<p>On July 19, 1969 an auto accident, involving Senator Edward M. Kennedy and the death of a young woman, changed the course of American political history forever.</p> <figure id="attachment_3277" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3277" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Ted-1968.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3277 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Ted-1968.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="666" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Ted-1968.jpg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Ted-1968-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3277" class="wp-caption-text">Senator Edward M. Kennedy, 1968</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3279" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3279" style="width: 538px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-campaigning-1962.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3279 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-campaigning-1962.jpg" alt="" width="538" height="382" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-campaigning-1962.jpg 538w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-campaigning-1962-300x213.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3279" class="wp-caption-text">Edward Kennedy, campaigning in 1962</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3281" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3281" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-frogman.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3281 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-frogman.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="711" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-frogman.jpg 960w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-frogman-300x222.jpg 300w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-frogman-768x569.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3281" class="wp-caption-text">John Farrar examining the Kennedy automobile as it is being removed from the water near Dike Bridge</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3283" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3283" style="width: 1154px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-speech.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3283 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-speech.png" alt="" width="1154" height="936" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-speech.png 1154w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-speech-300x243.png 300w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-speech-1024x831.png 1024w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-speech-768x623.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1154px) 100vw, 1154px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3283" class="wp-caption-text">Ted Kennedy during nationwide speech following the Chappaquiddick accident</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3285" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3285" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Dinis.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3285 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Dinis.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="701" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Dinis.jpg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Dinis-214x300.jpg 214w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3285" class="wp-caption-text">District Attorney Edmund Dinis</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3287" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3287" style="width: 944px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Arena.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3287 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Arena.png" alt="" width="944" height="968" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Arena.png 944w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Arena-293x300.png 293w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kennedy-Arena-768x788.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3287" class="wp-caption-text">Edgartown Police Chief Dominick &#8220;Jim&#8221; Arena, later in life</figcaption></figure>