Video: 'July 25, 1969: Ted Kennedy addresses Chappaquiddick accident'

(Friday, July 25, 1969, 7:00 p.m. p.m. EDT; during the Chappaquiddick incident) — U.S. Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy went on television tonight to ask his Massachusetts constituents to give him “your advice and opinion” about whether he should resign his office one week after a fatal accident at Chappaquiddick Island near Martha’s Vineyard which resulted in the death of his passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne.

Earlier in the day, Kennedy, the 37-year-old younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy (both of whom were recently assassinated), had pleaded guilty in the Dukes County, Massachusetts, court to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a suspended sentence of two months in jail and one year’s probation.

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Most Massachusetts residents sending letters and telegrams would respond that Kennedy should continue in office, which he would do until his death in 2009. Even Kopechne’s mother told reporters that she hoped that Kennedy would stay in office.

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Kennedy was able to escape the July 18, 1969, crash, but Kohechne drowned.

Kennedy and Kopechne had just left a party attended by six older men, five of whom were married, and six single women in their twenties who had served on Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign.

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According to Kennedy’s testimony, he accidentally drove his car off the one-lane bridge and into the tide-swept Poucha Pond. He swam free, left the scene, and did not report the accident to the police for ten hours; Kopechne died inside the fully submerged car.

The car with Kopechne’s body inside was recovered by a diver the next day, minutes before Kennedy reported the accident to the police.