The Cowardly Lion?

The Lion

Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, the man they called "Lion of the Senate" and the last of the Kennedy brothers died recently. After more than four decades of service as a Senator from the State of Massachusetts many have ceased to wonder why he was never a serious contender for the Presidency. After the deaths of his brothers John and Robert it seemed natural and expected that Ted would step in and pursue their unfinished aspirations. We had come to expect that much of the Kennedys. But except for a halfhearted effort in 1980 to unseat the incumbent Democratic President, Jimmy Carter, it was not to be. It is generally acknowledged now that perhaps the single most important reason for Sen. Kennedy's failure to make a serious bid was an incident that happened in the summer of 1969. Here is a recap of those events and a surprising theory as to what actually happened.



Chappaquiddick

The island resort of Martha's Vineyard lies off the coast of Massachusetts. Another island, Chappaquiddick, is located adjacent and is accessible by ferry across a narrow channel. In the summer of 1969 a number of campaign workers for the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, along with Kennedy family members and associates held a reunion of sorts at a house on Chappaquiddick Island. Among those in attendance was a young woman from Pennsylvania named Mary Jo Kopechne. In the area for a weekend sailing regatta, Ted Kennedy also was present at party.

According to later testimony by Mr. Kennedy, at about 11:15 PM Ms. Kopechne indicated a desire to return to her hotel room on Martha's Vineyard. He offered a ride to the ferry, which would shortly make its last passage of the evening. The two left the party in Ted's Oldsmobile. Apparently no one at the party was aware of their departure and Mary Jo left her purse and room key behind.

At about 12:30 AM a part time policeman and resident of the island was returning home when he observed an automobile parked near the road. Observing two occupants he approached to see if they might need assistance. As he got closer the car suddenly sped off. He noted that it was a 1967 Oldsmobile 88 and got a partial license plate number but did not pursue.

Kennedy's version of events has himself and Mary Jo leaving the party and headed for the ferry. A short time later he approaches an intersection and makes a right turn, not realizing that he should have turned left in the direction of the ferry landing. The car continued a short distance along a dirt road and approached a wooden bridge across a tidal waterway. Apparently his speed was too great and the car plunged off the bridge and landed upside down and submerged in the water. Somehow he managed to extricate himself and swim to the surface. Over the course of the next few minutes he claimed to have repeatedly dived into the water in an attempt to rescue Mary Jo but in the dark was unable to do so or even catch sight of her. After a rest of 15 minutes or so he walked back to the party house, passing several residences along the way. Once back at the house he contacted a couple of his male acquaintances and the returned to the scene of the accident. Further efforts to determine the fate of Mary Jo were futile. At this point Ted instructed his companions to return to the cottage but not to tell the other guests what had happened and that he would notify the authorities. But first he asked to be taken to the ferry slip. Once there he unexpectedly dove, fully clothed, into the water of the channel and swam the 500 feet to the shore in Egdartown on the Martha's Vineyard side.

Not surprisingly, Kennedy would later claim to have had a restless night. Nevertheless, he was observed the next morning chatting casually with acquaintances and with no apparent injuries. Soon the two friends who had assisted him at the accident site arrived and, they would later claim, were appalled to find he had not reported the accident. At that point the Senator started making phone calls...but not to the police. It was decided to return to Chappaquiddick and on the journey across they were informed by the ferry pilot of the discovery of the car and its unfortunate passenger. Soon thereafter Sen. Kennedy contacted the local authorities and admitted he had been driving the car.

An investigation immediately ensued and Sen. Kennedy was soon charged with failing to report the accident. Of course the press pursued the story relentlessly and a few days after the incident Ted appeared live on national television to give his side of the story. Polls showed that more doubted his version than believed it. However, near the end of the telecast he ask residents of Massachusetts to advise as to whether he should continue to represent them in congress and the results of this straw poll were reported as favoring his continuing in office. There was a hasty inquest into Mary Jo's death but nothing substantial came of it. Later, authorities would decide they wanted to exhume the body, buried in Pennsylvania, for an autopsy. But the parents would not agree to it. And so a cloud came to hang over the affair that lingers to this day.

Ted Kennedy, the youngest of the brothers, has always lived in the shadow of his brothers and deservedly so when his accomplishments are taken into account. Nevertheless, his long tenure and famous name would make him a force to be reckoned with in the Senate and on the national stage. He was was known as a tireless advocate of the less fortunate among us and few, on either side of the aisle, doubted his sincerity. Most who knew him found him personally likable. Later, Ted himself would confess to serious shortcomings, most notoriously heavy drinking and womanizing. Before the Clintons came along (and, later, Barack Obama) he was the favorite target of right wing political commentators. Even among his friends and defenders, few could bring themselves to totally accept his story of the events of that night on Chappaquiddick Island. But could this man, with his many contradictions, really leave a person to die and then callously attempt to cover up his involvement. According to the official record (and largely supported by Ted Kennedy's own version and his plea of no contest to the charges) the answer would seem to be "yes".

There are many theories as to what happened. At the extreme is the theory that Ted was drugged, the girl murdered and an accident staged by mysterious forces acting to thwart the surviving Kennedy brother from ascending to the presidency. Many have suggested that the senator murdered her and faked the accident because she was pregnant with his child. This story was never conclusively disproved because of the lack of an autopsy. These theories might have never gained the credence they have were it not for the implausible nature of Ted Kennedy's own explanation of the events.

But there is one theory I've always favored for its simplicity. Among the first of many books on the subject was Jack Olsen's "The Bridge at Chappaquiddick", published in 1970. Oddly, if taken at face value this version actually casts Senator Kennedy in a much better light than the story he chose to tell or the motives attributed to him by his detractors.

According to Olsen's narrative Ted and Mary Jo Kopechne left the party around 11:30 PM in the senator's Oldsmobile 88. About an hour later Deputy Sheriff Look saw the car stopped near an intersection and approached. The car sped off in the direction of the accident site and, though the lawman noted a partial license plate number, he did not pursue. The facts to this point are pretty much undisputed, according to court testimony. Now the conjecture begins. Olsen speculates that Kennedy was fearful of being found alone in a car with a woman not his wife and he was probably drunk as well. He well realized that such information could easily find its way into the opposition press with serious political consequences. A short distance down the road he stopped the big Olds and got out. At his bidding Mary Jo slipped behind the wheel and was urged to continue down the road. As Mary Jo pulled away, Ted hid beside the road. Of course we don't know if they planned to rendezvous later or make their way separately to the party house or the ferry. According to this theory Mary Jo did continue on alone and shortly came upon the wooden bridge. Unfamiliar with the car, probably having not adjusted the seat and herself legally drunk (her blood alcohol level would later be tested as .09%) it is not surprising that she went off the side of the treacherous bridge and tragically was drowned. Ted, of course, knew none of this. He would eventually hike about a mile back to the house where the party was held. He wasn't too worried about Mary Jo and the car, figuring she would eventually find her way back on the small island. Ted then ask Joe Gargan, a cousin, and Paul Markham, a long time friend, to take him to the ferry slip. At this point Kennedy claims to have swam the channel to Edgartown, nearly drowning (a nice touch mentioned in TV speech). He may have actually borrowed a skiff, a common practice after the ferry stopped running. In any event, he is known to have arrived back at his hotel room in the early morning hours and even had time to complain to the manager about a loud party. This would later be seen as an attempt to establish his presence at the location. The next morning he was seen chatting with acquaintances and nothing appeared out of the ordinary to them. Before long Gargan and Markham arrived, no doubt now concerned that Mary Jo and the car had not been seen or heard from. Shortly, they would learn the tragic news that fishermen had found the car with Mary Jo Kopechne's body inside. As the reality of events set in Kennedy and his pals, plus others he contacted, set about concocting an explanation. With a rudimentary scenario in place, he proceeded to the police station to report the accident. Ted would also seek medical attention for injuries he claimed to have sustained in the accident. The cover up, imperfect though it was, had been launched and he would have to live with it.

History shows that Kennedy's far fetched version of the incident was never accepted fully by the public. Assuming the truth of the above sighted accident scenario, would it have served him to come clean and tell the truth? From a moral standpoint, perhaps it would have. But Ted and his cohorts were thinking as politicians and they did the best they could with what they had to work with. And maybe from a public relations view they were right. Both Olsen's theory and Kennedy's own story would probably have precluded his ever being president. Whether true or not, I feel that Olsen's account casts Ted Kennedy in a much more noble and empathic light and despite never having personally warmed to Kennedy and his style, I'd like to believe that it is true.

There is a somewhat similar theory that has been put forward that has Mary Jo, unknown to anyone, getting into the back seat of the Oldsmobile and going to sleep. Around midnight Ted and another female party guest leave the party for a romantic tryst, unaware of the third passenger in the rear seat. Kennedy drives off the bridge and the two front seat passengers escape. Unbeknownst to them, Mary Jo does not. Naturally it comes as a surprise to all when her body is discovered the next day. The problem here is that this story is considerably more complex, the escape of two even more problematic than that of Ted himself and to this date the other surviving party has never come forward to suggest anything of the kind happened.

But if Senator Kennedy was not in the car, how can his injuries be accounted for? It must be remembered that he did not seek medical attention until after reporting the accident to the authorities. And he was examined and treated by a physician of his own choosing. The doctor's findings were consistent with a concussion, which could have been used to explain his bizarre behavior in the aftermath of the accident. But such a defence was never offered at trial because there was none. A few weeks after the accident Ted Kennedy would plead no contest to leaving the scene of an accident and was fined and had his driver's license suspended for several months. There would be no opportunity to cross examine the doctors, others involved or the senator himself. Legally, that was end of the incident.

And so the truth will probably never be known. We'd like to think that people bearing heavy burdens upon the consciences would offer up the truth and set the record straight as the confront their own passing. Or that perhaps posthumously make known the dark secrets of their lives. But there are many people who have many secrets in this world and it is very seldom that choose, even in death, to make the truth known. And so it will probably be with Ted Kennedy. That is all the more sad considering that, in truth, Ted Kennedy may not have been quite the coward and scoundrel that he felt compelled by circumstances to portray himself as.