Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s former wife, Joan B. Kennedy, passed away on Wednesday after a tumultuous marriage characterized by marital infidelity, family tragedy, and her own decades-long battles with alcoholism and mental illness. She was eighty-nine.
When she married Ted Kennedy in 1958, the former Joan Bennett, a model and classically trained pianist, was one of the last surviving members of a family generation that included President John F. Kennedy. Over the next ten and a half years, their lives would undergo unthinkable change.
In-law brother Three years after winning the presidency in 1960, John F. Kennedy was slain. In-law brother In 1964, Robert F. Kennedy was elected to the U.S. Senate, served as JFK’s attorney general, and was slain while running for president.
Despite early concerns that he was abusing his family ties, her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate and rose to become one of the nation’s most esteemed lawmakers. However, Ted Kennedy also faced scandals that he was involved in.
His young female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, was killed in 1969 when the vehicle he was operating crashed off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island. Kennedy later entered a guilty plea to abandoning the scene of an accident after swimming to safety and waiting for hours before calling the police.
Also Read:
Kris Sasitharan: A Wave of Transformation in the HR Landscape
About Author
