This is one of the most moving speeches in American political history for many reasons, not least of all because Kennedy did it from memory as he couldn't see the teleprompter due to the blurry vision caused by his brain tumor medications. He had also been hospitalized earlier in the day for kidney stones. He only left his hospital bed an hour before his appearance which "much of the press and most delegates regarded as improbable or impossible" according to Bob Shrum from Time Magazine. In the words of the Ted Kennedy: "The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on."