For younger OBs who may be unfamiliar with "Chappaquiddick," late on the evening of July 18, 1969, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy left a small party in a car with female companion Mary Jo Kopechne. Shortly afterwards, he took a wrong turn and drove the car off an unrailed bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, a small peninsula on the eastern side of Martha's Vineyard, an island off the Massachusetts coast. The car flipped upside down in the sound and Kennedy was able to escape, although Kopechne drowned (or suffocated) in the car. It took Kennedy ten hours to report the event to authorities. He eventually pleaded guilty to negligently leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended jail sentence. The episode occurred the same week as the Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins Apollo 11 mission that resulted in the first moon landing.
Oldest Kennedy brother Joe Jr. had been killed in 1944 during World War II while on a secret mission over Europe. After the assassinations of his brothers Pres. John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968, Ted Kennedy had been the heir apparent to assume the leadership of his party. Due to the Chappaquiddick incident, he did not run for president in 1972 or 1976 and many people felt like it was a major factor in his failure to obtain the nomination in 1980.
Regardless of how you feel about the Kennedys, I don't think there's any public family in American history that's been more touched by so many tragedies.
Oldest Kennedy brother Joe Jr. had been killed in 1944 during World War II while on a secret mission over Europe. After the assassinations of his brothers Pres. John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968, Ted Kennedy had been the heir apparent to assume the leadership of his party. Due to the Chappaquiddick incident, he did not run for president in 1972 or 1976 and many people felt like it was a major factor in his failure to obtain the nomination in 1980.
Regardless of how you feel about the Kennedys, I don't think there's any public family in American history that's been more touched by so many tragedies.
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