Ted Kennedy

Kennedy's most productive partnerships were with conservatives: the Children's Health Insurance Program with Orrin Hatch in 1997, the Kennedy-Kassebaum health portability law in 1996 with a Kansas Republican, and No Child Left Behind with George W. Bush in 2001, which liberal allies criticised for its testing regime. His 2006 and 2007 comprehensive immigration bills with John McCain failed. His rule was to take half a loaf now and fight for the rest later, which frustrated purists on his own side.