a tour this week of poverty areas in the U.S. would get similar treatment. For most people, Kennedy suggested with a smile, "the more important issue seems to be whether my weight is going up or down." (It has been going down, previously a surefire tip-off to political observers that he was preparing to run.) "I wanted to be President, and I still do," he conceded. "I would have been a strong contender. I had put together a good political organization."

Certainly the Senator had been in a go mode. His fund-raising political- action committee was active, he traveled and gave interviews that encouraged attention to his likely candidacy, and his staffers seemed almost certain that he would run. But the old scandals and family problems were certain to be raised anew: just this fall, a widely publicized book about his former wife Joan had criticized Kennedy as an unfeeling husband. Kennedy's sister Jean Smith, whose advice he highly regards, advised against another race. Politicians he consulted around the country were friendly but unreassuring. A final and perhaps paramount factor: in 1988 the Senator would be up for re- election to the seat he has held since 1962.

Close Kennedy associates have concluded that the Senator was also influenced by the difficulty of the race that he would face. Said one: "In his heart of hearts, I think he figured he couldn't make it. So why bother?" Said another: "He probably took a look at the political picture and thought it didn't look too good."

It did not. Kennedy attracts strong admirers and implacable foes. He has been tagged as an old-line liberal at a time when liberalism seems to be going out of style. His presence has tugged at the loyalties of veterans in his party while discouraging the ambitions of fresher candidates. His withdrawal eases those tensions. The immediate beneficiaries are likely to be such presidential possibilities as Colorado Senator Gary Hart and New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who will now get the mixed blessing of more press attention. In the end, Kennedy's agonizing personal decision--assuming he sticks to it--may prove to be a service to his party and to the family legacy he sustains so well in the Senate.

With reporting by Robert Ajemian/Boston and Hays Gorey/Washington