During the past couple weeks, I have been seeing some previews for the movie Chappaquiddick. From the previews, I gathered it was about some sort of Kennedy family scandal but I wasn't sure of the exact story.
I finally decided I wanted more information and looked up "The Chappaquiddick Incident".
When I found out what it was, I was like.... Whaaaaat!? How did I not know about this!?
In case you are like me and never heard of this particular scandal, here is a quick summary!
In 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy (37 years old) was on Chappaquiddick Island at a party with former volunteers and staffers. Later in the evening, Ted left the party with one of those staffers- 28 year old Mary Jo Kopechne. (Kennedy's pregnant wife was at home on bed rest.)
Kennedy was at the wheel of his car and Mary Jo was in the passenger seat when it careened off the Dike Bridge, flipped upside down, and became submerged in the water below. Somehow, Kennedy was able to get out of the car but Mary Jo wasn't.
Kennedy claimed he spent 15-20 minutes diving down to try to get Mary Jo out. Then instead of reporting what happened, Ted tried to cover it up. He only reported the accident the next morning after the car was found and was identified as his.
Somehow, Kennedy was only charged with leaving the scene of an accident and did not receive any jail time. The "incident" derailed his plans to run for president in 1972 but it did not prevent voters from sending him back tot the Senate seven more times.
My summary only contains the absolute FACTS. There is a lot we don't know. Was Ted drunk when he crashed the car? Was he speeding? What were the two of them doing out there in the middle of the night? Did Mary Jo survive for any amount of time, waiting to be rescued? You can dive into a deeeeeep rabbit hole with this case and it will likely make you angry.
Here is my take:
A drunk Ted Kennedy was criminally negligent when he drove his car off the Dike Bridge and caused the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. He should have been charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident. WHO LEAVES THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT WHEN SOMEONE IS TRAPPED IN A CAR UNDERWATER? Even if you believe them to be dead, you CALL FOR HELP and REPORT THE ACCIDENT.
It makes me so angry. I can't believe he was voted back into the Senate seven more times. Well, he's a Kennedy, so I guess I can believe it.
The first time Paul and I tried to go see Chappaquiddick, it was sold out. (It was opening weekend and it was senior citizen day. My bad.) The second time we tried to go see it, we went to the theater it was playing in and not only was there no one in there, but there was no movie playing! We checked out tickets and realized I had the time wrong. I thought the movie started at 1:25 but it didn't start until 2:20. My bad again! So we killed some time at Big Lots before the movie started and bought patio furniture!
The movie was very good and I enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't very long, so it didn't feel like there were "filler" scenes. The only parts I got a little bored was when Ted would have chats with his father.
The Australian actor who plays Kennedy (Jason Clarke) really looks like Ted Kennedy, it's amazing!
Ted Kennedy
I recommend the movie!
Did you know about the Chappaquiddick incident?
Tell me about something in history you learned about that surprised you!
Tell me about something in history you learned about that surprised you!
Thanks for the summary. I think is like to see this.
ReplyDeleteYea I am always amazed when I watch Dateline, 20/20, and similar shows when people ADMIT they knew someone was hurt (at their own hand or some other way), and they just leave that person for dead cuz they just don't "think" to call 911 or get help. Just ridiculous!
You would definitely like this movie. Let me know if you decide to see it!
DeleteI had no idea what this movie was about, until I talked to you. It sounds really interesting, and tragically sad for the woman's family.
ReplyDeleteThe most recent thing that I learned about history has to do with work. As you already know, Bill Clinton was the president who introduced Welfare reform, that ultimately created programs like the one I work out. I learned so many things from reading Hillary Clinton's book, including that back when the republicans were talking about creating welfare reform, they wanted to save money by taking children away from anybody who applied for cash assistance (welfare) and put those kids into an orphanage. Their plan was to have a bunch of orphanages operated by private companies paid by the government. That enraged me!! How have we forgotten about this? How do we not yell our anger at Gingrich every time he opens his mouth?!? I'm still angry about it (even though it didn't happen) and it has been over a month that I read about it.
that I work at** not out...
DeleteOh my gosh I didn't know about that and that is HORRIBLE. It's that mindset that poor people don't deserve certain things... like children!
DeleteI didn’t know this either... totally ridiculous! Mind blowing!!!!
DeleteI spent 12 years in Boston, so yes, I knew all about this. The Kennedys then made sure her family stayed quiet by either threats or bribery.
ReplyDeleteThat pisses me off!
DeleteI did know about the story...I am really surprised you didn't know, Megan. You know everything :) Yeah, it was basically a shit show and a cover up. Tell me you do know about Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood! If not, you better go look it up! LOL.
ReplyDeleteLOL okay I'm gonna tell my students that YOU said I know EVERYTHING so maybe they will listen to me these last couple weeks of school...
DeleteOMG YES I KNOW ABOUT NATALIE WOOD I am sooooooooo interested in that case and I think Robert Wagner was responsible for her death.
The craziest thing I learned recently was about Rosemary Kennedy, the sister they tried to hide because of mental disabilities. They made her go through a lobotomy while being conscious! I guess after hearing about this movie I’m just learning that the Kennedy family isn’t as great as general political history would have you believe.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know a lot about the Kennedy's. I have gathered from watching the news that Robert was freaking awesome and did a lot for civil rights...
DeleteIf I remember correctly (which I may not), Dad Joe Kennedy had the lobotomy done and only told his wife Rose after it was a done deal. Rosemary, while mentally disabled, was functional (could talk, dress and feed herself,etc), mentally maybe a 10-12 year old level(?). After the lobotomy, while she still had some comprehension, was almost vegetable like. Confined to a wheelchair, couldn't talk, had to be fed, dressed. I can't stand most of the Kennedys.
ReplyDeleteSo wait, I am confused! Did Joe have Rosemary have the lobotomy ?? I need to research some of this because I've never heard of it.
DeleteYes, Joe arranged it without consulting his wife and she only found about it after the fact and the damage had been done. I believe he really did think he was doing the best bas d on what they knew at the time. But then the surgery went horribly wrong. Rosemary was getting more belligerent and harder to handle. She didn't understand why she couldn't go on dates and be on her own like her sisters. The lobotomy was supposed to have a calming effect. A really good book came out about Her a few years ago. Rosemary, the Hidden Kennedy. Good read.
DeleteThank you for the book rec. I will check it out!
DeleteI knew about Chappaquiddick. Being silver-haired (thus my name), I was about 13 when it happened. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the details then, but when Ted did run for president in 1980, it all came back up and a lot more questions were raised. The press wasn't near as ready to turn a blind eye as they had been in 1969. A lot of people feel like that contributed a lot to him losing the democratic nomination, because it was obviously not going to go away.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that press did not turn a blind eye and that he didn't win the party's nomination. I know Ted did a lot of good things in the senate, but surely there is someone else who didn't commit a horrible crime that could have done the same good things?
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