The Washington Monument

Most every day that he's in Washington, Senator Edward Kennedy takes his dogs Sonny and Splash out for a workout, but that's not all.

He loves his Portuguese Waterdogs so much that he really does take them to work each day.

And he's now written a children's book about the oldest, Splash, the all black dog. Called "My Senator and Me" it's a dog's eye view of life in Washington, reports CBS Sunday Morning contributor Rita Braver.

Though this is a chance for Kennedy, the senior Democratic senator from Massachusetts, to show his lighthearted side, he's also just published another book, one that showcases his penchant for politics and policy: "America Back on Track."

Of his book, Kennedy says he is worried about what he perceives as the concentration of power in the presidency. "You're getting a different America than our founding fathers intended when they talked about checks and balances. That is completely alien to everything I believe, I think most Americans believe."

When Kennedy was one of the few senators to vote against authorization for the Iraq war, he took heat from both Republicans and Democrats.

"My vote against that was the best vote that I cast in the United States Senate," Kennedy, 74, who has served in the Senate since 1962, says bluntly.

It was in 1962 that Ted Kennedy, just 30-years-old won election to the Massachusetts Senate seat his brother Jack left to become president.

Kennedy knows his family's name helped carry him to victory, and is proud of it.

"Oh, unquestionably, helped immeasurably," Kennedy says. I've been very, very proud, always. Of both the name and the standard that it's, it's set."

Kennedy took office when Camelot was in full flower, but his life was soon touched by tragedies: the assassinations of his two older brothers, first President Kennedy, then Senator Robert Kennedy.

"Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world," Kennedy said in a tearful eulogy for his brother Robert.

And Ted Kennedy had his own debacle when a young woman in the car he was driving was killed at Chappaquiddick.

There was also the end of his tumultuous marriage to his first wife, Joan.

Yet, Kennedy says he never wanted out of his public life.

"In darker times, I was still able to see that I was making some difference in some areas that were important and I thought this is the best thing that I could be doing," he says.

And he surprised a lot of folks, maybe even himself, by developing a reputation for hard work and effectiveness. He has rallied bipartisan support for new laws to promote education, protect civil rights, and improve health benefits…to mention a few. Time Magazine has just named him one of the country's 10 best senators.

Through it all, Ted Kennedy has become a poster boy for big government, bleeding heart Democratic policies.

However, his ambition stops short of vying for the White House.

"No, I've had that that opportunity to run for president in 1980 and I said, after that my ambition is the sort of pursuit of public service and not the pursuit of the president," Kennedy explains.

In fact, when he tried to wrest the Democratic nomination away from then President Jimmy Carter, Kennedy could never really articulate why he was running.

Kennedy's bid was a colossal failure.

Braver gently reminds Kennedy of one of his more memorable statements. "I think you once joked, you said, 'I don't mind not being president. I just mind if someone else is.'"

But President or not, for many years, Kennedy has been the leader of one of the most powerful political dynasties in the country. His son Patrick is now a member of Congress from Rhode Island and other family members have had a series of influential jobs.

Senator Kennedy is known…not just for taking time out for his own children, but also for being the devoted "Uncle Teddy" to his brothers' and sisters' kids.

"A day doesn't go by when I don't think about them and I think about my family generally. We are very fortunate, a large family that was very, very close and we're each others' best friends in my circumstances my, my heroes," he says.

And Kennedys were out in force at a recent book party in New York for the Senator: sisters, nieces and his oldest son, Teddy Jr.

"The thing that makes me proudest of my dad is the fact that he's just stood up for his convictions year after year and also managed to, you know, be a loving father and a loving parent and a strong role model for me in my life," Ted Jr. says.

As the Senator's current literary efforts show, he has no plans to slow down. He clearly loves connecting with people.

And he says his wife of 14 years, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, who helped with both books, keeps him focused.

"Vickie's been an extraordinary -- both the love of my life and been a very great helper," Kennedy says of his wife, adding that his marriage is "really one of the best things that ever happened to me."

Along, of course, with his Senate Career.

He is running for re-election this year, so far unopposed. He says he's not finished fighting yet.

And as tough as he is on the Bush administration, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy says he has high hopes for what this country can achieve.

"The goodness of the people is, is deep and that is the source of hope and optimism for the future," Kennedy says. "It's going to, it's going to win out. I just want to be around when it does."