The Kennedy scandal the world forgot about
After Bobby Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968, Joseph Kennedy only had one son left: Ted.
Senator Ted Kennedy had many heavy expectations to carry and after one fatal car crash on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969, protecting his presidential prospects was key.
Known as the Chappaquiddick incident, the car Ted was driving flipped off a bridge and crashed into water – which killed his 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, who was trapped in the fully-submerged vehicle.
The incident is marked by inconsistencies, cover-ups and smoke screens surrounding the events that occurred before and after the crash.
Now, the first non-documentary film based on the event Chappaquiddick has been released.
Although it is the Kennedy scandal that is usually forgotten, the incident was believed to have influenced Ted’s decision not to campaign for President in 1972 and 1976. The incident also added to the myth of the so-called “Kennedy Curse”.
Australian actor Jason Clarke plays Ted Kennedy in the movie, which shows Kennedy hosting a party on Chappaquiddick Island for the “Boiler Rooms Girls” who worked for Bobby Kennedy’s presidential campaign.
Guests attending the party include Mary Jo Kopechne, Kennedy cousin Joe Gargan and Massachusetts US Attorney Paul Markham.
Kennedy and Kopechne leave the party where the incident unfolds as his car veers off the bridge.
After Kennedy swam to safety, he didn’t report the incident for nine hours. The film follows Ted’s struggle to make sense of the family expectation that is upon him by his father and his moral code.
Listening to both the opinions of his lawyer cousin Joe Gargan and his father Joe Kennedy, Ted battles the difference between being a good man and a great man.
Do you remember when this tragic car incident happened in the late '60s? Tell us in the comments below.