Kennedy denies affair with Kopechne
Chappaquiddick, brothers' assassinations discussed in 532-page memoir due out Sept. 14
WASHINGTON (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said in a new book that he was not romantically involved with young Mary Jo Kopechne and that he never escaped the despair that he felt after she died in the 1969 car crash that has been seared into the national consciousness as "Chappaquiddick."
He acknowledged that he enjoyed women and drink -- sometimes too much -- but said that reports of wild excesses were exaggerated. He said he always has accepted the conclusion that a lone assassin killed his brother John and that Kennedy family members had worried about the emotional health of his brother Robert after John's death in Dallas in 1963. He said it "veered close to being a tragedy within a tragedy."
Yet it was the specter of Chappaquiddick that Edward Kennedy, the youngest brother, never could shake.
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WASHINGTON (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said in a new book that he was not romantically involved with young Mary Jo Kopechne and that he never escaped the despair that he felt after she died in the 1969 car crash that has been seared into the national consciousness as "Chappaquiddick."
He acknowledged that he enjoyed women and drink -- sometimes too much -- but said that reports of wild excesses were exaggerated. He said he always has accepted the conclusion that a lone assassin killed his brother John and that Kennedy family members had worried about the emotional health of his brother Robert after John's death in Dallas in 1963. He said it "veered close to being a tragedy within a tragedy."
Yet it was the specter of Chappaquiddick that Edward Kennedy, the youngest brother, never could shake.
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- (Hot Air) - Kennedy: Chappaquiddick “haunted” him
posted by BP News Bureau | 12:18 PM
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From 'Amazon.com':
Ted Kennedy, after consuming numerous alcoholic beverages, leaves a private party with a young lady not his wife. His wife, you see, is pregnant and is at home back in Massachusetts.
Sen. Kennedy is driving with a suspended license.
A local police officer wonders if Kennedy's car is lost after seeing it first go one way and then back up and start going a different way. He approaches it on foot. The car then takes off at a high rate of speed.
Shortly after this, the car drives off of Chappaquiddick Bridge, flips over and lands upside down in 8 feet of water. Sen. Kennedy exits the vehicle. The young woman with him does not.
For the next 9 hours, instead of simply calling the police and rescue workers, Sen. Kennedy desperately goes to work on an alibi.
Kennedy confesses the accident to two people, one of whom is his cousin and lawyer, Joseph Gargan. They press him to report the accident, which he is understandably reluctant to do. The two men press Kennedy so much, he surprises them by shouting that he will report the accident and then dives into the lake and swims the harbor to the hotel where he was staying.
Taking Kennedy at his word, Gargan and the other man remain on the Island. In the morning, Gargan is stunned to find Kennedy chatting with friends and getting ready to head for breakfast.
Not only did Kennedy not report the accident, he also took pains to be seen by a hotel staff member late that night and made it a point of asking the man what time it was.
Two fishermen discovered the upside down car next to the bridge that morning, while Kennedy was still feverishly working on his alibi.
To drink and drive is a crime. To flee the scene of an accident is a crime. To fail to render aid to someone injured in an accident you caused is a crime. While sleeping around on your wife is not a crime, it does display poor judgment and a low moral character.
Senator Kennedy did all these things and because he was a Kennedy, he got away with it. Had you or I gotten drunk and driven off a bridge with someone in the car with us, and we left them to die while we chose not to report the accident and instead tried to invent an alibi, you or I would go to prison. We are not Kennedys.
...It demonstrates how in America today someone with power and influence can engage in criminal conduct and not only never be called to account for their crimes, but can even flourish and sit in position of moral authority over others.
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