On June 5th, 1968 in Los Angeles Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Robert Kennedy was three months into his presidential campaign. After his assassination, it only left one Kennedy brother to run for the White House. The last Kennedy left to run for the White House was Edward Moore Kennedy also known as Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy was a young senator from Massachusetts. He was hopeful that he would get into the White House. However, an event that happened one night on an island outside of Martha’s Vineyard would suddenly change the young man’s life forever. According to Adam Clymer, “Ted Kennedy is the only person alive who might know more than we do about Chappaquiddick and he may not” . This is the Chappaquiddick story.
Mary Jo was young and a volunteer for John F. Kennedy’s campaign for president while in college. Mary Jo received a degree in business and afterward, she taught school in Alabama. She also worked for a Florida senator before she started working for Robert Kennedy. In the year 1968, Mary Jo helped write Robert’s speeches during his presidential campaign. However, Mary Jo continued to work in politics (Pruitt). Her decision to stay in politics would later cost her. The weekend of July 18th, Mary Jo was invited to a party. Mary Jo and five other women were invited to the party just off of Martha’s Vineyard. Mary Jo, Rosemary Keough, Esther Newberg, Susan Tannenbaum, Nance Lyons, and Mary Lyons would all attend the party. The boiler room girls were reunited for the night (Damore & Carr 2018).
Senator Kennedy along with Joseph Gargan, Paul Markham, Charles Tretter, and John Crimmins would also attend the party. The cookout was in full swing on the island of Chappaquiddick. However, later that night Mary Jo would leave the party with the young senator. This party would be the last time anyone ever saw Mary Jo Kopechne alive. Around 1:00 pm on July 18th an hour or so before the Edgartown Regatta started Ted Kennedy landed on Martha's Vineyard. Attending the Edgartown Regatta was a family tradition. However, he was not looking forward to the weekend.
The party at the cabins was his cousin's idea. Kennedy's chauffeur brought his car down for the party. In the trunk of the car was three-half gallons of vodka, four-fifths of scotch, two bottles of rum, and a couple cases of beer. The channel between the main Martha's Vineyard Island and Chappaquiddick is only about 500 feet across. Kennedy would later claim that this was the first time that he ever set foot on Chappaquiddick even though he had been coming to Martha's Vineyard for years. However, with the amount of alcohol that Senator Kennedy had in his car maybe that's the reason he doesn't remember driving Miss. Kopechne in the pond (Sherrill 1976).
The Kennedy’s had been involved in the Edgartown regatta for years. Once the senator got to the cottage he changed into his swimming trunks. He was then driven down the road one-half mile onto Duke Road the road “leads over Dyke Bridge to a beach on the east side of the island”. Ted Kennedy took a dip in the ocean. However, nine hours later his car with Miss. Kopechne trapped inside would be taking the dip. Ted Kennedy would be driven back to the cottage to change into new swim trunks. Later, his chauffeur would travel past the road that leads to the bridge. According to Danmore & Carr “In all the senator was driven over Chappaquiddick’s main road three times and over the road to Dyke Bridge twice that day” (Danmore & Carr). The party at the cottage started late. The party wasn’t in full swing until around 8:30 pm. The guest had fun dancing, singing, and even had a steak for dinner. Many of the guests would go on to testify to having no more than two drinks at the party. The senator admits to having only two rums and cokes during the party. He stated that he was “absolutely sober” when he left the party. As for Mary Jo whose friends mentioned her as not being a heavy drinker, her blood report states otherwise. (CHAPPAQUIDDICK; The Party 1980).
Mary Jo Kopechne’s blouse would later be examined by a Massachusetts police chemist. He found blood on the blouse that was tested, and the test would bring up how much alcohol she had in her body. The alcohol content would be consistent with about “3.7 to 5 ounces, 80 to 90 proof liquor within one hour prior to death, or equal to about five to six ounces of liquor would conflict with her friends’ account of how much she consumed at the party” (CHAPPAQUIDDICK; The Party 1980). Robert Samuel and 15 yr old Joseph Cappavella had been fishing for about an hour. However, they decided to go back to the car because the fish weren’t bitting. Samuel was deciding rather to fish off the bridge and into the pond. That’s when he spotted the metal shinning in the water. It was a car. Samuel could see the licenses plate number. The two went over to the “Dyke House” where they used the telephone to contact the Edgartown police (Damore & Carr 2018).
The police got the car’s licenses plate number L78 207 and called it out over the radio. They found out that the car belonged to Edward M. Kennedy, “room 2400, JFK Building, Government Center, Boston” (Damore & Carr 2018). They found that the rear passenger window had been blown out. According to John Farrar the diver, he “thrusted himself through the portal inside the car to his waist”. This is when he spotted the body. It was a body of a young woman. “Her head was cocked back, her face pressed into the footwell”. Both hands gripped the front edge of the seat to hold herself in conformity with its upholstered contours. The body would later be identified as Mary Jo Kopechne. Mary Jo wore a long sleeve white blouse and navy blue slacks. Ted Kennedy would later be sent down to the police station (Damore & Carr 2018).
When Ted was asked rather or not he knew about the accident the answer was no. The senator also looked worried. Reporters were everywhere outside the police station. Kennedy admits that he was, in fact, the driver of the car. However, Kennedy was in dry clothes. The associate medical examiner Dr. Donald R. Mills said they never perform autopsies in drowning cases on the island (Damore & Carr 2018).
Senator Kennedy was asked to show his driver’s licenses. He couldn’t present them at the time and stated that he couldn’t find his wallet. The officer wanted to know if it was “properly renewed which Kennedy was positive that it was. This was a clear violation of the law. In Kennedy’s report, he said that he made a wrong turn. However, according to Steele the county prosecutor the statement didn’t add up. Kennedy, in fact, knew Chappaquiddick very well. The Kennedy family had been coming there for years for the Edgartown regatta. Kennedy also knew to turn left instead of right. One thing that reminded questionably was the “shock and exhaustion” that Kennedy said he suffered after the accident. George Killen said that they would definitely investigate this accident (Damore & Carr 2018).
Bernie Flynn the state police detective lieutenant, assigned to the cape cod office of the district attorney; read over Ted Kennedy’s report of the accident. Flynn said “personally, I thought it was bullshit. However, he kept the disbelief to himself. “A woman in the corridor said that “This won’t see the light of day. This will all be covered up”. That woman would, in fact, be right. Chappaquiddick was the biggest cover-up in American history, and it still remains a mystery today.
Around 10 o clock the next morning the Kopechne’s where notified about their daughter’s death. Her mother was very devastated and broke down in tears. This was also another lie that was told out of Ted’s mouth. When he got to the station he mentioned that the Kopechne’s had already been notified about their daughter’s death. The senator mentioned that he had chosen not to report the accident for some ten hours because he was convinced Mary Jo Kopechne had somehow gotten out of the car and survived the accident. Dun Gifford an aide for the senator told the guy at the funeral home that he was available to help with arrangements. Gifford was told to do anything to expedite the paperwork to get her body off the island and as quickly as possible. Also, he wanted to know if an autopsy had to be performed before her body could be released for burial. Something had to be very suspicious in order to get her body off the island and as quickly as possible. The young senator had something to hide.
After the accident, Kennedy went back to find Gargan. When he returned back to the party Gargan was in the kitchen. This was when Ted informed him that there had been an accident and it involved Mary Jo. After he was informed about the accident he thought that he would see “an automobile that had been driven into the water with the top sticking out”. What Gargan saw was far from an automobile that had been driven into the water. After he saw it he knew if Mary Jo was in the car; that she was gone. Also, if a rescue attempt had been made sooner. Especially, within the first few seconds, she could have been saved. Gargan along with Markham both dived in to attempt to save Mary Jo.
Gargan would later mention how the water was cold, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. He said that the current was tremendous. “Gargan couldn’t do it. The force of the current dragged him away so that he was 25 to 30 yards beyond the car before he got back under control” (Damore & Carr). However, Kennedy sat back and observed the rescue attempts. He would ask “Can you see her? Is she there? The senator was stretched out on his back laying on the bridge. He has his hands clasped behind his head, and his knees drawn up. Kennedy was also looking into the sky, rocking back and forth, repeating, “oh God. What am I going to do? “.
Kennedy had attempted to save Mary Jo, and when that failed is when he went back to the cottage. He knew that he needed help. After Gargan got dressed by the side of the car, he only had one thing on his mind. That was to report to the police about the accident. However, Kennedy said ok take me to Edgartown. Along the way, he was very quiet and reminded silent about his intentions. Kennedy didn’t want to report the accident at this time. “Kennedy was asked to be brought back to the cottage to establish the story”.
Gargan was very involved with helping Kennedy in any way possible. Family has other family members backs right? That’s exactly what happened with Chappaquiddick. Ted always knew that Joey would fix it. Kennedy expected him to fix the story about Chappaquiddick. “Making a false report to the police required a web of lies involving a disparate group of people”(Damore & Carr). With helping Ted cover up the accident and spreading lies “Gargan would be risking his integrity and reputation as a lawyer”. If they found out he could lose his right to practice law.
The rest of boiler room girls had to get off the island and quick. Ted had also not mentioned the rescue attempt by Gargan and Markham in his police report. Kennedy was even going to pay to have Mary Jo’s body flown for burial. However, the Kopechne’s turned it down. The money saved up for her wedding was now going to pay for her funeral. “Ted safe; Blonde dies (News wire Service July 1969). Manslaughter was a mandatory charge in the state of Massachusetts where the driver left the scene of a fatal accident, if negligence was proved. However, there was no evidence of negligence. Driving to endanger needed needed to be proved. There was also no evidence of negligence, nor witnesses to testify to recklessness, inattention, speed or drunk driving.
The only charge left to charge the senator with was chapter 90, section 24. This charge involved leaving the scene.
“Any operator of a vehicle who “without shopping and making known his name, residence and the registration number of his motor vehicle, goes away after knowingly colliding with, or otherwise causing injury to any person, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two months or more than two years.
In order to issue the charge towards Kennedy you would need his driver’s license number and expiration date. When it was requested they found a white duplicate card issued to the senator. It was issued for October 17th, 1968. It was for a lost license valid until February 22nd, 1969. This meant that the senator was driving on dead licenses at the time of the accident. “There is no proof, no proof whatever”( Ted Kennedy speech).
There was definitely proof that Kennedy left with Mary Jo and that he was in fact the driver of the car. On July 25th three days after Mary Jo was buried in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. The senator plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a two month suspended sentence and a year probation by Edgartown District court. However, on May 14th the results of a secret registry of motor vehicles hearing finds the senator to have been speeding and to be “at serious fault” in the accident (Danmore & Carr).