In early September 2009, as then-President Barack Obama made his healthcare pitch to a joint session of Congress, he attempted to add emotional force to his speech by invoking the posthumous words of the recently deceased Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

In the weeks leading up to the speech, Kennedy had been eulogized by members of both parties as the “Lion of the Senate.” Obama read a letter from the senator written before he died, which framed the case for imposing national healthcare in terms of “the character of our country.”