o The Civil Rights Act of 1964
o The Voting Rights Act of 1965
o The COBRA Act of 1985 (ever lost a job and still managed to keep your health insurance for 18 months?)
o The Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990
o The Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993
o Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
That leaves four pieces of major legislation (or six, if we throw in a couple of increases in minimum wage) in a fifty year career. This seems out of proportion to the hagiography; I would be curious to know how we would be covering this story if his name weren't Kennedy.
And even more, it very nearly killed him. The plane crash on the way out of DC after staying late to vote on the bill left him in a hospital bed for months.
Or are the two entirely unrelated?