Remembering Sen. Kennedy’s controversial life
President John F. Kennedy, right, stands with his brothers, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass), center and Attorney General Robert F, Kennedy outside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963. (National Archives/MCT)
By Jaclyn Luscomb | Staff Writer
Coming from a family wrought by catastrophe, the death of Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy, the democratic senator from Massachusetts, is just another in the Kennedy legacy. He died on August 25, 2009 from an inoperable, malignant brain tumor.
The younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy was publicly known for overcoming disaster as well as being an advocate for many causes, including Planned Parenthood, gender equality, civil rights, and campaigns to prevent gun violence, racial injustice and age discrimination.
Kennedy may have been well suited for public office because he was charming and smart, but his disreputable side is being glossed over in light of his death.
Kennedy dealt with serious allegations of alcohol abuse and womanizing throughout his public career. In a 1990 Washington Post article, Rick Atkinson wrote “The wine-and-women lifestyle undercuts Kennedy’s authority and leaves him vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy.” Also in 1990, GQ Magazine featured an article by Michael Kelly which stated “Kennedy’s personal life has always been a press secretary’s nightmare. During his twenty-two year marriage, his extramarital affairs were numerous and barely hidden.”
As a female, I can’t respect a senator or a man who treats women like objects. I could never follow a leader whose alcohol and womanizing take priority over his family.
Perhaps the greatest scandal involving Ted Kennedy was the Chappaquiddick incident. On July 18 1969, Kennedy was driving back from a party on the island with a 28-year-old woman, Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker for his brother, Robert.
He accidently veered off the road and into a tidal channel. Kennedy escaped the vehicle, swam to safety and left the scene of the crime. Ten hours later her body was found when the car surfaced. He did not call authorities until after her body had been discovered inside his car. He later denied immoral conduct and said he wasn’t drinking and was sentenced to only two months in jail, suspended.
Two months in jail for leaving a girl to die while he swam to safety and ran off is ridiculous. This is not a fit punishment for accidental manslaughter and reflects the special treatment a member of a prominent political family receives in this country.
We should remember Ted Kennedy as he advised that we remember his brother Robert: “He need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.”
Some would argue that Ted’s work in the Senate makes up for his less-than- shining character. Ms. Kopechne’s family would not agree and neither would I. His services to the state, noble as they may be, do not make up for his failings. He should be remembered for who he was, a flawed, yet remarkable man.
