Ted Kennedy: In His Own Words

"Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of Americans."
— Condemning Bork's candidacy for the Supreme Court, less than an hour after the controversial conservative was nominated on July 1, 1987; Kennedy's speech set the tone for a fiery confirmation battle that culminated in the Senate's 58-42 vote to reject Bork's nomination

• Photos: The Lion of the Senate
• TIME's Complete Ted Kennedy Coverage