By GLEN JOHNSON

and PHILIP ELLIOTT

Associated Press

CHILMARK, Mass. — Edward M. Kennedy was much more than just former Senate colleague and influential legislator to Barack Obama, evident in the president’s personal, mournful tribute on Wednesday.

Obama lauded the Massachusetts senator’s tireless work for legislation that reshaped the lives of millions of Americans — “including myself,” the nation’s first black president added in a poignant hint of affection. Also clearly not forgotten as a grieving president took a break from his summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard to mark Kennedy’s death from brain cancer late Tuesday night: the great political debt Obama owes Kennedy.

“His fight has given us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you — and goodbye,” Obama said.

Obama owes his ascension to the White House perch that was denied Kennedy in part to the senator’s help.

At a crucial moment in the brutal, marathon primary contests, Kennedy endorsed Obama over Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton. During his endorsement, Edward Kennedy painted Obama as heir to the legacy of his slain brothers. That connection, to the dynasty of John, Robert and Edward Kennedy, lent the young contender immeasurable credibility with establishment Democrats and cemented a personal friendship.

“I remember another such time, in the 1960s, when I came to the Senate at the age of 30. We had a new president who inspired the nation — especially the young — to seek a new frontier,” said Kennedy during the endorsement speech. “I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. And with Barack Obama, we can do it again.”

“Your time only comes once, and this is your time,” Kennedy had told Obama in urging him to seek the White House in 2006, according to a Kennedy aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to recount a private conversation.

All high praise from a man whose family name, Obama said Wednesday, “is synonymous with the Democratic Party.”

A White House official says President Barack Obama will deliver a eulogy at Sen. Kennedy’s funeral Mass on Saturday.