Stevens vindicated; what of his legacy?

I was really surprised yesterday when I heard about former Senator Ted Stevens being let off for his gross misconduct while in office. To me, he committed a crime that overly abused his power as a member of the Senate and for that he should have been punished beyond solely losing his seat, which only barely happened. It got me thinking about how I would look at his resume and whether or not he actually did great things for the country. I stumbled across this article and many of his former colleagues seem to believe that his legacy will ultimately be tarnished and that only time will tell if he will recognized for his service. Stevens did put Alaska back on the map and for that his state should be forever grateful. It was his influence that got them protection of land and he spurred significant economic development in the area. The one thing that I will always be thankful for that he helped push through was the creation of the United States Olympic Committee back in 1978. I am a huge fan of the games and watching Americans win in their events is something that I know I and many other citizens of the country take great pride in. It was the creation of this committee that has enabled the huge growth of the sporting world in our country and around the globe and for that Stevens' legacy will always have positiveness to go along with some of his mistakes.