Ted Kennedy was a politician.
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States , along with the Republican Party . Ted Kennedy . A member of the Democratic Party , he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and was the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history , having served there for almost 47 years . Ted Kennedy entered the Senate in a November 1962 special election to fill the seat previously held by his brother , John , who was now the President . During the 2000s , he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts . The United States Senate election of 1964 in Massachusetts was held on November 3 , 1964 with the incumbent Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy defeating his challengers .