Chappaquiddick incident

Cultural  

1. An automobile accident in 1969 that greatly affected the career of Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy of Massachusetts. A woman on Kennedy's staff drowned at Chappaquiddick Island, off the Massachusetts coast, after a car that Kennedy had been driving, and in which she had been riding, went off a bridge. Kennedy survived, but delayed informing the police, and has never provided a full explanation of the incident. Afterward, many voters lost confidence in Kennedy, who had been considered a strong possibility to be nominated by the Democratic party for president.

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Chappaquiddick incident

The inciting accident itself closely mirrors the Chappaquiddick incident.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

He later covered events including the Chappaquiddick incident of 1969 — when U.S.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 23, 2019

It marked the beginning of the age of Nixon and the Silent Majority, and it saw the effective end of Camelot with the Chappaquiddick incident.

From Salon ● May 25, 2019

There is very little in the files on the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, in which a young woman drowned after Mr. Kennedy’s car drove off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard. 

From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2010

People say by 56% to 33% that the Chappaquiddick incident does not reveal a basic flaw in Kennedy's character.

From Time Magazine Archive