Medford Always a Friendly Place for Sen. Kennedy
Medford’s relationship with the Kennedy’s- Robert, Ted, and Jack, pictured at left- began when Mayor Michael McGlynn’s father campaigned for a young JFK’s presidential campaign. Courtesy photo.
– Allison Goldsberry
Mayor Michael McGlynn first met Edward “Ted” Kennedy when he was six years old and his father, Jack McGlynn, Medford’s mayor and state representative at the time, was campaigning for Sen. Kennedy’s brother, Jack, who was running for president in 1960.
Jack McGlynn also campaigned for Sen. Kennedy’s first Senate race and his brother Robert’s presidential race in 1968.
Sen. Kennedy never forgot that, and his friendly relationship with Medford and the McGlynn’s continued until his death this past week.
Mayor Michael McGlynn attended the Senator’s wake to pay his respects to a great man who “always delivered” to the people he represented, in Medford and across the state.
“I felt it was important to be there to represent the city because Ted Kennedy has always been there for us,” said Mayor McGlynn.
McGlynn said he really saw the impact Sen. Kennedy had on people while at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Dorchester early Friday morning. When he arrived just after 6AM, he said about a couple of hundred people had gathered at the library, but by the time he left just a half hour later, thousands had lined up outside.
“He touched a lot of lives with his legislation. He’s the guy who got funding or put the law through that gave them [people] a better quality of life,” said Mayor McGlynn.
McGlynn credits the late senator for helping Medford in many different ways over the years. In the mid-1990’s, his “cops” legislation directly resulted in the hiring of thirty-four police officers, who the mayor said would not have been hired otherwise. He fought to increase Title 1 appropriations every year to help children in Medford’s schools. He championed keeping community development block grant funding flowing, money which Medford uses to pay for things like street repair, park maintenance, historic restoration, and senior transportation.
Mayor McGlynn said Sen. Kennedy set the tone for a staff that was legendary for its responsiveness to basic constituent services.
“There’s nobody who had the kind of staff who turned things around like they did,” said McGlynn.
In one memorable example, Kennedy’s office helped Medford obtain the impressive Howitzer cannons it had been promised by the federal government to grace its new veterans memorials. The dedication ceremony was just days away, and it was a call to Sen. Kennedy’s office that brought the cannons to Medford just in time for the ceremony.
Mayor McGlynn also called the senator “the most approachable guy I ever met,” and said he had a gift for making people feel comfortable and appreciated in his presence.
“Even though he was the big shot, he always made everyone feel welcome,” said McGlynn.
Mayor McGlynn said Sen. Kennedy even took the time to call him one recent election night, fully knowing McGlynn had no opponent, just to wish him luck.
McGlynn recalled times when he was a guest at the Kennedy’s Hyannisport compound and Sen. Kennedy’s Washington, D.C. area home. Kennedy would take people on tours of his home and stop and explain the history behind family photos and mementos.
On one visit to his D.C. home, McGlynn said he mentioned he was a fan of the television show Zorro. When Sen. Kennedy heard, he took Mayor McGlynn and his family into his library, where he proceeded to shove aside a bookcase, just like the character Zorro, that concealed a private study where the senator went to “get away.”
McGlynn said Sen. Kennedy always considered Medford to be a “friendly” place for him, and in his 1994 Senate race against Mitt Romney, the senator chose Medford as the backdrop for an endorsement from mayors across Massachusetts.
“He was a decent human being that dedicated his life to helping people and he was always there for the people of Medford,” said McGlynn.