The Strange Tale of Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick Incident | The Death of Mary-Jo Kopechne

as many of you will already know the kennedys are one of the most powerful families in american history known for their many political contributions and for the infamous kennedy curse which many believe has doomed them to tragedy in a series inspired by the success of our episode on rosemary kennedy we take a closer look at some of the tragedies and controversies that surround the kennedy dynasty one of the larger than life figures in this clan was ted kennedy who made his mark in the senate with his support for countless major laws such as the americans with disabilities act of 1986. the civil rights act of 1991 and the ryan white aid care act just to name a few but despite these his legacy will forever be stained by the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his brother's secretary born edward moore kennedy on february the 22nd 1932 in boston massachusetts ted kennedy was the youngest of nine children and came from a prominent irish catholic family he grew up wealthy and extremely privileged his mother rose fitzgerald was a well-known socialite and the daughter of the mayor of boston while his father joseph kennedy was a millionaire businessman who set his sights on achieving political power at almost any cost the nature of joseph kennedy's work often ended up uprooting his family with moves to places like bronxville new york palm beach florida and london england by the age of 11 young ted had already attended 10 different schools although his formal education started at the elite gibbs preparatory school in kensington london which counts prince edward the earl of wessex as one of its alumni unfortunately the frequent disruptions negatively affected ted's academic performance and his parents much like they had done with rosemary often compared him with his older brothers who did well at school according to the website biography quote ted and rose kennedy discouraged idleness and emphasized the importance of healthy competition and success dinner was often the staging ground for various quizzes on politics history and literature discussions and debate were highly encouraged this taught ted at an early age to immerse himself in his education and worldly pursuits end quote since ted wasn't as academically gifted as his older siblings were he sought the attention of his parents in different ways he became the family clown known for his friendliness and funny jokes despite his privilege and idyllic lifestyle ted went through several traumatic experiences during his childhood when he was around eight his older sister rosemary became permanently handicapped due to a botched lobotomy and was separated from the family then a few years later his older siblings joseph junior and kathleen died tragically he while serving in world war ii and she in an airplane crash in 1948. ted spent his high school years at milton academy in milton massachusetts while his grades were average he performed well in sports even going so far as to play on the varsity football team during his junior and senior years apart from that he was also a member of the drama debate and glee clubs unfortunately for ted his extracurricular activities failed to satisfy his father who scolded him for his weight and academic performance he did manage to land a spot in harvard university though following in the footsteps of his overachieving older brothers life in harvard was tough for ted who realized during his spring semester that he would be forced out of the football team if he failed his spanish class desperate to pass he paid another student to take the exam for him though he was soon found out and expelled due to his family's prominence ted was allowed to re-enroll in harvard after two years if he demonstrated good behavior during that time this led him to enlist in the united states army and his father through his countless political connections managed to secure him a cushy assignment at the supreme headquarters allied command in paris france this kept him safe from being deployed to the korean war which was raging on at the time after his two-year military service ted returned to harvard and this time he did well academically he performed even better in football so much so that the green bay packers tried to recruit him in 1955. he turned them down though and entered the university of virginia school of law instead graduating in 1959 during his second year in law school ted was introduced to a local beauty queen named joan bennett who was initially hesitant to involve herself with someone who came from a powerful political family despite her doubts though the couple were married in november 1958 at st joseph's church in bronxville new york afterward a lavish reception was held at the nearby solenoid country club while their marriage ultimately ended in 1983 ted and john did have three children together cara ted jr and patrick thanks to his father's work ted was introduced to american politics at an early age however it was his older brother's run in the 1960 presidential race that really gave him a step up after john f kennedy was elected as the 35th president of the united states his seat in the senate was taken over by ted who became the representative for the state of massachusetts at the relatively young age of 30. unfortunately the family suffered yet another tragedy when in 1963 john f kennedy was assassinated in dallas texas a year later ted himself was in a plane crash that left him with a back injury internal bleeding and chronic pain from which he would suffer for the rest of his life in 1968 ted once again lent his support to one of his siblings political ambitions this time it was robert kennedy who was campaigning for the democratic presidential nomination it seemed as if he had it in the back however he was assassinated in june of that year cementing the american public's whispers that a curse plagued the kennedy family dooming them all to early tragic deaths by this time ted had become an outspoken critic of the country's involvement in the vietnam war despite initially supporting it in particular he spoke out against the military draft as well as the government's failure to provide assistance to victims however he remained supportive of then-president lyndon johnson and his democratic administration given the deaths of his older brothers ted suddenly found himself in the spotlight as the standard-bearer of the powerful kennedy clan in 1969 he became the youngest ever majority whip in the united states senate and was on track to land the democratic presidential nomination one night in 1969 would change all that in a 2019 commemorative piece published by vanity fair magazine journalist josh sanborn put it best when he wrote quote 50 years ago as men prepared to land on the moon and millions of those stuck on earth followed each staticky dispatch from space senator ted kennedy drove his car into a pond the weekend of the apollo 11 moon landing should have cemented the kennedy's family legacy of public service seven years earlier teddy's brother president john f kennedy proposed putting an american on the lunar surface before the decade was out and on the evening of july 18 1969 neil armstrong was hours away from doing just that but for the new patriarch of camelot the weekend instead was marked by a tragic accident at best an unconscionable act at worst one that ultimately killed a young woman end quote that night a reunion party was being held on chappaquiddick island which lies off martha's vineyard in attendance was 37 year old senator ted kennedy along with the boiler room girls a group of young women who had worked on his older brother's presidential campaign among them was 28 year old mary jo kopechny the daughter of an insurance salesman she had managed to land a job as robert kennedy's secretary the pair had been speaking during the night she had been left devastated by the death of ted's brother according to ted at 11 15 pm the pair left together after he had offered to give her a lift so she could catch the last ferry back to edgartown where her hotel was located however she failed to tell her friends she was leaving or collect her purse and keys a few moments after leaving the party the black oldsmobile delmont 88 that ted was driving plunged off dyke bridge landing upside down in poucher pond he survived the accident and made his way to safety mary jo who had been riding in the passenger seat wasn't so lucky unlike the senator she never resurfaced later ted claimed that he dove repeatedly into the pond in an attempt to rescue mary jo when his efforts proved futile he then made his way back to the cottage where the party had been held in order to fetch his cousin joseph gargan and his lawyer paul markham on returning to the pond their efforts were also unsuccessful rather than report the accident to the police ted instead swam the 500 feet 150 metres across to edgartown where he was staying at a hotel called shiretown inn it was said that he made 17 phone calls to various friends and political aides between the time of the accident and when he finally reported it to the local authorities almost 10 hours later because of this delay mary jo's body was only recovered the following morning when news of the accident broke out ted received massive condemnation from the american public for leaving the scene of the accident and failing to report it immediately there was also allegations that his version of events was false perhaps the most damning one came from deputy sheriff named christopher huck luke who stated that he had seen the black oldsmobile driving towards dyke bridge at about 12 40 am this contradicted ted's claim of leaving the party so mary jo could catch the midnight ferry to edgartown the bridge was also not on the way to the ferry port though ted claimed he had taken a wrong turn media coverage of the accident was brutal with the front page of the new york daily news carrying the headline teddy escapes blonde drowns the kennedys were once again thrust into the spotlight but this time the reasons were entirely negative in a bid to save his reputation ted gave a speech the week after the accident claiming that he had done what he did because he was shocked confused and had been suffering a concussion he also refuted claims that he had been drink driving stating there is no truth no truth whatever to the widely circulated suspicions of immoral conduct that have been leveled at my behavior and hers regarding that evening there has never been a private relationship between us of any kind i know of nothing in mary jo's conduct on that or any other occasion and the same is true of the other girls at that party that would lend any substance to such ugly speculation about their character this did little to silence his critics ted ultimately pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident although many were adamant that he deserved to be charged with involuntary manslaughter since he had failed to immediately inform the authorities this charge would have only stuck if the police were able to prove that he had done something illegal that night such as speeding or driving while drunk unfortunately it was impossible to establish any of these since ted only approached the authorities 10 hours after the accident his punishment was also widely regarded as nothing but a slap on the wrist with him only receiving a temporary driving ban as well as a two-month suspended sentence despite this criticism the chappaquiddick incident has largely been wiped from public memory thanks in part to the moon landing which happened a day later the kennedy political machine also worked overtime to save ted's reputation and prevent his career from going down the drain among those responsible for the subsequent damage control was former defense secretary robert mcnamara who was later revealed to have played a key role in increasing america's involvement in the vietnam war besides him there was also ted sorensen one of the family's closest confidants who worked as a speechwriter for john f kennedy during his time in the white house to this day the events that took place on that night remain shrouded in mystery as the website history notes quote nearly half a century later the details of what happened that fateful night remain unclear conspiracy theories and questions endure how did kennedy end up driving off the bridge was he drunk what were he and kopechne doing together that night was there a third person in the car why did he wait so long to report the accident end quote despite the kennedy family's best efforts the chappaquiddick incident had a massive impact on ted's political career it arguably prevented him from running for president in 1972 and in 1976 and when he finally did run in 1980 it was nothing short of disastrous his campaign ended in august of that year shortly after he infamously gave a rambling incoherent answer to a reporter who asked why he wanted to be the president of the united states as reporter chris whipple remembered quote to be sure there were other obstacles between ted kennedy and the presidency in 1980 the taint of the chappaquiddick scandal a terribly divided party and a republican opponent named ronald reagan but when kennedy's interview with mud aired in the fall of 1979 the impact was devastating electric kennedy was running all right but he was running with no message no reason he could articulate for wanting to be president end quote on august 25th 2009 ted kennedy lost his long battle with brain cancer and passed away at his home in cape cod massachusetts despite his many positive political achievements his legacy will forever be marred by the murky details surrounding that one night in chaba critic and the death of mary jo capekney we'll be covering the stories behind several other kennedy family members in upcoming episodes but are there any other families out there with controversial members you think we should make an episode about let us know in the comments below right then take care and i'll see you next time with another story to make you say well i never [Music] you

Channel: Well, I Never

Views: 270,151

Keywords: history, fun facts, well i never, paul brodie, Ted Kennedy, the chappaquiddick incident, the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, mary jo kopechne, The Kennedy Curse, JFK, RFK, John f. Kennedy, rosemary kennedy

Id: yZhn7hhnG54

Length: 17min 59sec (1079 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 25 2022