Ted Kennedy and the Death of Mary Jo Kopechne on This Day in History

Chappaquiddick Trailer

This day in history: The Chappaquiddick incident happened on this day in 1969. On a warm July night in 1969, Edward "Ted" Kennedy (the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy) drove off a bridge and into the water, leaving Mary Jo Kopechne alone in the car to die. "The indications are very strong that she remained alive for an indeterminable length of time, breathing in an air bubble. Expert diver John Farrar, the first to reach her, says the posture of her corpse indicated exactly that. Furthermore, she died of asphyxiation, not of drowning; there was very little water in her lungs."~Jeffrey Hart

This incident made for a great movie (see trailer above) and a very good book, Senatorial Privilege by Leo Damore, a book which has yet to be reviewed by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Time, or Newsweek. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a suspended sentence of two months in jail. Despite this, Ted Kennedy would go on to become the "Lion of the Senate." Despite his history of scandal, Kennedy had never lost his standing in the Democratic Party. They even treated him as a hero at their 2012 National Convention, airing a "tribute" video to the senator.

Wikipedia has an extensive list of American state and local politicians convicted of crimes. Ted Kennedy is not on that list.