Former US. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York a scholar-statesman who helped shape a generation of Democratic thinkers, died on March 26th. He was 76.

He died in Washington Hospital Center, where he had gone March 10 with severe stomach pains. He underwent surgery the next day to remove a ruptured appendix and initially appeared to be on the mend. But a few days later, complications developed, including pneumonia and a severe infection.

He never recovered. His wife of 47 years, Elizabeth, and his three grown children were with him through much of his time at the hospital.

Moynihan served in the Senate for 24 years, retiring in January 2001. Moynihan served in the Senate for 24 years, retiring in January 2001. Since then, he had been a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington and a professor at Syracuse University in New York.

A U.S. Navy veteran, he was buried will full military honors on March 31st at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington.

He was the only person to serve in the highest levels of four successive administrations-John Kennedy through Gerald Ford--while leaving his mark at some of the nation's top universities.

Yet colleagues and friends said he never forgot his humble beginnings in the rough New York neighborhood known as Hell's Kitchen.

President Bush, who called on Moynihan to give him advice on reforming Social Security, called him an "intellectual pioneer." "He committed his life to service and willbe sorely missed," Bush said in a statement. Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy, who knew Moynihan for decades, recalled his old friend as having said, "If you don't have 30 years to devote to social policy, don't get involved." He dedicated his brilliant mind and beautiful Irish heart to that cause," Kennedy said.

The late Senator's legacy of tending to the nation's public works included the planned new Pennsylvania Station in New York -- a train hub that will be renamed in his honor. Over the years, he was the leading advocate of transforming the General Post Office in the landmark James Farley Post Office building into a modern transit terminal that would replace the sta tion now serving about 600,000 travelers each day.

The retired Democratic senator was "the driving force" behind transforming America's busiest passenger transportation facility Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a joint statement. The new station, scheduled for opening in 2008, will be renamed the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station. ·