Following her death on Oct. 8, 2025, PEOPLE remembers the impact of the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident on Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of Sen. Ted Kennedy.

55 years ago, Ted Kennedy was enmeshed in a fatal car accident that would haunt him until his death Ted Dully/The Boston Globe via Getty Sen. Ted Kennedy (center) leaves the courthouse after pleading ...

On this day, July 25, in 1969, Ted Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving in the scene of an accident, following the death of 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne. A week earlier — after leaving a party on ...

Before the era of Stormy Daniels and Facebook selling our information to political campaigns, there was Chappaquiddick. All but forgotten in the epic legacy of the Kennedy family, it was the scandal ...

“I’m not going to be president” are the first words uttered by U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) when his friends Joe (Ed Helms) and Paul (Jim Gaffigan) find him sopping wet in the backseat of a ...

Joan Kennedy made her final public appearance at the Kennedy family's annual Fourth of July celebration. The first wife of ...

The film focuses on the aftermath of a deadly car accident involving Senator Ted Kennedy and political staffer Mary Jo Kopechne. By Katherine Schaffstall On July 18, 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy drove ...

The “Kennedy Curse” refers to a long string of deaths, accidents, and calamities that have struck the Kennedy family—America’s most renowned political dynasty—starting with the generation of Joseph P.

"Other times I drank to block out unhappiness, to drown my sorrows." For more on Joan Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick incident, listen below to PEOPLE's "Cover-Up" podcast. Joan embraced the twelve ...

Following her death on Oct. 8, 2025, PEOPLE examines the impact of the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident on Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of Sen. Ted Kennedy At 37 years old, Joan was the subject of ...