But Mr Kennedy, despite his pugnacious liberal reputation, wrote many bills with Republican colleagues, too.
Mr Kennedy, the most prominent sceptic about the power-sharing agreement, was said to have informally discussed his worries with opposition whips.
Mr Kennedy apparently was hit by the first of what witness believed were three shots.
Mr Kennedy, in his opinion this week, referred to an inmate who had been held "in a cage for nearly 24 hours, standing in a pool of his own urine, unresponsive and nearly catatonic."
Mr Clinton's race-tinged dismissal of the South Carolina result contrasted strongly with Mr Obama's theme of racial reconciliation, and is thought to have tipped Mr Kennedy into endorsing Mr Obama.
In close cases, the court typically divides along ideological lines, with Mr Kennedy casting the deciding vote.
Mr Kennedy requested that the state law should be amended to provide a temporary appointment by the governor until the special election.
Yet, argues Mr Kennedy, this is not necessarily all bad.
Mr Kennedy wanted his wife, Vicky, to succeed him.
