Posted on 07/18/2006 9:54:03 AM PDT by ncountylee
Late on the night of July 18, 1969, a car went off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard. With a young senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, at the wheel, the Oldsmobile sank into the water beneath the Dike Bridge.
In a sequence of events that instantly became famous, Senator Kennedy escaped from the submerged vehicle and swam to shore. By 2:30 a.m. he had made his way back to his hotel in Edgartown, where he was sighted in the lobby. He made 17 phone calls to family members and associates. But not until 10 hours after the accident did he call the police to tell them about the car crash—and the other person in the car, who had died.
Senator Kennedy had not been alone. Riding alongside him had been a young woman, not his wife, named Mary Jo Kopechne. She had been sitting next to him as they drove away from a party, and as they crossed Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick Island the accident ended her life. It would haunt the rest of Kennedy’s career.
After President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and then the killing of Robert F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy was regarded as the next standard-bearer of America’s foremost political family. With the 1972 presidential election approaching, many, including some of President Richard M. Nixon’s advisers, expected the youngest Kennedy brother to make a bid for the White House. As the details of the events at Chappaquiddick slowly emerged, however, they significantly weakened his prospects.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanheritage.com ...
Teddy might. He's a major lizard, too.
It was great because I led him along so sweetly, seeming to agree with the senator on the exit strategy point.
Other times, they just hang up with no comment.
No true billed by the Grand Jury. Absent compelling new evidence, it's over.
oh you are GOOD!
I don't think he was ever in the car.....but if I recall,the car window was open and she was found in the rear of the car. She may have been drunk or drugged and never really revived enough to help herself.
".....how did the orca manage to get out and she remained behind." - EagleUSA
Teddy, less fat back then, exited through the window. He claimed that the strong currents frustrated his subsequent attempts to rescue Mary Jo, although the Senator summoned absolutely no help to the scene. The rear seat would have had a temporary air pocket and that was where her body was found.
The definitive book is "Senatorial Priviledge" by Leo Damore.
Ted Kennedy (aka teddytheswimmerkennedy) admitted at the time that he drove off the bridge, left Mary Jo there, went to his hotel, called family and lawyers, then finally admitted his deeds.
I was a young child, but I saw the pathetic performance myself. YOU need to read some history on this, it is out there on the internet for all to read. HE IS A MURDERER. He alone is responsible for that car going into the water, he alone left her there to die, he lives, while she is dead.
I have plagued many an elected official with my mean spirited comments.....tee hee.
Yes, they did an investigation. It was beyond question that Kennedy drove off the bridge and Mary Jo drowned in his submerged Oldsmobile. The only thing in question was how the authorities would cover the incident up so that he would never be charged for his crime of negligent homicide. There is no way a member of the Kennedy family would ever have to answer for a crime in Massachussetts no matter how vile the crime nor how damning the evidence, especially so close on the heals of the deaths of the swimmer's brothers JFK and RFK.
Don't know if you remember, but NATIONAL LAMPOON did a parody of a then popular VOLKSWAGEN ad about the tightness of the car, to wit: A picture of a VW Bug floating in water with the caption, "If Teddy Kennedy had been driving a Volkswagen, he'd be President today.". Neither VW, nor the now Senior Dirigible from Massachusetts were amused, and the parody was pulled.
William Kennedy Smith who got away with rape with his uncles help lives near me.
You forgot the murdering Skakel borthers who are nephews of Robert Kennedy's widow Ethel.
Hope everyone out there sends Teddy the best on his anniversary!
funny thing: Had he simply called the rescue right away, and fessed up, people would have sympathized with him. we now know that he was negligent at best, criminal at worst, and someone is dead because of it.
if he had raised a single finger....
OH that is priceless too!!! great job!!
He wasn't fat back then. Just stupid, sleazy and immoral. In other words, a Kennedy.
If Nixon had done the exact same thing, he would have died in prison.
He cheated and lied in college, it came natural to him to run and lie.
Too bad we can't all mail him our old sheets.
no doubt. the best of them died in Dallas in 1963. the rest are progressively worse.
BTW: Isn't it ironic that microsoft's spell chaecker has the correct spelling for Chappaquiddick?
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