After yesterday's bidding, however, it was hard to affix a price tag to the Kennedy legacy.

Mr. Ettinger left his half-eaten sandwich to address a group of young assistants who were about to be handling pieces of the Kennedy legacy.

Mr. Biden, for example, calls on the Kennedy legacy with passion and with regularity.

His hero was John F. Kennedy, and he believed in the Kennedy political legacy.

And many younger voters do not identify with the Kennedy legacy any more than they feel ties to a particular party.

He wants to retain the flexibility to change the property as he sees fit; the preservationists want a say in preserving the Kennedy legacy.

But Mr. Castle has spent much effort and money to preserve the Kennedy legacy.

The Bush administration, Mr. Navasky added, is "honoring the darker side of the Kennedy legacy."

Lloyd Bentsen lecturing Dan Quayle on the Kennedy legacy.

"Here's a girl who has the biracial equivalent of the Kennedy legacy to shoulder," he says.