In addition to the death of his two brothers, in 1941, Ted's oldest sister, Rosemary Kennedy, secretly underwent an new operation called a prefrontal lobotomy, which in the 1930s was promoted as a great advance in the treatment of the often violent agitation which the mildly retarded, but previously good natured Rosemary was manifesting in her early twenties. Her father Joseph believed this was best, and apparently without telling his wife, consented to the operation. However, the lobotomy was a tragic failure, resulting in Rosemary living apart from her family for 50 years in a care facility in Wisconsin, until her death in 2005.<ref>Vincent Bzdek; ''The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled'', pp. 33-35</ref><ref>Howard Dully, Charles Fleming; ''My lobotomy: a memoir'', p. 67</ref><ref>Michael O'Brien, ''John F. Kennedy: a biography'', pp. 172-74</ref>
In 1980, Kennedy campaigned to become the Democrat nominee for president, but lost to incumbent Jimmy Carter. Problems with alcohol and martial fidelity followed him,<ref>Richard E. Burke, Marilyn Hoffer, William Hoffer; ''The Senator: My Ten Years with Ted Kennedy'', pp. 225,26</ref> and in 1984 he divorced his wife of 24 years. He later became the object of more controversy in 1991, when after the end of a night out with the senator, his nephew William Smith was charged with raping a woman. Although Smith was acquitted, the media attention negatively affected Kennedy. In 1992, Kennedy remarried, to Washington lawyer Victoria Reggie.<ref>[http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/Biography-of-Ted-Kennedy Biography of Ted Kennedy]</ref><ref>[httphttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/tedkennedy/index.htmlAssociated Press, ''Timeline of Sen. Kennedy's life.'']</ref><ref>Bonnie Malkin and agencies in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, ''Ted Kennedy timeline'' (Aug 26, 2009)</ref> Kennedy also was the subject of controversy regarding his alleged [http://sweetness-light.com/archive/kgb-letter-details-ted-kennedys-offer-to-help-ussr advisement to the Soviet Union] during the Presidency of [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>[http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=30980 Jamie Glazov; ''Ted Kennedy and the KGB'' FrontPageMagazine.com (Thursday, May 15, 2008)]</ref>
[[File:Blagojevich, obama.JPG|thumb|275px|left|Sen. Kennedy (left), his wife Virginia, former Illinois Governor [[Rod Blagojevich]] (center) with Mrs. Blagoevich, [[Barack Hussein Obama]] is partly obscured, and [[Michelle Obama]] (far right).]]
During his career as Senator, Kennedy is credited with several legislative endeavors, primarily in liberal goals in welfare, civil rights, and education. He was instrumental in passing ''Head Start'' (part of the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act), and promoted the ''No Child Left Behind Act'', as well as increases in minimum wage, and fought for unrestricted access to abortion, even in late term, and voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He repeatedly sought to pass hate crimes legislation, such as would penalize discrimination against [[homosexuals]] and women,<ref>[httphttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/26/sen-ted-kennedys-legacy/ Sen. Ted Kennedy's Legacy], [[Fox News]]</ref> and voted against [[DOMA]]. Kennedy was a strong supporter of the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, which signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which dramatically changed US immigration policy and numbers.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080703044320/http://michaelsavage.wnd.com/?pageId=487 The Real Kennedy Record], [[Michael Savage]]</ref>
During his tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee Kennedy was an outspoken critic of conservative Supreme Court nominees, such as [[Robert Bork]], [[Clarence Thomas]], Chief Justice [[John Roberts]] and Associate Justice [[Samuel Alito]]. He also supported nuclear reduction treaties, and worked for more student aid for GIs, and led opposition to the [[Iraq war]].