BOSTON (AP) – Ex-wife to Sen. Joan B. Kennedy and Senator Edward M. Kennedy endured a long and troubling marriage marked by family tragedy, her husband’s affair and her own struggle with alcoholism and mental health. She was 89 years old.
Former Joan Bennett was a model and classically trained pianist when he married Ted Kennedy in 1958. Their lives will change unimaginably over the next 10 and a half years. Brother-in-law John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960 and was assassinated three years later. Brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy served as Attorney General under JFK, and was elected to the US Senate in 1964, assassinated in search of presidency.
Her husband was elected to the US Senate and despite his initial fears that he was using his connections with his family, he became one of the most respected lawmakers in the country. But Ted Kennedy also went through a scandal of his own production. In 1969, the car he was driving jumped off a bridge on Chappakidick Island and killed a young female passenger, Mary Joe Kopetze.
After waiting several hours to swim safely and alert police, Kennedy later pleaded guilty to leaving the accident scene. Chappakidick hides him for the rest of his life, opposing his own chance for the presidency.
Joan Kennedy had husband and three children, but also suffered a miscarriage, including a suspect shortly after the Chappei Dick accident. She stood by her husband throughout the scandal, but by the time of her failed efforts to defeat President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Democratic primary, their alienation was nearly impossible to hide. They had been separated by then and later divorced. One of the campaign bumper stickers read: “Jimmy Carter, vote for free Joan Kennedy.”
“Mrs. Kennedy was a classically trained pianist, advocate for mental health and addiction recovery, and a quiet pioneer who publicly dealt with the challenges of alcoholism and depression when there were few others,” her son, Patrick Kennedy and his wife, Amy, said in a statement.
“Her courage and candidness has smashed the stigma and encouraged others to seek help and healing. Many people remember their influence on the arts, mental health advocacy, her beloved Boston community and the nation,” he said.
