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Chapter 3: Chappaquiddick

Conflicted ambitions, then, Chappaquiddick

Kennedy appeared White House bound, until a fatal car accident and lingering questions derailed his plans

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By Jenna Russell
Globe Staff / February 17, 2009

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On a humid Friday in July of 1969, as his plane took off from Boston bound for Martha's Vineyard, Senator Edward M. Kennedy seemed locked in a sure, unstoppable ascent to the White House. (Full article: 4788 words)

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Chappaquiddick: Unanswered Questions

Remembering the night in 1969 that left a young woman dead, and a young politician forever diminished

Spotlight, pressure now on Ted

Ted Kennedy at age 37. (Globe library) Ted Kennedy at age 37.
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Chappaquiddick Island

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'The boiler room girls'

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More photos of the boiler room girls
Ted Kennedy
  • There was complete blackness. Water seemed to rush in from every point, from the windshield, from underneath me, above me.
  • – Ted Kennedy
Globe front page: Ted Kennedy Escapes, Woman Dies, As Car Plunges Into Vineyard Pond
Globe front page

Controversy at Chappaquiddick
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Exclusive photos from the scene

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The morning after the accident, Edgartown Police Chief Dominick Arena sent an officer to the scene with a Brownie camera. For years, these rarely seen photos sat in his drawer.
More of Chief Arena's photos
Ted's statement to police
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Ted's statement to police

Deputy contradicts Kennedy

Huck Look, a sheriff’s deputy, said he had seen a car like Kennedy’s, with a man and woman inside and a similar plate number, at 12:45 a.m. – an hour and a half after Kennedy said the accident happened. (Jack D. Hubbard) Huck Look, a sheriff’s deputy, said he had seen a car like Kennedy’s, with a man and woman inside and a similar plate number, at 12:45 a.m. – an hour and a half after Kennedy said the accident happened.
Video

'69 Chappaquiddick speech

Kennedy outside the courtroom

Ted Kennedy confronts the media after leaving the courthouse in Edgartown, where he received a two-month suspended sentence for failure to report the accident in which Mary Jo Kopechne was killed. His pregnant wife, Joan, is by his side. (Joe Dennehy/Globe Staff) Ted Kennedy confronts the media after leaving the courthouse in Edgartown, where he received a two-month suspended sentence for failure to report the accident in which Mary Jo Kopechne was killed. His pregnant wife, Joan, is by his side.
The Chappaquiddick Inquest
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The Chappaquiddick Inquest

Joan and Ted attend Kopechne's funeral

Ted Kennedy and his wife, Joan, leave Hyannis for Mary Jo Kopechne's funeral in Pennsylvania. (UPI) Ted Kennedy and his wife, Joan, leave Hyannis for Mary Jo Kopechne's funeral in Pennsylvania.

Kennedy champions healthcare

The senator with Edward Jr.

Teddy Kennedy Jr. walks with the aid of crutches and an artificial limb as he leaves Georgetown Hospital in Washington in 1973, accompanied by his parents. (AP) Teddy Kennedy Jr. walks with the aid of crutches and an artificial limb as he leaves Georgetown Hospital in Washington in 1973, accompanied by his parents.
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Ted tours South Vietnam

Kennedy returns to Senate