Posted: 01:29 PM ET
Vicki Kennedy talks with John King Monday about her late husband’s legacy and the passage of health care reform—a goal Sen. Edward Kennedy worked towards for nine terms in the U.S. Senate.
Washington (CNN) – As the House was debating the controversial health care bill Sunday, Vicki Kennedy visited Arlington National Cemetery where she said she "spent some time" with her husband. Arlington is the final resting place for Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who made health care reform his passion and lifelong goal.
"I thought yesterday was an important day to be there, because I had hope and confidence and certainly, you know, wish that the bill would pass," she said in an exclusive interview with CNN's John King.
The full interview appears on CNN's new political program "John King, USA," which debuts Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
Kennedy talked about a letter her husband wrote in his final days to the President Obama. It said, in part, "When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the president to at long last sign into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society." Sen. Kennedy added, "It was the cause of my life."
Vicki Kennedy told John King her husband was not sad when he wrote those words, because he "wasn't a man who had self pity, ever."