14. Despite Rumors and Insinuations, He Remained a Senator Until His Death
The Chappaquiddick incident haunted Ted Kennedy for the rest of his life. The event was satirized and ridiculed constantly. The National Lampoon ran an infamous fake Volkswagen ad that showed a VW Bug floating in a body of water with the text “If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen, he’d be President today.” Republicans wasted no time in pointing out the massive flaws in Kennedy’s judgment and character surrounding the incident, using it as a political football to paint the entire Democratic Party as corrupt. Even other Democrats, like his presidential nomination opponent, Jimmy Carter, used the incident to discredit him.
Despite the haunting memories of the event and the questions it raised about him as a person, Kennedy’s constituents in Massachusetts seemed unfazed by the incident. Despite all the negative publicity surrounding the event in 1969, Kennedy won re-election in 1970 with 62% of the vote. However, he did lose his role as Senate Majority whip in 1971. While the rumors, questions, and accusations continued to swirl around Chappaquiddick for the rest of Kennedy’s life, Ted comfortably won re-election as Senator of Massachusetts every six years and died in office. He was the third longest continuously serving US Senator in history.