Mary Jo Kopechne (July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969) was an American teacher, secretary and administrator, notable for her death in a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island in a car driven by Senator Ted Kennedy. is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... The Chappaquiddick Incident refers to the circumstances surrounding the 1969 death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker for the brother of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. ... Chappaquiddick Island is a small island off the eastern end of the larger island of Marthas Vineyard. ... Edward Moore Ted Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. ...

Life

Kopechne, 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 in New Jersey, Kopechne moved to Birmingham, Alabama to teach at the Mission of St. Jude school. She then moved to Washington, D.C. to work as secretary to Florida Senator George Smathers before subsequently becoming secretary to New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy following his election in 1964. At the time of her death, she was working for Matt Reese Associates, a Washington D.C. firm that helped establish campaign headquarters for politicians. She had taken that position in December 1968 after Kennedy's death from an assassin's bullet the previous June. Forty Fort is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. ... Caldwell College is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Caldwell, New Jersey, which offers a four year educational program. ... Nickname: Location in Jefferson County in the state of Alabama Coordinates: , Country United States State Alabama County Jefferson, Shelby Government  - Mayor Bernard Kincaid (D) Area  - City  151. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - D.C. Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... George Smathers George Armistead Smathers (born November 14, 1913) is an American lawyer and politician who represented Florida in the United States Senate for eighteen years, from 1951 until 1969, as a member of the Democratic Party. ... “NY” redirects here. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also called RFK, was one of two younger brothers of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and served as United States Attorney General from 1961 to 1964. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Death

On July 18, 1969, Kopechne 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 late Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign and who had subsequently closed up his files and campaign office after his assassination. is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Chappaquiddick Island is a small island off the eastern end of the larger island of Marthas Vineyard. ... Map of Marthas Vineyard. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... The Boiler Room Girls were the female members of Senator Robert F. Kennedys 1968 presidential campaign staff. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political campaign is an organized effort to influence the decision making process within a group. ...

Besides Kopechne, the other women, all single, were Susan Tannenbaum, Maryellen Lyons, Ann Lyons, Rosemary (Cricket) Keough, and Esther Newberg. The men in attendance, all married but present 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 Gargan, Ted 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. Susan Tannenbaum is a lobbyist for the consumer activist group Common Cause in Washington, D.C. Her focus is the environment. ... Esther Newberg is a literary agent for ICM in New York. ... Edward Moore Ted Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. ... Joseph Joe Gargan (born 1930) is an American lawyer. ... The Edgartown Yacht Club in Edgartown, Massachusetts was founded in 1905. ...

Kopechne left the party at 11:15 p.m. with Ted Kennedy after he allegedly offered to drive her back to the Katama Shores Motor Inn in Edgartown where she was staying. According to Ted Kennedy, on his way to the ferry crossing back to Edgartown, he accidentally turned right onto Dike Road - a dirt road - instead of bearing left on Main Street which was paved. After proceeding one-half mile, he descended a hill and came upon a narrow bridge set obliquely to the unlit road. Ted Kennedy drove the 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 belonging to his mother, Rose Kennedy, off the side of Dike Bridge, and the car overturned into Poucha Pond. A Reader's Digest investigation estimated that the car was travelling at about 35 miles per hour when it left the bridge. Edgartown is a town located on Marthas Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts. ... The Oldsmobile 88 was a full-size car sold by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and produced from 1949 until 1999. ...

Ted Kennedy extricated himself from the submerged car but Kopechne died. Since her 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. Post-mortem, postmortem and post mortem redirect here. ...

Kennedy said that he dove down several times attempting to free her and, after exhausting himself, rested for twenty minutes, then walked back to the Lawrence Cottage where the party had been held. At the Lawrence Cottage, Kennedy summoned his cousin, Joe Gargan, and another friend, Paul Markham, to return to the scene of the accident. Kennedy sat in the back of a white Plymouth Valiant rental car that Kopechne had used that day. Though there was a working telephone at this location, the group waited 10 hours before they contacted the police. Ted Kennedy then returned to the submerged car with Gargan and Markham who then resumed trying to reach her. The group claimed that the tidal current prevented them from reaching her for fear of being swept out to sea. However tidal records indicated that the tide was running in the opposite direction at the time of the supposed attempted rescue.

Aftermath

On television Kennedy later said he was not driving under the influence of alcohol. This has been widely disputed by many reports.^{[citation needed]} 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. Drunk driving (drink driving in the UK) or drinking and driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol (i. ... Edgartown is a town located on Marthas Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts. ... The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, circa 1945. ...

Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury. He received a two month suspended sentence and one year probation. Questions remain about his attempts to save Kopechne and the possibility of interference in the investigation and the trial by his family and friends. Kopechne's death severely damaged Kennedy's reputation and is regarded as a major reason that he was never able to mount a successful campaign for President of the United States. A suspended sentence is a legal construct. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ...

A funeral for Kopechne was held on July 22, 1969, at St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, attended by Kennedy. She is buried in the parish cemetery on the side of Larksville Mountain. is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic... Plymouth is a borough located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. ... Larksville is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, two miles (three km) west of Wilkes Barre on the Susquehanna River, running through US-Route 11. ...

Bobby Baker scandal

During her tenure as Senator Smathers' secretary, Kopechne shared an apartment 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 George Smathers the second spot on the 1964 presidential ticket, and plan to drop Johnson as his running mate. The roommates, Kopechne and Tyler, allegedly leaked the President's plans to the press. In her book, "Kennedy and Johnson", former JFK assistant Evelyn Lincoln writes that the president was also considering Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. Robert Baker, known as Bobby Baker, was born 1928, in Pickens, South Carolina. ... Seal of the office of the Vice-President of the United States The Vice President of the United States is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President. ... “LBJ” redirects here. ... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... George Smathers George Armistead Smathers (born November 14, 1913) is an American lawyer and politician who represented Florida in the United States Senate for eighteen years, from 1951 until 1969, as a member of the Democratic Party. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Evelyn Maurine Norton Lincoln (June 25, 1909 - May 11, 1995) was the personal secretary for John F. Kennedy from his election to the United States Senate in 1953 until his 1963 assassination in Dallas. ... James Terry Sanford (August 20, 1917 – April 18, 1998) was a Southern Democratic politician. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ...

Some conspiracy theorists have claimed a link between the Bobby Baker scandal and the 1963 JFK assassination. Tyler died 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 the presidency. President Kennedy with his wife, Jacqueline, and Texas Governor John Connally in the presidential limousine just moments before his assassination The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, USA at 12:30 p. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also called RFK, was one of two younger brothers of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and served as United States Attorney General from 1961 to 1964. ... Robert Kennedy United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy was fatally wounded by gunshots at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at approximately 12:16 a. ...

Bruce Roberts' Gemstone letters assert that Mary Jo Kopechne left the party at the cottage because Teddy Kennedy became involved in some nasty phone calls at the cottage.

Further reading

• 1970 Olsen, Jack. The Bridge at Chappaquiddick. Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 9780441079582. 
• 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 0-393-07501-X
• 1979 Kennedy's Chappaquiddick Revisited: What Really Happened by John Haggard
• 1979 Tedrow, Thomas L. Death at Chappaquiddick. New Orleans: Pelican Company. ISBN 0-88289-249-5
• 1980 Chappaquiddick Decision by Larryann C Willis
• 1988 Damore, Leo. Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-Up. Washington D.C.: Regnery Gateway. ISBN 0-89526-564-8
• 1989 Chappaquiddick Revealed What Really Happened by Kenneth Kappel
• 1993 Chappaquiddick: The Real Story by James E. T. Lange, Katherine, Jr. Dewitt
• 2006 The Gemstone File: A Memoir by Stephanie Caruana. Victoria, B.C., Trafford. ISBN 1-4120-6137-7

• 1992 Oates, Joyce C. Black Water. New York: E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-93455-3 (fictional treatment)

Jack Olsen (1925-2002) was a journalist and author known for his thorough, scholarly approach to crime reporting. ...

External links

• Mary Jo Kopechne Memorial at Find A Grave
• FBI Chappaquiddick investigation files
• YTedK.com: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ted Kennedy: The Chappaquiddick Chronicles
• Ted Kennedy's speech following Chappaquiddick incident
• Mary Jo photos and rescue diver audio

• Mary Jo Kopechne at the Notable Names Database