American Politics Quiz

Do you Know?

The Chappaquiddick Incident:

The Chappaquiddick Incident refers to the personal history of Ted Kennedy and one of the prominenet members of the Kennedy family Edward Kennedy, and his direct involvement in the death of an American secretary and political campign specialist, Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy and Kopechne were in a car accident in the early hours of July 19, 1969, when Kennedy drove over the side of a small bridge, on Chappaquiddick Island. Unfortunately, the car sunk after the crash, and while Kennedy was able to swim safely to shore, Ms. Kopechne was trapped in the vehicle and subsequently died. The actual problem with this incident was that Kennedy failed to report his accident, and Mary Jo’s death to police. In fact, he did not report the incident until after the car was found, which to many suggests he might not have reported it at all, if the car had been found several days later.

This resulted in Kennedy receiving a suspended sentence of two months for leaving the scene of the accident after causing injury. He also lost his license for an year, and personally paid $90,000 to Ms. Kopechne’s family. He was investigated for more serious crimes related to the Chappaquiddick Incident, including a possible DUI, which could not be proven, and the potential that he or someone else had murdered Ms. Kopechne.

Senator Kennedy insisted that he was not driving under the influence of liquor, and that a wrong turn, and a poorly lighted bridge resulted in the crash afterall he tak responsibility for leaving the scene, failing to report to the police, and possibly by his inaction causing Ms. Kopechne’s death. He reported that he was shocked, panicked, confused and exhausted and his actions were totally inappropriate. He did not attempt to justify his actions and pled guilty to charges against him.

There have been a number of interpretations of the Chappaquiddick incident, and conspiracy theories swirl around it. Some believe Kennedy’s story implicitly, while others believe Kennedy deliberately was attempting to hide the death of Ms. Kopechne by causing the accident on purpose. The Chappaquiddick incident did not result in personal liability lawsuits by Ms. Kopechne’s family, who believed that to sue for money would be to accept blood money. There are some that believe that the wealth, power and influence of the Kennedy family was brought to bear in both the investigatory procedure, subsequent sentencing of Kennedy, and in the Kopechne family’s decision not to press charges.

There are several things that resulted from ithis incident. First, the Chappaquiddick incident certainly marred Kennedy’s political career. Prior to the incident, many believed that Kennedy would seek the presidential nomination in 1972. The scandal related to the crash effectively squelched any chance of his running. Senator Kennedy did run for president against incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980, but his bid was unsuccessful, and many believe his run prevented Jimmy Carter from re-election, though it should be stated that Carter was very unpopular by the middle of his four-year term as president .


Today's Question
Identify the person in the pic.Put funda



Clue:Its US politics