Staffers followed Kennedy on public service

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Edward Kennedy's legacy lives on in the nation's schools, in its health clinics and at its courthouses. Those who worked with him during his 47 years in the Senate say he bestowed another important and enduring gift: an infectious commitment to public service.

From Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and White House domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes to the hundreds of lesser-known former Kennedy staffers and campaign volunteers who followed him into public service, Kennedy left a mark on government, in academia, at non-profits and service groups across the nation.

"Sen. Kennedy has done as much as any leader to create a culture of service and civic engagement in our country," says Alan Solomont of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the government-funded domestic service program, AmeriCorps.

In April, President Obama signed a new law bearing Kennedy's name to create opportunities for community service, including by offering tax incentives to businesses that give workers time off for service.

The Edward M. KennedyServe America Act, Obama said, was inspired by Kennedy's life, and the president exhorted all Americans to "take up that spirit of the man for whom this bill is named."

Those who worked with Kennedy over the years did just that, many in politics and government at a time when politicians and government "bureaucrats" often were derided. Among them:

•David Blumenthal, the Obama administration's health information technology coordinator, who worked on health issues for Kennedy in the 1970s and served in Massachusetts as his on-the-road physician during Kennedy's 1980 campaign for president.

Blumenthal says Kennedy didn't have his brothers' "aura" of public service as a young man, but as he "grew in dignity so enormously" later in life, he began to serve as an example to younger generations.

"He was always youthful in spirit," Blumenthal says. "He was never threatened by young people coming along, so he played that mentoring role."