The Fall And Rise Of The Senate's Last Lion

Few political figures in the U.S. Senate garner as much esteem as Massachusetts' senior senator, Edward "Ted" Kennedy. His legacy stretches back decades and carries the weight of the Kennedy name.

That has been a boon and a burden to the senator. The flip sides of his life and career are at the heart of a new biography, called "Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy." The book was assembled by a team of Boston Globe reporters and is being released to the public Tuesday.

WBUR's Bob Oakes talked with the book's editor, Peter Canellos, the Globe's Washington bureau chief.