Sen. Edward M. Kennedy attracted the best and the brightest.
His staff, widely respected and envied by other legislators, was known as a farm team for future Democratic leaders.
“They started with brilliance, but brilliance in this town is never enough,” civil rights advocate Ralph G. Neas told The Washington Post. “They brought with their brilliance a work ethic that was also extraordinary, and they were always the most aggressive and competitive staff on Capitol Hill. They got the job done.”
Melody Barnes
Over the years, his staff included Stephen G. Breyer, who went on to become a Supreme Court justice; Nancy Soderberg, who was staff director of the National Security Council and now advises New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and Daniel K. Tarullo, now a Federal Reserve board member.
Many Kennedy staff alums now hold top positions in the Obama administration. Melody Barnes heads the Domestic Policy Council. Gregory B. Craig is White House counsel. Kenneth Feinberg is the compensation czar at Treasury. Esther M. Olavarria is a deputy assistant at Homeland Security. And James B. Steinberg is deputy secretary of State.
On learning of Kennedy’s death this week, about 100 former aides traveled to Boston to help organize the funeral, the Post reported.
Said Stephanie Cutter, a former staffer who is now communications director for the Treasury Department: “Very few jobs make you want to get out of bed in the morning, and when you worked for Senator Kennedy you didn’t even need an alarm.”
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