Teddy was the youngest of nine children — including older brothers President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

The senator married twice — he wed Virginia Joan Bennett in 1958, and later divorced. He wed Victoria Reggie Kennedy in 1992.

Kennedy was named one of “America's 10 Best Senators” in 2006 by Time magazine.

In 1964, Ted was in a plane crash in which the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides were killed.

In 1968, Kennedy made headlines when a car he was driving went off a bridge in Martha's Vineyard, killing Mary Jo Kopechne, a staff member of Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. Kennedy was able to swim to safety, but Kopechne drowned. As a result, Kennedy suffered from back pain until his death over 40 years later.

In 1980, Kennedy ran against incumbent Democratic president Jimmy Carter. He lost the race.

All three of Teddy's children have had medical problems — Edward Jr. lost a leg to cancer, Kara survived cancer, and Patrick is bipolar.

More than 300 bills written by Kennedy and his staff have been enacted into U.S. law.

Teddy fought a life-long battle to improve the health care in the United States, which was triggered by his injuries in the plane crash.

After his brothers' deaths, Ted Kennedy took on the role of surrogate father for their 13 children.