Kennedy Memoir Addresses Chappaquiddick Tragedy
Mary Jo Kopechne’s Death Covered In Ted Kennedy's Book True Compass
Kennedy, a Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, served 46 years in the United States Senate before succumbing to terminal brain cancer on August 25, 2009. First seated in November 1962, Kennedy was elected nine times and was the third longest living senator in United States history.
The younger brother of former president John F. Kennedy and presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy, he gained fame for being a crusader for progressive causes, but always remained under the shadow of a horrific event which occurred in 1969.
The Chappaquiddick Accident
On July 18, 1969 Ted Kennedy attended a party at Martha’s Vineyard on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. The party primarily consisted of followers and admirers of Robert Kennedy who had been assassinated just over a month before on June 6 in California as he campaigned for the presidential Democratic ticket.
“The Boiler Room Girls”, as female supporters of Robert Kennedy were nicknamed at the time, constituted a large portion of the party which extended into the wee hours of the morning. At some point during the party one of the women in attendance, Mary Jo Kopechne, 28, a long-time supporter of Robert Kennedy, left the affair with Ted Kennedy who was driving a 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont.
As Kennedy drove away, he lost control of his car on Dike Bridge and landed in Poncha Pond, a small inlet of water. Kennedy managed to swim away from the car accident, leaving Kopechne in the submerged vehicle. Kennedy did not call police until nearly 10 hours later when officials found the vehicle with Kopechne dead, and still seated, inside the car.
Kopechne’s death was determined by autopsy to have occurred from drowning. Kennedy, 37-years-old at the time, denied during a national television broadcast that any immoral activities had taken place during the evening, or that he was driving under the influence when the wreck occurred. Shortly thereafter, Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation.
Doubts Plague Kennedy’s Take On Tragedy
In 1970 an inquest into Kopechne’s death was held in Massachusetts, while Kennedy was still holding office as senator. Following the inquest, which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered to be held in private, the presiding judge over the proceedings, James A. Boyle, stated that “negligent driving appears to have contributed to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne”. A grand jury held a two day investigation into the incident in April of 1970, but no indictment followed.
Many of Kopechne’s associates and Kennedy critics throughout the years have questioned the veracity of the grand jury investigation and Kennedy’s actions immediately following the car accident which claimed Kopechne’s life. No other formal action was ever taken in court against Kennedy on behalf of the state of Massachusetts in the death of Kopechne, and Kennedy went on to win reelection to the senate in Massachusetts that same year.
Memoirs Offer No New Answers, Offers Regret
The Associated Press has reported that Kennedy’s memoirs, entitled True Compass, addresses the Chappaquiddick incident.
The 532 page book, which is to be published by Twelve, a division of the Hachette Book Group, was released in early copy to the New York Times and The New York Daily News on September 3, 2009. The nationwide release of True Compass is scheduled for September 14, 2009.
In the book, Kennedy denies romantic involvement with Kopechne at the time of the accident in 1969, according to AP reports. Kennedy also states that he never escaped the despair of the incident and that his actions of that night were inexcusable, the Associated Press reported.
The Kopechne family has issued no formal statement since Kennedy’s death.
BNC101
The Dike Bridge-site of Kennedy's car crash
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Politics & Society
Latest Articles