Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy’s death overwhelmed social media along with Mary Jo Kopechne Chappaquiddick incident

Posted on August 26, 2009

chappaquiddick-incident-history

The “Chappaquiddick incident” refers to circumstances surrounding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign worker for the assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York.

On July 18, 1969, Ted Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick, a small island connected via ferry to the town of Edgartown on the adjoining larger island of Martha’s Vineyard. The party was a reunion for a group of six women, including Kopechne, known as the “boiler-room girls”, who had served in his brother Robert’s 1968 presidential campaign. Also present were Joseph Gargan (Ted Kennedy’s cousin), Paul Markham (a school friend of Gargan’s who would become United States Attorney for Massachusetts under the patronage of the Kennedys), Charles Tretter (an attorney), Raymond La Rosa and John Crimmins (Ted Kennedy’s part-time driver). Kennedy was also competing in the Edgartown Yacht Club Regatta, a sailing competition which was taking place over several days.

Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy’s death overwhelmed social media along with Mary Jo Kopechne Chappaquiddick incident

Posted on 26 August 2009

Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy died on August 25, 2009 and now social media is all overwhelmed by people searching for details about him, his family and the Chappaquiddick incident in which Mary Jo Kopechne died in 1969. Mary Jo Kopechne was a passenger in his car when he ran of a bridge and fell in the water.

Kennedy was the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed in May 2008 with a malignant brain tumor though he lived more than medics expected, but he died on August 25, 2009, just before midnight.

Now his wife Victoria, sister Jean Kennedy and his three sons mourn him along with all the people that loved him.

Edward Ted Kennedy Death

Chappaquiddick

The “Chappaquiddick incident” refers to circumstances surrounding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign worker for the assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York. On July 18, 1969, Ted Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick, a small island connected via ferry to the town of Edgartown on the adjoining larger island of Martha’s Vineyard.

The party was a reunion for a group of six women, including Kopechne, known as the “boiler-room girls”,who had served in his brother Robert’s 1968 presidential campaign. Also present were Joseph Gargan (Ted Kennedy’s cousin), Paul Markham (a school friend of Gargan’s who would become United States Attorney for Massachusetts under the patronage of the Kennedys), Charles Tretter (an attorney), Raymond La Rosa and John Crimmins (Ted Kennedy’s part-time driver). Kennedy was also competing in the Edgartown Yacht Club Regatta, a sailing competition which was taking place over several days.

Kopechne’s dead body was discovered inside an overturned car belonging to Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy of Massachusetts under water in a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. After the body was found, Kennedy gave a statement to police saying that on the previous night he had taken a wrong turn and accidentally driven his car off a bridge into the water. He pled guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury, and received a suspended sentence. The incident became a national scandal, and may have affected the Senator’s decision not to run for President in 1972.
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A chronology of the life of Sen. Edward Kennedy

Highlights in the life of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy:

— Feb. 22, 1932: Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy is born in Boston, the youngest of nine children of Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy.

— May 1951: Is caught cheating on an exam and leaves Harvard College. Enlists in the Army and serves for the next 16 months. Later re-enrolls at Harvard.

— June 1954: Graduates from Harvard and enrolls at the University of Virginia Law School. Graduates from law school in 1959.

— Nov. 29, 1958: Marries Virginia Joan Bennett, known as Joan.

— Nov. 8, 1960: Kennedy’s brother, John F. Kennedy, is elected president.

— March 1962: Resigns as assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, Mass., and announces his candidacy for brother John’s unexpired Senate term.

— Nov. 6, 1962: Is elected U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

— Nov. 22, 1963: President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas.

— June 19, 1964: Kennedy’s back is broken in a plane crash that kills aide Edward Moss and the pilot, Edwin Zimny. Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana and his wife, both passengers, are also injured.

— Nov. 3, 1964: Brother Robert F. Kennedy is elected to the Senate from New York. Meanwhile, Ted Kennedy — still recovering from the June plane crash — wins a full Senate term in Massachusetts.

— March 1968: Robert F. Kennedy announces his candidacy for the presidency.

— June 5, 1968: After winning the California primary, Robert F. Kennedy is shot in Los Angeles and dies the next day.

— July 18, 1969: Ted Kennedy drives his car off a bridge at Chappaquiddick, Mass., and manages to escape. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowns. Kennedy later pleads guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor, and receives a two-month suspended sentence and a year’s probation.

— July 25, 1969: Delivers a television address to explain his actions at Chappaquiddick.

— Nov. 3, 1970: Is re-elected to the Senate but loses majority whip position. Chairs the Senate Health Committee.

— November 1979: Announces his candidacy for the 1980 presidential nomination, challenging President Jimmy Carter.

— January-June 1980: Wins Democratic primaries in nine states and the District of Columbia. The rest go to Carter.

— Aug. 12, 1980: In an emotional speech to the Democratic National Convention, withdraws his bid for the presidency.

— December 1982: Announces he will not run for president in 1984. After 24 years of marriage, he divorces his wife, Joan.

— Dec. 19, 1985: Announces he will not run for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.

— March 1991: A woman accuses Kennedy’s nephew, William Kennedy Smith, of raping her at the family’s compound in Palm Beach, Fla. Smith is later acquitted. At the trial, Kennedy testifies about taking his nephew and son Patrick to the nightclub where Smith met his accuser.

— June 11, 1991: A conservative political group files an ethics complaint against Kennedy, alleging that he violated Senate rules by his actions relating to the alleged rape. The Senate Ethics Committee dismisses the complaint.

— July 3, 1992: Marries Victoria Reggie, a Washington lawyer.

— Oct. 13, 1994: Senate Ethics Committee dismisses allegations of sexual harassment and drug use.

— Jan. 4, 1995: Son Patrick Kennedy is sworn in as congressman from Rhode Island.

— Aug. 21, 1996: A major health care bill sponsored by Kennedy and Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., is signed into law.

— July 16, 1999: John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, perish in a plane crash in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard.

— January 2002: No Child Left Behind legislation, which Kennedy co-sponsored, is signed into law. The legislation is designed to give states and school districts more freedom over how they spend federal dollars, but requires them to raise student achievement.

— April 5, 2004: Says Iraq has become “George Bush’s Vietnam” and compares him to former President Richard Nixon.

— May 4, 2006: Son Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island congressman, drives his vehicle into a Capitol Hill security barrier.

— June 13, 2006: A judge sentences Patrick Kennedy to drug treatment and a year’s probation after he pleads guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

— Nov. 7, 2006: Ted Kennedy easily wins an eighth six-year Senate term.

— May 2007: Congress approves an increase in the federal minimum wage, a longtime priority for Kennedy.

— Oct. 12, 2007: Has surgery to clear a partially blocked artery in his neck.

— Jan. 28, 2008: Announces he is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president.

— May 17, 2008: Suffers a seizure at his Cape Cod, Mass., home.

— May 20, 2008: Doctors diagnose a cancerous brain tumor.

— Aug. 25, 2008: Kennedy addresses Democratic National Convention in Denver.

— Nov. 17, 2008: Returns to work. Continues to work part time while he receives treatment in the following months.

— December 2008: Lobbies for the appointment of niece Caroline to the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Caroline Kennedy eventually withdraws from consideration.

— Jan. 20, 2009: Fulfills his promise to attend Barack Obama’s inauguration as president but collapses at a celebratory luncheon.

— March 8, 2009: Is honored at star-studded musical birthday tribute at Washington’s Kennedy Center.

— Aug. 11, 2009: Kennedy’s 88-year-old sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, dies.