The House of Kennedy Read online

  24 “I think they disserved him”: Interview with Lester Hyman, The Edward M. Kennedy Oral History Project, Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in partnership with the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, 2016.

  25 “so impaired that I should resign”: Edward M. Kennedy, “Address to the People of Massachusetts on Chappaquiddick,” July 25, 1969, AmericanRhetoric.com.

  26 “extremely favorable” ratings drop: Canellos, The Last Lion, 173.

  27 “satisfied with the senator’s statement”: Canellos, 172.

  28 “looking for blood money”: William Kashatus, “Remembering Mary Jo: A Promising Life Lost at Chappaquiddick 40 Years Ago,” Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA), July 19, 2009.

  29 “damn little, considering”: George Lardner Jr., “Chappaquiddick 1989,” Washington Post, July 16, 1989.

  30 Suffers a miscarriage: United Press International, “Mrs. Joan Kennedy Goes Home After Miscarriage,” Desert Sun, September 1, 1969.

  31 “nothing to do with Mary Jo Kopechne”: Interview with Lester Hyman.

  32 “hang Chappaquiddick around Kennedy’s neck”: Michael Cooper and John M. Broder, “F.B.I. Opens Kennedy File,” New York Times, June 15, 2010.

  33 “visited Greece in August, 1968”: Cooper and Broder, “F.B.I. Opens Kennedy File.”

  34 “brought down by a mere Polish secretary”: Interview with Lester Hyman.

  35 “He has nothing to fear”: “Former Detective Admits Leaking Chappaquiddick Probe Info to Kennedy Lawyer,” Associated Press, July 25, 1991.

  36 “KENNEDY OUSTED AS WHIP”: John W. Finney, “Kennedy Ousted as Whip,” New York Times, January 22, 1971.

  37 “I despise cocktail parties”: Sanford J. Ungar, “The Man Who Runs the Senate,” Atlantic, September 1975.

  38 “take advantage of this opportunity”: Associated Press, “Haldeman Diary Shows Nixon Was Wary of Blacks and Jews,” New York Times, May 18, 1994.

  39 “to run, to hide, to get caught, and to get away with it”: William Safire, “Prelude to the Bridge,” New York Times, October 29, 1979.

  40 “fall of the House of Kennedy”: “Ted Kennedy Car Accident in Chappaquiddick,” Newsweek, August 3, 1969.

  41 “People have to forgive and forget”: Maxine Cheshire, “The Mysterious Helga Wagner,” Washington Post, March 13, 1980.

  Chapter 42

  1 “My uncle stuck to whatever it is that he does”: Janet Maslin, “Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption,” New York Times, September 28, 2005.

  2 “ailments, diseases, and near-death experiences”: Jon Ward, “The Son of a Bitch is Going to Run,” Vanity Fair, January 21, 2019.

  3 “the same treatment that U.S. senators are entitled to”: “Ted Kennedy and Health Care Reform,” Newsweek, July 17, 2009.

  4 “The cause of my life”: “Ted Kennedy and Health Care Reform.”

  5 Joan “breaks down”: Peter S. Canellos, ed., The Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), 188.

  6 wedding and surgery on same day: Canellos, The Last Lion, 188.

  7 “We’re going to climb that hill together”: “Edward Kennedy Jr.’s and Patrick Kennedy’s Remembrances,” New York Times, August 29, 2009.

  8 “Those thousand days are like an evening gone”: Terence Smith, “Carter and Kennedy Share Stage at Library Dedication,” New York Times, October 21, 1979.

  9 “I’ll whip his ass”: Ken Rudin, “Holding a Grudge for Thirty Years: Jimmy Carter Against Ted Kennedy,” National Public Radio, September 21, 2010.

  10 “politically embarrassing incident”: Roger Mudd, “What Ted Said,” New York Review of Books, November 19, 2009.

  11 “so obvious to him”: Transcript of interview with Robert Healy by Stephen F. Knott, “Robert Healy Oral History, Journalist, the Boston Globe,” Presidential Oral Histories—Edward M. Kennedy Histories, Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, August 10, 2005.

  12 “an act of political destruction” Chris Whipple, “Ted Kennedy: The Day the Presidency Was Lost,” ABCNews.com, August 31, 2009.

  13 “now brother drains brother”: Joe McGinniss, “The End of Camelot,” Vanity Fair, September 1993.

  14 “A Pied Piper to three generations”: Robert G. Kaiser, Lee Lescaze, James L. Rose Jr., T. R. Reid, and Edward Walsh, “Ex-Rep Lowenstein Fatally Shot by Gunman in N.Y. Law Office,” Washington Post, March 15, 1980.

  15 “We Love Ted—But Jimmy’s All Right, Too”: Talk of the Town, “Farewell,” The New Yorker, August 25, 1980.

  16 “I don’t dwell on the past”: Glenn Collins, “The Quiet Kennedy Speaks Up,” New York Times, May 7, 1981.

  17 “go through it all again”: Tom Morganthau, “Why Kennedy Withdrew from 1984 Race,” Newsweek, December 12, 1982.

  18 “The Liberal Lion”: Andrew Glass, “Ted Kennedy, ‘Liberal Lion of the Senate,’ Dies at 77, Aug. 25, 2009,” Politico.com, August 25, 2017.

  19 “civil rights, health, and economic well-being”: The White House, “Statement by the President on the Death of Senator Ted Kennedy,” Office of the Press Secretary, August 26, 2009.

  244 “inherited a legend along with his name”: Ward, “The Son of a Bitch is Going to Run.”

  PART SEVEN

  The Next Generations: The Kennedy Cousins

  Chapter 43

  1 Magnet for the nouveau riche: Michelle Green, “Boys’ Night Out in Palm Beach,” People, April 22, 1991.

  2 “an intelligent man, a likable man”: David Margolick, “Accuser in Smith Trial Tells of Fear and Rape,” New York Times, December 5, 1991.

  3 “never done anything suggestive at all”: Margolick, “Accuser in Smith Trial Tells of Fear and Rape.”

  4 $120,000: Mike Seemuth, “Pre-auction Exhibition of Kennedy Furnishings Re-creates “Camelot” in WPB,” Real Deal South Florida Real Estate News, January 15, 2016.

  5 Profiles in Courage: David Foxley, “The Kennedy Winter White House Is Updated with the Unexpected,” Architectural Digest, December 11, 2017.

  6 “dark, dingy, and smelly”: Dominick Dunne, “Damage,” Vanity Fair, October 1991.

  7 “Ted was very drunk”: Green, “Boys’ Night Out in Palm Beach.”

  8 “I got totally weirded out”: Green.

  9 “a nice night with a nice guy”: Lisa Ocker, “Kennedy Smith Trial: Two Lives Collide,” Sun-Sentinel, December 1, 1991.

  10 “surreal” behavior: Margolick, “Accuser in Smith Trial Tells of Fear and Rape.”

  11 “running, to get away”: John Taylor, “Men on Trial,” New York Magazine, December 16, 1991.

  12 Bowman will later testify: Mary Jordan, “Smith’s Tearful Accuser Tells of Yelling ‘Stop!’” Washington Post, December 5, 1991.

  13 “arch my back to get him off me”: Margolick, “Accuser in Smith Trial Tells of Fear and Rape.”

  14 “I was yelling, ‘No!’”: Margolick.

  15 “he told me to ‘Stop it, Bitch,’”: Margolick.

  16 “pushed my dress up and he raped me”: Margolick.

  17 “thought he was going to kill me”: Taylor, “Men on Trial.”

  18 “screaming and wondering why no one”: “Prosecutor in Palm Beach Rape Case Releases Police Affidavit With AM-Kennedy-Assault, Bjt,” Associated Press, May 9, 1991.

  19 “didn’t know that the police would care or would come”: Margolick, “Accuser in Smith Trial Tells of Fear and Rape.”

  20 “I didn’t know what power they held”: David Margolick, “Smith Accuser Was ‘Very Shook Up’ After Incident, Her Friend Testifies,” New York Times, December 4, 1991.

  21 “maybe they owned the police”: Ocker, “Kennedy Smith Trial.”

  22 Police Affadavit: “Prosecutor in Palm Beach Rape Case Releases Police Affadavit,” Associated Press.

  23 “calmest, smuggest, most arrogant man”: Dominick Dunne, “The Verdict,” Vanity Fair, March 1992.

  Chapter 44
r />   1 “she looked messed up”: David Margolick, “Smith Accuser Was ‘Very Shook Up’ After Incident, Her Friend Testifies,” New York Times, December 4, 1991.

  2 Items taken as proof: “Prosecutor in Palm Beach Rape Case Releases Police Affidavit with AM-Kennedy-Assault, Bjt,” Associated Press, May 9, 1991.

  3 “all this fear and this dirtiness”: David Margolick, “Accuser in Smith Trial Tells of Fear and Rape,” New York Times, December 5, 1991.

  4 “traumatic event of some sort”: Paul Richter, “Smith’s Accuser Testifies to Rape at Kennedy Home: Trial: Sometimes Tearful, She Tells Her Assertion of a ‘Disgusting’ Crime but Says She Cannot Recall Some Events,” Los Angeles Times, December 5, 1991.

  5 “Regressive behavior is a little hard to fake”: Richter, “Smith’s Accuser Testifies to Rape at Kennedy Home.”

  6 “really whacked out”: “The Day a Kennedy Was Accused of Rape at the Family’s Palm Beach Mansion,” Miami Herald archives, April 15, 2019.

  7 “This is really a setup”: “The Day a Kennedy was Accused of Rape at the Family’s Palm Beach Mansion.”

  8 “she will say it is rape”: “Witness Says Kennedy Spoke with Nephew About Rape Allegation,” New York Times, September 7, 1991.

  9 “don’t go up to the Kennedy house unless you expect to be raucous”: Michelle Green, “Boys’ Night Out in Palm beach,” People, April 22, 1991.

  10 “David tapped his father’s sensitivity”: Peter Collier and David Horowitz, The Kennedys: An American Drama (New York: Summit Books, 1984), 540.

  11 “throwing rocks at strangers—or LBJ”: Evan Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 383.

  12 “lost this father in a most horrible way”: B. Drummond Ayres, Jr., “A Troubled Kennedy Makes Last Trip Home,” The New York Times, April 27, 1984.

  13 “saved David’s life the very same day he lost his own”: J. Randy Taraborrelli, After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family 1968 to the Present (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2012), 253.

  14 “as if he thought God had traded his life in for his Dad’s”: Taraborrelli, After Camelot, 253.

  15 “No one ever talked to me about what I was feeling”: Peter Carlson, “Ethel & David: Troubled Mother, Tormented Son,” People, May 14, 1984.

  16 “not a subject I want to discuss”: Collier and Horowitz, The Kennedys, 362.

  17 “one thing led to another”: Taraborrelli, After Camelot, 253.

  18 Hitchhiking to New York City and buying heroin: Carlson, “Ethel & David.”

  19 “wasn’t any reason to be good any more”: Collier and Horowitz, The Kennedys, 361.

  20 “His SuperKennedy act”: Collier and Horowitz, 399.

  21 “typical Kennedy horseplay”: J. Randy Taraborrelli, The Kennedy Heirs (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019), 241.

  22 Receiving morphine: Carlson, “Ethel & David.”

  23 “pneumonia”: Taraborrelli, After Camelot, 254.

  24 “David was the Kennedy screwup, not Bobby”: Taraborrelli, After Camelot, 262.

  25 “Kennedys don’t fail”: Taraborrelli, 273.

  26 “the same as everybody else, except better”: Collier and Horowitz, The Kennedys, 321.

  27 “She was a hindrance; I am a hindrance”: Collier and Horowitz, 441.

  28 staggering amounts of alcohol: Carlson, “Ethel & David.”

  29 “God invented alcohol to keep the Irish from ruling the world”: Janet Maslin, “Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption,” New York Times, September 28, 2005.

  30 Unable to locate him: Associated Press, “Caroline Kennedy Tried to Reach David Before Death,” Los Angeles Times, January 15, 1985.

  31 “He’s dead, isn’t he?”: Alison Muscatine and Mary Thornton, “David Kennedy’s Body Is Flown to Virginia,” Washington Post, April 27, 1984.

  32 “my chance to be a better mother died with him”: Taraborrelli, The Kennedy Heirs, 213.

  Chapter 45

  1 Mercer, who is paid forty thousand dollars: Sean Elder, “Tabloid Nation,” Salon.com, December 8, 1999.

  2 Cassone charges multiple TV talk shows: Lisa Ocker, “Photographers, Witnesses Reap Windfall from Smith Rape Case,” Sun-Sentinel, November 3, 1991.

  3 “An outrageous lie”: “Kennedy Nephew Surrenders to Police, Posts Bond,” United Press International, May 11, 1991.

  4 “most-watched legal proceeding in American history”: David A. Kaplan, “Case No. 91-5482 Comes to Trial,” Newsweek, December 8, 1991.

  5 “Courtroom Television Network”: Dan Sewell, “Urgent: Judge Grants Delay in Trial of William Kennedy Smith,” Associated Press, July 31, 1991.

  6 “This trial was perfect for TV”: Johnny Diaz, “William Kennedy Smith Rape Trial Returns to TV in New Fox News Channel Documentary,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel, March 8, 2019.

  7 “Spectators’ Guide”: Lisa Ocker, “Kennedy Smith Trial: Two Lives Collide,” Sun-Sentinel, December 1, 1991.

  8 Local businesses: Ocker, “Photographers, Witnesses Reap Windfall.”

  9 “Trial Flavors”: Janet Cawley, “Smith Trial Not a ‘10’ in Palm Beach,” Chicago Tribune, December 13, 2019.

  10 “more like a football game than a news event”: Diaz, “William Kennedy Smith Rape Trial Returns to TV.”

  11 “quite charming”: John Taylor, “Men on Trial,” New York Magazine, December 16, 1991.

  12 “tried to convince [her] that that wasn’t what had happened”: Taylor, “Men on Trial.”

  13 “Willie has a really big problem”: Taylor.

  14 “threw me over the couch”: Taylor.

  15 “just getting more and more aggressive”: Janet Crowley, “Women Tell Similar Tales of Attacks,” Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1991.

  16 “That’s when I kind of lost it”: Taylor, “Men on Trial.”

  17 “consensual act of sexual intercourse”: Taylor.

  18 “a disastrous witness”: Dominick Dunne, “The Verdict,” Vanity Fair, March 1992.

  19 “I have to thank Steve Dunleavy”: Elder, “Tabloid Nation.”

  Chapter 46

  1 Judge Lupo’s exclusion: David A. Kaplan, “The Trial You Won’t See,” Newsweek, December 15, 1991.

  2 “how this nice guy had turned”: Paul Richter, “Smith’s Accuser Testifies to Rape at Kennedy Home: Trial: Sometimes Tearful, She Tells Her Assertion of a ‘Disgusting’ Crime but Says She Cannot Recall Some Events,” Los Angeles Times, December 5, 1991.

  3 “regular guy who happens to come from this amazing family”: Mary Jordan, “Willy Smith, the “Independent’ Kennedy, Anonymous No More,” Washington Post, May 10, 1991.

  4 “doesn’t have any violence in him”: Jordan, “Willy Smith, The ‘Independent’ Kennedy.”

  5 “gentle person”: Jordan.

  6 Including Meg Ryan: Jordan.

  7 “done something about Willie years ago”: James Ridgeway de Szigethy, affidavit via Hon. James A. Traficant, Jr., February 9, 1994, Congressional Record volume 140, number 12.

  8 “stick by Willie through thick and thin”: Dominick Dunne, “The Verdict,” Vanity Fair, March 1992.

  9 “You just don’t understand the pressure I’m under”: de Szigethy, affidavit via Hon. James A. Traficant.

  10 “dating and drinking ban”: David A. Kaplan, “Case No. 91-5482 Comes to Trial,” Newsweek, December 8, 1991.

  11 “strategy session every night at dinner”: Dunne, “The Verdict.”

  12 “my family is on trial for me”: Kaplan, “Case No. 91-5482 Comes to Trial.”

  13 “And he drinks”: Dunne, “The Verdict.”

  14 “I wish I’d gone for a long walk on the beach”: Robin Toner, “In Glare of Latest Scandal, Kennedy Defends the Dynasty,” New York Times, December 7, 1991.

  15 “I was very moved by a lot of things”: Dunne, “The Verdict.”

  16 Willie’s testimony: David Margolick, “Smith Tells Rapt Courtroom His Side of Story,” New York Times, December 11, 1
991.

  17 “she got very, very upset”: Margolick, “Smith Tells Rapt Courtroom His Side of Story.”

  18 “I’ve searched myself every night”: Margolick.

  19 “The issue here is I’m innocent”: Margolick.

  20 Seventy-seven minutes: David Margolick, “Smith Acquitted of Rape Charge After Brief Deliberation by Jury,” New York Times, December 12, 1991.

  21 “helping me off the floor”: “Willie Smith’s Accuser Fainted Upon Hearing Verdict,” United Press International, December 19, 1991.

  22 “Willie! Willie! Willie!”: Mary Jordan, “Jury Finds Smith Not Guilty of Rape,” Washington Post, December 12, 1991.

  23 “I feel great, just great!”: “Jubilant Smith Thanks Florida Jurors After Swift Not-Guilty Verdict,” Deseret News, December 12, 1991.

  24 “If there’s anything good”: “Jubilant Smith Thanks Florida Jurors.”

  25 “enormous debt to the system and to God”: Jordan, “Jury Finds Smith Not Guilty of Rape.”

  26 “My life was in their hands”: Margolick, “Smith Acquitted of Rape Charge.”

  27 “Nobody heard it”: “Smith Juror Says First Vote Made ‘Not Guilty’ Obvious,” New York Times, December 13, 1991.

  28 “prayer for Patty”: Dunne, “The Verdict.”

  29 “I do not for one moment regret the action”: Margolick, “Smith Acquitted of Rape Charge.”

  30 “A not-guilty verdict does not equate to innocence”: Margolick.

  31 “To some people, this has been entertainment”: “Willie Smith’s Accuser Fainted Upon Hearing Verdict.”

  32 Roy Black and Lea Haller: Karen S. Schneider, “Love and the Law,” People, March 6, 1995.

  33 Assaulting a bouncer: Associated Press, “William Kennedy Smith Charged in Assault,” New York Times, October 24, 1993.

  34 “with his mother in Ireland for the holidays”: Charles W. Hall, “William Kennedy Smith Pleads No Contest in Assault,” Washington Post, November 23, 1993.

  35 Claims of sexual harassment: Nathaniel Hernandez, “Kennedy Cousin Denies Assault, Quits Job to Fight Sex Allegations,” Herald-Review, August 31, 2004.