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WASHINGTON – Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, a four-star general who served as a top adviser to three presidents and had presidential ambitions of his own, died Saturday of complications from an infection, his family said. He was 85.

Haig’s long and decorated military career launched the Washington career for which he is better known, including top posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations. He never lived down his televised response to the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

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(CNN) — Former White House press secretary Jody Powell has died, a spokesman for the Carter Center said Monday.

Powell, 65, died Monday of an apparent heart attack, Carter Center spokesman Tony Clark told CNN.

“I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Jody Powell,” said Robert Gibbs, press secretary to President Barak Obama, in a written statement. “As press secretary to President Carter, Jody served his country during a difficult time, and he always did the job with grace and good humor.

“When I needed advice at the start of my own tenure as press secretary, he was always generous with his time and wise in his counsel. I’ll miss his support and encouragement, and I’ll be keeping him and his family in my thoughts and prayers.”

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NEW YORK (CNN) — The upcoming eighth anniversary of the attacks of September 11 raises a compelling question for millions of Americans: How should we best observe this uniquely tragic day in our nation’s history?

Surely, it should not be a holiday. This is no time for days off from work and three-day weekends to enjoy barbeques and white sales.

No, September 11 is a day for reflection, and its historical and emotional significance should not lessen with time or be diminished in any way. It is a day to focus on the substantial lessons learned.

I’m a 9/11 family member. My brave brother, Glenn J. Winuk, was a partner at a large law firm, Holland & Knight, located two blocks from the World Trade Center.

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BOSTON – Former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, the eldest son of Robert F. Kennedy, announced Monday he would not run for the U.S. Senate seat held for nearly 50 years by his late uncle, Edward M. Kennedy. The decision was certain to widen the race for the Democratic nomination.

In a statement, the former six-term congressman said he cares about those seeking decent housing, fair wages and health care. But he added, “The best way for me to contribute to those causes is by continuing my work at Citizens Energy Corp.”

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(CNN) – Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Democrat, has taken the first step to run for Ted Kennedy’s empty Senate seat.

Brian McNiff, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Secretary of State, confirms to CNN a representative for Coakley picked up nomination papers for the race earlier Tuesday. Coakley will now have to gather 10,000 signatures by October 20 to be eligible to run for the seat long held by Kennedy, who died last week.

Coakley is the first candidate on either side to officially pick up the nomination papers, but McNiff indicated he thinks other candidates might do so Tuesday as well.

“The day is young,” he said.

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“There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination — not merely victory for our party, but renewal for our nation,” Kennedy said on August 25, 2008.

“And this November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause.”

Two months later, the election of the United States’ first black president marked the actualization of decades of work for Kennedy, who was a champion of civil rights throughout his nearly 50-year tenure in the Senate.

In the 1960s, as civil rights battles raged across the country, it was Kennedy’s brother, President John F. Kennedy, who sought passage of a landmark bill to ban discrimination.

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An estimated 45,000 people filed past the Democratic legend’s flag-draped casket at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library before the event. Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, who has tried to shepherd Kennedy’s signature cause of universal health care through the Senate this year, summed up his appeal in three words: “People liked him.”

“Some people born with a famous name live off of it. Others enrich theirs,” Dodd said. “Teddy enriched his.”

Kennedy died Tuesday night at age 77 after being ill with brain cancer for 15 months. He had represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 1962, leaving his stamp on “nearly every important law passed in the last half-century,” Dodd said.

He became the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics after the assassinations of his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, during the 1960s. One of Robert Kennedy’s sons, former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, fondly recounted how “Uncle Teddy” looked after the children of his slain siblings. Video Watch Vice President Biden explain how Kennedy “crept into my heart” »

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Ironically, his death might bring about a change of tactics that would help reach the goal he was unable to achieve in life, one veteran political analyst says.

“Kennedy’s departure may in fact increase the chances that we get a more sweeping health care bill,” American Enterprise Institute analyst Norman Ornstein recently told CNN.

As Congress prepares to reconvene and resume the fight over President Obama’s top domestic priority, Democratic leaders are expressing concern over the consequences of Kennedy’s passing.

Kennedy was the chairman of the critical Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and provided a potential 60th Democratic vote, which would be needed to break a Republican Senate filibuster. Video Watch CNN’s Jessica Yellin report on Kennedy, consensus and the health care issue »

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(CNN) — It may be months before Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat is filled, following his death at the age of 77 on Tuesday.

The seat may remain in Kennedy hands. His sons, Edward Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, have been mentioned as possible successors, as has his nephew, former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II.

Edward Kennedy’s wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, has no interest in filling the seat, a source close to the senator said.

A long-term vacancy could have effects far beyond Kennedy’s home state of Massachusetts, since his death deprives Democrats of the 60-vote “supermajority” with which they can theoretically force laws through the Senate despite Republican objections.

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“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” a family statement said. “We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice.”

President Obama learned about Kennedy’s death at 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to a senior administration official. Obama later called Kennedy’s widow to offer condolences.

In a statement, Obama says: “An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time.”