Vicki Was "Light of Ted's Life"

Sen. Ted Kennedy leaves behind a large family, including three children with his first wife and two stepchildren with his second wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy.

Kennedy, a once notorious bachelor, never intended to remarry after his divorce from Joan Bennett Kennedy in 1982, "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith said Wednesday. But, when he married Victoria Reggie in 1992, Smith remarked, his union could seem like fate, when you look back.

The Kennedy and Reggie families were politically and personally close. In 1956, Reggie, Victoria's father, supported Jack Kennedy's bid for the vice presidency and managed all the Kennedy operations in his home state of Louisiana. Vicki interned at Ted Kennedy's Senate office in 1976. But the two didn't meet again until an anniversary party in 1991 for her parents.

Vicki, a divorced mother of two, and Kennedy became friends, and a year later were married.

Vicki told CBS News, "I saw him with my children. I saw him with his own family. I just knew I had this wonderful, wonderful man who had come into my life."

With Vicki, Smith said Kennedy found stability and laughter after years of turmoil.

Peter Canellos, editor of "Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy," said, "Her relationship signaled a major change in his life. She kept him strong, and she kept him focused on his work. She gave him the kind of anchor that he really needed after a very rough time."

Vicki was also Ted's partner in politics. During his hotly contested re-election campaign in 1994 against Mitt Romney, Vicki was considered his biggest asset. Kennedy boasted on the trail, "I can tell you if November was a referendum on Vicki, we could all go home now."

Together, they became a fixture of the Washington establishment. When Ted was diagnosed with cancer in May of 2008, he faced the public and the fight of his life with Vicki by his side. She remained there until the end.

CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer said on "The Early Show" Wednesday that, when the two married, Vicki became "the light of his life."

"That is when he really seemed to get it together," Schieffer said. "He was around her in those early days. You know, he did have problems with alcohol and things of that sort. But when he used to come to 'Face the Nation' on Sundays, she was always with him."

Schieffer added, "I don't think they spent maybe two or three nights apart in all the 17 years they were married. She was truly the light of his life. And I think, in many ways, changed his life."