10 Outrageous But Forgotten Political Scandals

4. Chappaquiddick

On July 18^th of 1969 Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge into a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne was killed. According to his own testimony Kennedy swam away from the accident after failing to save her, then waiting over 9 hours to report it. Kennedy had been leaving a party he had hosted, where he had reportedly been drinking. Kennedy claims he didn’t notice the road turn to dirt or the approaching waterway. Kennedy returned to the party after the accident and recruited help to try and save Kopechne. They failed, and Kennedy waited to the next day to report the incident. Rescue personnel stated Kopechne had not drowned, but rather had suffocated, huddling into the one space where a pocket of air had been trapped. Basically, if Kennedy had immediately reported the incident, she could have been saved. Kennedy gave thin excuses for his actions and denied being drunk. He was sentenced to a two month time-served jail sentence by the incident became a national scandal. Kennedy went on to have a long career in elected politics, despite the scandal.