Mary Jo Kopechne
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Mary Jo Kopechne (July 26, 1940–July 18 1969), born in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, was the only child of insurance salesman, Joseph Kopechne and his wife Gwen. Upon graduation from Caldwell College for women, Kopechne moved to Washington D.C. initially to work as secretary to U.S. Senator George Smathers and subsequently as secretary to Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Kopechne died when a car driven by Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy went off a bridge and overturned into a pond.
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Bobby Baker scandal
During her tenure as Senator Smathers' secretary, Mary Jo shared an apartment flat with Nancy Carole Tyler, secretary to Bobby Baker, an aide to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. An emerging scandal involving Baker's corrupt activities prompted President John F. Kennedy to privately offer Senator Smathers the second spot on the 1964 presidential ticket with plans to drop Johnson as his running mate. The roommates, Kopechne and Tyler, allegedly leaked the President's plans to the press. Some researchers have claimed a link between the Bobby Baker scandal and the 1963 JFK assassination. Tyler died mysteriously in a plane crash in May 1965. Kopechne went on to become secretary to Senator Robert F. Kennedy, until he was assassinated in June 1968 during his run for Presidency.
Chappaquiddick
On July 18, 1969, Mary Jo attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, held in honor of the "Boiler Room Girls." This affectionate name was given to the six young women who had been vital to the former Robert Kennedy presidential campaign, and who had subsequently closed up Bobby's files and campaign office after his assassination. Besides Kopechne, the other women, all single, were Susan Tannenbaum, Maryellen Lyons, Ann Lyons, Rosemary Keough, and Esther Newburgh. The men in attendance, all married but partying without their wives, were Ted Kennedy, Joe Gargan, U.S. Attorney Paul Markham, Charles Tretter, Raymond La Rosa, and John Crimmins. The festivity was held at Lawrence Cottage, rented for the occasion by Joe Gargan, Kennedy's cousin and lawyer. The twelve attendees gathered at the cottage after two Kennedy boats raced in the Edgartown Regatta earlier in the day.
Kopechne left the party at 11:15 pm with Ted Kennedy after he offered to drive her back to the Katama Shores Motor Inn in Edgartown where she was staying. On his way to the ferry crossing back to Edgartown, Kennedy reported he accidentally turned right onto Dike Road instead of bearing left on Main Street. After proceeding one-half mile, he descended a hill and came upon a narrow bridge set obliquely to the unlit road. Kennedy drove his 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 off the side of Dike Bridge, and the car overturned into Poucha Pond.
Kennedy was able to extricate himself from the submerged car, but Mary Jo died, allegedly drowning in the accident. However, undertaker Eugene Frieh told reporters that death "was due to suffocation rather than drowning," and diver John Farrar, who removed Kopechne from the car, claimed she was "too buoyant to be full of water." Since Mary Jo's parents' lawyer Joseph Flanagan filed a petition barring an autopsy, the cause of death was never medically confirmed. When the car was recovered, all the doors were locked and three of the windows were either open or smashed-in. Investigators pondered how Kennedy, a large-framed, 6 foot 2 inch (1.88 m) man managed to get out of the car, but Mary Jo, slender, 5 foot 2 inches (1.57 m) tall, was not able to do the same.
Kennedy claims he dove down several times attempting to free her. After exhausting himself, he rested for 20 minutes, then walked back to the Lawrence Cottage where the party had been held, and returned with Joe Gargan and Paul Markham who then resumed trying to reach her. The tidal current prevented them from reaching her.
Kennedy did not report the accident to authorities; they located him after the car and Kopechne's body were discovered in the morning. He had in the meantime discussed it with several people, including Kopechne's parents (they say he omitted to tell them that he had been driving the car).
On television Kennedy later said he was not driving under the influence of alcohol. He explained he was in a state of shock when he emerged from the creek and confused by "a jumble of emotions," and that his conduct in not reporting the accident was "inexcusable". He said he gave up hope and remembers little of how he got back to his hotel in Edgartown except that he swam the narrow channel because there were no night ferries and nearly drowned in the process.
Kennedy was charged and tried for failing to report an accident involving injury. He received a suspended sentence. Questions remain about Kennedy's attempts to save her and the possibility of interference in the investigation and the trial by his family and friends. Mary Jo's death severely damaged Kennedy's reputation, and is regarded as one of the reasons why he was never able to mount a successful campaign for President of the United States.
A funeral Mass for Mary Jo was held on July 22, 1969 at St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. She is buried in the parish cemetery on the side of Larksville Mountain.
Further reading
- 1969 The bridge at Chappaquiddick by Jack Olsen
- 1969 The Ted Kennedy episode by H. Don Hastings
- 1971 Teddy Bare, the Last of the Kennedy Clan. by Zad Rust
- 1973 You, the jury -- in re: Chappaquiddick by R. B. Cutler
- 1975 The Inspector's opinion: The Chappaquiddick incident by Malcolm Reybold
- 1976 The last Kennedy by Robert Sherrill
- 1976 Burns, James M. Edward Kennedy and the Camelot Legacy. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 039307501X
- 1979 Kennedy's Chappaquiddick revisited: What really happened by John Haggard
- 1979 Tedrow, Thomas L. Death at Chappaquiddick. New Orleans: Pelican Company. ISBN 0882892495
- 1980 Chappaquiddick decision by Larryann C Willis
- 1988 Damore, Leo. Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-Up. Washington D.C.: Regnery Gateway. ISBN 0895265648
- 1989 Chappaquiddick Revealed What Really Happened by Kenneth Kappel
- 1993 Chappaquiddick: The Real Story by James E. T. Lange, Katherine, Jr. Dewitt
- 1992 Oates, Joyce C. Black Water. New York: E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0525934553 (fictional treatment)
See also
External links
- FBI Chappaquiddick investigation files (http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/chappaquiddick.htm)
- Ted Kennedy's speech following Chappaquiddick incident (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm)
- YTedK: Chappaquiddick Chronicles (http://www.ytedk.com/chappindex.htm)