Kennedy’s legislative record - 6 years in the House of Representatives 8 in the Senate defined easy labelling his string liberal streak lead him for instance, to oppose the locality oath students had to take to get a loan. His support of the workman’s demands for higher minimum - wage laws and other benefits also stamped him as liberal. But when some of his other liberal friends resisted union reform legislation, Kennedy disagreed he did not join anti-union reformers but took a moderate position. Only a master of the art of politics could in those days insist on any union reformers at all and still command the strong support of most union leaders as Kennedy did.

Kennedy displeased the liberals by failing to take a strong position against McCarthyism. He was in the hospital when the Senate voted on December 2^nd 1954 to censure (reprimand) its Wisconsin Republican member, Joseph R. McCarthy, McCarthy’s methods of investigating Communism had lead to one of the great controversies of the decade. Liberals felt that McCarthy had violated rules of fair play and had unjustly damaged reputations. They criticized Kennedy for evading the issue later Kennedy accepted all or most of the liberal position on McCarthy he said that he would have voted for McCarthy’s censure if he had not been in hospital. However he had a hard time convincing the liberals of his sincerity.