Fr ted kennedy biography chappaquiddick
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Ted Kennedy
American politician (1932–2009)
"Edward Kennedy" redirects here. For other people, see Ted Kennedy (disambiguation) and Edward Kennedy (disambiguation).
Ted Kennedy | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 1990s | |
| In office November 7, 1962 – August 25, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin A. Smith II |
| Succeeded by | Paul G. Kirk |
| In office January 3, 2007 – August 25, 2009 On leave: June 9 – August 25, 2009* | |
| Preceded by | Mike Enzi |
| Succeeded by | Chris Dodd (acting) |
| In office June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Jeffords |
| Succeeded by | Judd Gregg |
| In office January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Jeffords |
| Succeeded by | Jim Jeffords |
| In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Orrin Hatch |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Kassebaum |
| In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | James Eastland |
| Succeeded by | Strom Thurmond |
| In office January 3, • What happened at Chappaquiddick on 18 July 1969?In July 1969, Kennedy took part in a regatta off Martha’s Vineyard, a summer playground for New England’s elite. On the evening of the 18th, the senator took the ferry to the neighbouring island of Chappaquiddick. There his staff had arranged a party to thank the six ‘boiler room girls’ who had worked on Robert’s ill-fated presidential campaign the previous summer. It was a fine evening, and the drink flowed merrily. At some point between 11 and midnight, Kennedy slipped away, taking one of the women, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, with him. Later he said that he was driving her to her hotel – though she left her handbag and room key behind. About an hour later, a policeman saw a car streaking along an unpaved dirt road. It was Kennedy and Kopechne. Lost in the darkness, Kennedy turned down an unpaved dirt road, and at the end his car slipped off the road and plunged into a deep tidal channel. It takes little imagination to pictu • Late on the night of July 18, 1969, a black Oldsmobile driven by U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy plunged off the Dike Bridge on the tiny island of Chappaquiddick, off Martha’s Vineyard, landing upside down in the tidal Poucha Pond. The 37-year-old Kennedy survived the crash, but the young woman riding with him in the car didn’t. Though newspaper headlines at the time identified her simply as a “blonde,” she was 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, a respected political operative who had worked on the presidential campaign of Senator Kennedy’s brother, Robert Kennedy. Kennedy later claimed he dove repeatedly “into the strong and murky current” to try and find Kopechne before making his way back to the cottage. He then drove back to the scene with his cousin, Joseph Gargan, and aide Paul Markham, who both tried in vain to reach Kopechne. But rather than report the accident to the police at that time, Kennedy returned to his hotel in Edgartown. As a result, Mary Jo Kopechne remained underwater f | |