Kennedy procession begins; Arlington burial planned
— -- Under a clear, blue sky Thursday, Sen. Edward Kennedy's flag-draped casket was carried out of his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., to begin his final journey to Boston on a route lined with mourners who gathered early in the morning to wish him farewell.
The motorcade left shortly after 2 p.m. for the 70-mile trip to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.
Family members had arrived at the compound before noon for a private Mass.
Children in bathing suits and towels around their necks watched from the porches of neighboring houses as they arrived. A handful of neighbors watched quietly from behind a white picket fence.
A flag flew at half-staff in the center of the circular driveway of the house. Uniformed members of an honor guard gathered at the side of the house and then moved to the front porch, where a seagull flew around and landed on the driveway.
The casket was carried out of the house and around the outside porch by members of the guard. As it was carried to the hearse family members gathered outside, with Kennedy's wife, Vicki, standing in front with a gang of children behind her.
The motorcade was scheduled to make a number of stops significant to Kennedy before arriving at the library, where Kennedy's body will lie in repose until Friday.
Crowds started forming at the library early in the morning before its doors opened.
Shortly after noon, a line of more than 40 people accumulated at the library to offer their condolences.
In the glass-wall, pavilion room at the library, below a quote from President Kennedy's inaugural address, people in line broke off between two tables, each with a white flower arrangement, framed photos of Kennedy and two books where they could write their last regards to the senator.
Richard Rivard, a retired teacher from Revere, Mass., said he came to pay his respects and also came to honor his late mother, Ida Rivard, who was a strong Kennedy supporter.
"I remember years ago, my mother had gone to some kind of fundraising breakfast and Sen. Edward Kennedy was the main speaker," he said. "He very graciously was autographing napkins and things like that at the end of the breakfast, and my mother went up and got his autograph.
"She got it for me," he said. "I still have that napkin from back in the 1950s."
The final act of Kennedy's half-century in the spotlight concludes Saturday when the patriarch of America's best-known political dynasty is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery next to his slain brothers.
Kennedy lost a battle with brain cancer Tuesday at the age of 77. The motorcade is expected to arrive at the library late afternoon. Public visitation will continue until Friday afternoon. Invitations are required for other observances, beginning with a private memorial service at the library that night.
A funeral Mass will take place at 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday at Boston's Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, a church where the senator prayed daily during daughter Kara's successful battle with cancer. Kennedy will be buried across the river from the Capitol he dominated.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will be among the speakers at Friday's memorial. President Obama will be among those speaking at Saturday's funeral.
"An important chapter in our history has come to an end," Obama said on Martha's Vineyard, where he is vacationing. He described himself as "heartbroken."
McCain wistfully recalled Kennedy's "booming voice" that "will never encourage or assail or impress us again."
After John Kennedy's assassination in 1963 and the slaying of Sen. Robert Kennedy during his 1968 presidential campaign, Edward Moore Kennedy— the youngest of four brothers — became the family's standard-bearer.
Initially, the man known as "Teddy" foundered. A series of self-inflicted personal crises — including a 1969 car crash in Chappaquiddick, Mass., that killed passenger Mary Jo Kopechne— and the failure of his 1980 challenge to President Carter sent Kennedy back to the Senate to rebuild his reputation.
By the time of his death, Kennedy was a respected dealmaker. Republicans, such as McCain and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, have said Obama's health care plan might be closer to reality had illness not removed Kennedy from talks on an issue the senator repeatedly called "the cause of my life."
Some Democrats vow to make Kennedy's unfulfilled goal his legacy. "Ted Kennedy's dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year because of his leadership and his inspiration," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
That may be difficult in the Senate, where Kennedy's death deprives Democrats of the 60th vote needed to override a GOP filibuster.
In a letter last week, Kennedy urged Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, and state legislative leaders to change the law so Patrick can appoint a temporary Senate successor.
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo told reporters he will begin polling state lawmakers "once the proper time of mourning has passed."
Contributing: Christina Crapanzano in Boston; Richard Wolf with Obama; Carolyn Pesce in McLean, Va.