Sens. Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch missing from Ted Kennedy's memoirs

The index of Edward Kennedy’s highly anticipated autobiography, True Compass, reads like a who’s-who of names of late-20th century politics — with a few notable exceptions.

In the 500-plus-page tome, the late senator from Massachusetts discusses his working relationships with fellow lawmakers but barely touches on his personal interactions with them. And Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), one of his closest friends, isn’t mentioned. Neither is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Vice President Joe Biden — who were two of Kennedy’s closest friends in the Senate — are mentioned in their professional roles and without intimate detail.

The memoir, which landed in bookstores on Monday, reads like a modern American history lesson, as Kennedy traces his life’s story from his childhood days in England before World War II, when his father was the American ambassador, to his diagnosis with brain cancer in 2007 — and all the notable political events in between.

Kennedy died on Aug. 25, about three weeks before the book was published. His sons, Edward Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), have taken on promotional duties. They appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday morning and are scheduled to be on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Monday night. The book was No. 2 on Amazon.com’s best-seller list as of Monday afternoon.

Kennedy includes both the highs and lows of his political career. For example, after the car accident at Chappaquiddick, which resulted in the death of May Jo Kopechne, Kennedy recalls how Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) challenged him for the minority whip position.

“Byrd never did openly announce for my whip position,” Kennedy writes, “though he had been hard at work behind the scenes.”

Kennedy notes one of Byrd’s “most influential allies” was Sen. Richard Russell (D-Ga.), who was lying in Walter Reed hospital, dying of cancer. Russell gave Byrd his proxy vote, which would be meaningless if Russell died before the vote was called. On the day of the vote, Byrd confirmed with the hospital that Russell was still alive and won, in what Kennedy calls a “stunning upset,” 31-24.

Kennedy spins the incident in a positive light, writing: “Had the incoming senators voted the way they’d promised, I would have beaten Byrd by one vote, twenty-eight to twenty-seven. I figured out how they’d actually gone by a pair of telltale misspellings among the Byrd ballots: ‘B-I-R-D.’ No one who enjoyed more than a distant knowledge of the West Virginia senator would make such a mistake. The fact is, those four did me a favor. … Robert Byrd went on to do an admirable job … [and] the defeat served as a prompt to immerse myself more deeply in the necessary basic work of a U.S. senator.”

In another encounter, Kennedy recalls visiting President Ronald Reagan at the White House in November of 1981. He gave the president some of his brother Jack’s handwritten notes about football and politics. Reagan gave him a jar of jellybeans.

Kennedy indicates his dislike of the recent Senate schedule, which typically includes roll-call votes three days a week. He notes when he first became a senator there was a “five-day work week. … We were in session a good number of evenings, so everyone stayed around through the week. I can remember having my children at the office. Many senators did. In summer, military bands used to play in front of the Senate steps on the east side of the Capitol. At intervals, senators might scurry away from outdoor family picnics and onto the floor to offer an amendment.

“This camaraderie in the midst of hard work helped senators to listen to one another, and sometimes even to take action on matters they might have otherwise avoided. That’s missing today. Now the Senate is basically in session from Tuesday through Thursday. Colleagues ‘speak’ to each other via Blackberry and telephone. This loss of face-to-face interaction certainly isn’t unique to the Senate, but I do think it’s a loss.”

The book is split into four sections: “Family”; “Brotherhood”; “On My Own”; and “Renewal.” And its release was not without controversy. The New York Times obtained an early copy of the book and published an article about its contents on Sept. 2 — 12 days before its scheduled publication.

Kennedy’s publisher, Twelve, released a strongly worded statement critical of the Times, saying: “We know how frustrated readers can get when they can't find a book, and we also know how frustrated booksellers can get when they cannot meet demand (or when certain accounts have an unfair advantage by selling early).”

But political watchers will enjoy Kennedy’s take on his own elections, including his 1994 reelection campaign, which was one of the closest of his career. Kennedy writes that he found himself “campaigning for my political survival.” He describes his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, as “right out of central casting — young, tall, handsome, slender, with a beautiful wife and five attractive sons.”

Kennedy won the race with 58 percent of vote.

Of staying on the job after his May 2008 diagnosis with brain cancer, Kennedy writes: “As much as I respect the medical profession, my demise did not fit into my plans.”

And then there are a few family stories that could only happen to the Kennedys. For example, Kennedy writes that when his father was ambassador to Great Britain, his brothers and sisters had to go to a reception with the royal family. He and Bobby danced with Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, he recalls, though he adds: “I doubt that any of us children made a huge impression on any other.”