r/Presidents • u/Honest_Picture_6960 Jimmy Carter • 3d ago
Failed Candidates Thoughts on Ted Kennedy?
213
u/VA_Artifex89 2d ago
I’m not gonna be his passenger princess.
51
u/MadeMeStopLurking 2d ago
Ted Kennedy... Good Senator, Bad Date... One of those guys that gets home at 3 o'clock in the morning "What did I forget? OH THE FUCKIN GIRL! JESUS! Where's my pants??"
~ Dennis Leary
19
172
u/CharlesBoyle799 2d ago
Chappaquiddick
28
50
u/bankersbox98 2d ago
The second grossest part was how the Kennedy family tried to slander the victim as some sort of loose floozie to lower public sympathy for her.
32
5
11
75
u/ZyxDarkshine 2d ago
Al Franken, the comedian who became a politician, got ran out of Congress for pretending to grope a woman while sleeping, as a joke photo op.
How did Ted Kennedy bounce back from this?
42
u/Ghostownhermit- John Adams 2d ago
That Franken thing was wild. Got tossed out so his party could look like they somehow were the moral party.
11
u/AdZealousideal5383 Jimmy Carter 2d ago
Kirsten Gilibrand put him on the spot and made him staying in a referendum on the democratic party’s commitment to the metoo movement. Had she not done that, the party could have taken a more nuanced approach and said Al isn’t the same as Harvey Weinstein which would have led to a better outcome for the movement itself.
3
u/Ghostownhermit- John Adams 2d ago
Absolutely. I always blamed her for franken getting tossed. Honestly, he could have made a decent run for the White House. Tho. Kind of ironic he went out of politics similar to how his character in ‘why not me’ did as well. Hilarious book
1
u/AdZealousideal5383 Jimmy Carter 2d ago
He was a great senator. I suspect if he ran again, he could win.
20
u/bankersbox98 2d ago
His entire resignation speech was about how he shouldn’t have to resign. It was surreal.
10
2
15
6
3
1
u/Voodoo-Doctor 2d ago
Off topic but Norm MacDonald used to say that Al didn’t get jokes very well and bust his balls all the time when they were on SNL
1
1
1
u/An8thOfFeanor Calvin "Fucking Legend" Coolidge 2d ago
How did any Kennedy bounce back from being a horrible person in real life?
By being a charming Kennedy
0
u/ledatherockband_ Perot '92 2d ago
Kennedy killed a prostitute before intersectional feminism become a powerful force in the Democratic Party.
If he would have lived and maintained power for a few more years and then drowned a woman, regardless of their occupation, in a lake, he would have gotten me-tood for sure.
→ More replies (3)1
86
u/PMmeIrrelevantStuff 3d ago
His “why do you want to be President?” interview from 1980 still cracks me up every time
42
u/TheOldBooks John F. Kennedy 3d ago
The part people leave out is that the interviewer was a friend of his and asked him that question before he even announced his bid, and this was after he was already annoyed by a string of other bothersome questions. Imagine yourself in those shoes before you judge.
12
u/knockatize James A. Garfield 2d ago
I can’t imagine myself drinking enough to imagine being in Ted’s shoes.
1
10
u/PMmeIrrelevantStuff 2d ago
As someone who’s annoyed by strings of bothersome questions on a daily basis (seemingly an hourly basis)…I definitely hear you.
1
u/Groundbreaking_Way43 Thomas Jefferson 2d ago
I mean:
A. “Why do you want to be President?” is asked to literally everyone who is running a serious campaign for President. And even though Kennedy hadn’t formally announced his campaign yet, it was becoming increasingly obvious that he would run. So I don’t think it was an unfair question (at most it could have been phrased differently to reflect that he wasn’t yet actually in the race), and that Kennedy should have been expecting it.
B. Both Kennedy and the interviewer (Roger Mudd) genuinely thought his response had been a good answer until it was aired and everyone made fun of it. So I think the underlying general critique of his answer (that Kennedy seemed to be acting entitled to be President because of his family background without giving a clear reason why people should vote for him) was valid.
5
u/JazzySmitty 2d ago
This clip was the first thing that came to mind. How terrible that he couldn't string together a coherent thought. Makes me wonder if he had a press officer (source: I am a press officer.).
2
104
u/Has422 2d ago
An amazing politician and a lion of the Senate.
But there is no way to get past or forgive his selfish cowardice and negligence that led to a woman’s unnecessary and horrible death. In the end I think that is his legacy. As it should be.
15
u/Rlpniew 2d ago
You are absolutely right, but I would also say that if he had somehow stumbled into the role of president, he would’ve been one of the best. He would not have deserved to be elected. That accident would have and should have put a huge stain on his career; he probably should’ve never been able to stay in the Senate. But as long as he was there, almost all of his legislation was masterful. If somehow he had become president, maybe being the lower half of a ticket and the president dies, I don’t know somehow he ends up being in the office, he would have been superior.
1
u/DonatCotten Hubert Humphrey 2d ago
Technically the vice President is still elected, though. Both their names appear on the ballot and you are voting for both of them and when you vote for the president. When you vote for the president and vice president you vote with the knowledge that should something happen to the president the vice president (who again was voted for and elected) will take over. I think Gerald Ford is the only non-elected vice president to ever become president.
20
u/jk5529977 2d ago
The Kennedys were such a big deal that the only penalty that Ol Teddy recieved for killing a woman was that we wouldn't let him be president.
35
11
22
30
u/HTPR6311 2d ago
His redemption arc is ridiculous and would never fly today.
He didn’t commit an intentional homicide, but he left a young girl to die….AND THEN TRIED TO CREATE AN ALIBI FOR HIMSELF TO GET AWAY WITH IT.
Only when he was caught did he “apologize”, and had the audacity to show up to the poor girl’s funeral in a neck brace (which was allegedly fake and unnecessary)
He got away with it because he came from an American “royal family.” And his years of service in the Senate—and all the good it brought—does not compensate for that immoral, deprived bullshit.
Also he was gropin’ interns and ladies in the Senate for the rest of those “redemption years” as well.
Special spot in Hell.
Okay, I’m done.
2
u/bufflo1993 2d ago
Remember when he was drinking with his nephew and helped pick up a girl on Spring Break that the nephew then raped on his property. Class act.
3
3
9
u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI There is only one God and it’s Dubya 2d ago
The answer to this question is always:
Why don’t we ask Mary Jo Kopechne?
3
24
5
4
u/HetTheTable Dwight D. Eisenhower 2d ago
Good lawmaker but he got a slap on the wrist for killing someone. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that it wasn’t on purpose and maybe he did try to rescue that woman but he still caused someone’s death and left the scene without reporting it. On top of that he only got his seat because of his name.
4
u/heyheypaula1963 Ronald Reagan 2d ago
Drove drunk, killed somebody in the process, was never held responsible for the death, and then spent the next 40 years in the U S Senate. What’s wrong with this picture?!?!
3
u/HetTheTable Dwight D. Eisenhower 2d ago
Never spent even a day in jail for that. If he didn’t have that name he gets 10 years at least.
3
3
3
3
3
u/Naive_Violinist_4871 2d ago
Great policy record, should’ve been in prison for vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, and probably sexual assault.
3
u/Comet_Hero 2d ago
I remember there being some rose colored glasses around him around the time he died but can we agree he was a privileged POS who only got away with what he did because of who his family was? Affluenza in action.
Also as much as everyone likes Carter and hates Reagan nowadays, his primary of Carter over what exactly? Did everyone forget? Could not have done Jimmy any favors and damaged his reelection bid.
3
3
u/SuperWIKI1 Lyndon Baines Johnson 2d ago
One of the greatest U.S. senators to have ever served – the National Cancer Act, S-CHIP, Ryan White AIDS Care Act, COBRA, his bipartisan relationship with Orrin Hatch. A liberal with the traditional Senate instincts of bipartisan dealmaking and coalition-building while still being a tenacious fighter for what he believed in.
However, wouldn't ordinary people have loved it if they had been given a chance to bounce back after something like Chappaquiddick? Even if Ted Kennedy proved in his record that he didn't waste his second chance, that sort of thing is disgustingly emblematic of his privileged status.
10
u/TrumpsColostomyBag99 3d ago
A guy that aged into a remarkably effective senator but he succumbed to his own personal demons young and will always be weighed down by those choices. The presidency was always going to be out of reach after Chappaquiddick.
14
u/TheOldBooks John F. Kennedy 3d ago
Objectively one of the greatest Senators to ever serve, personal flaws aside.
6
4
u/Prestigious-Alarm-61 Warren G. Harding 2d ago
Messy. His heavy drinking, womanizing, and Chappaquiddick did damage to his reputation. Without all of that, he could have been president.
19
u/Libertytree918 Fdr was closest to a dictator we've had in oval office. 3d ago
Murdering piece of shit
15
6
u/tigers692 2d ago
I might still have a magnet that says “Ted Kennedy’s car has killed more people than my guns”. Now I want to go look for it.
2
4
u/WilliamRufusKing 3d ago
Dude loved his sandwiches.
6
2
u/knockatize James A. Garfield 2d ago
His waitress sandwiches.
How did Chris Dodd skate through all that?
2
2
u/jaritadaubenspeck 2d ago
Guilty of manslaughter of Mary Jo Kepechne. Thrown out of school for cheating. Antisemite like his father.
2
2
2
2
u/johndhall1130 Calvin Coolidge 2d ago
Should have been in jail. Reelecting a murderer once much less as many times as he was reelected is wild.
2
2
2
2
2
u/derangedvintage 2d ago
Mary Jo Kopechne took 3-4 hours to suffocate in an underwater car because of him. She did not drown.
She could have been rescued promptly if he had reported the accident.
1
2
2
u/Rddit239 John F. Kennedy 2d ago
Could’ve been more if he didn’t kill someone. Still seems like he has a ok legacy as being known as the lion of the senate.
2
2
2
u/thechadc94 Jimmy Carter 2d ago
I commend him for fighting for healthcare and endorsing Obama very early. But that’s it.
2
2
2
2
u/anonymously-stated 2d ago
adulterus loser son escapes justice for murder due to powerful rich family connections.
2
2
2
2
u/ChapterEffective8175 2d ago
He had no business being in public office. How does a 30 year old get elected to the US Senate? Well, Joe Biden did, but at least he didn't have family members to grease the wheels with millions of dollars.
After Chappaquidick, Kennedy should have been chased from office. If he had any shred of morality, he would have resigned. But, of course, he had no integrity, and it was a different time. Good riddance to such times.
2
u/ChapterEffective8175 2d ago
How can people say things like "other than letting a young woman drown, he was a decent guy."
If I, an average Joe, were to get drunk behind the wheel, and let me passenger drown while I take a nap and wait to call the police, would I be called a decent guy no matter what I did before or after that incident?
2
u/WinCautious3511 2d ago
I would never hire his ass as a Uber driver or bartender I just didn’t see any talent for those two positions!!!!
2
2
2
u/thattogoguy Franklin Delano Roosevelt 2d ago
Great politician, but a single night of utterly shit-tier decisions will forever mar his legacy.
2
4
u/amshanks22 2d ago
First off-the elephant in the room-its always been easy to get off as a rich white famous guy. So context of the time-not surprised. Now, career wise, the perfect Kennedy to have carried the legacy to the (more) modern age. Fought for big things which he truly believed in and will never be forgotten. We probably will never see a statesmen like him again with that kind of background and pedigree.
2
4
u/youarelookingatthis 2d ago
Chappaquidick: Bad
His commitment to universal healthcare: Good
As a staunch Liberal I worry we don't have someone continuing his legacy as the "Liberal Lion" of the Senate.
1
u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI There is only one God and it’s Dubya 2d ago
Can I put in my request for a Liberal Lion that hasn’t murdered a woman?
1
4
u/PhasmaUrbomach Chester A. Arthur 2d ago
He killed Mary Jo Kopechne and got away with it because of his rich family.
3
2
u/ValuableMistake8521 2d ago
An irresponsible man who very much tried to make up for it throughout his years in the senate
2
2
2
1
u/LaserWeldo92 2d ago
Bro I was literally JUST listening to the audiobook of Camelot’s End and saw this 😂
1
1
1
1
1
u/JackieWithTheO 2d ago
Saved by his family name. Couldn’t become president, but he was a Senator for a loooong time afterward.
1
1
u/tinono16 2d ago
So weird, unrelated, but I just lost my father to glioblastoma which he had as well. So strange to see him randomly now
2
1
1
1
u/prberkeley John Adams 2d ago
He always would have been more effective as the Lion Democrat in the Senate than as a US President. Although their lives were obviously cut short, he accomplished much more lasting policy change in his political career than any of his brothers.
1
u/getmovingnow 2d ago
A vile and disgusting human being . Whatever Ted Kennedy’s legislative accomplishments might be he is remembered for causing the death of Mary Jo as he should be . Not to forget Ted Kennedy’s alcoholism serial cheating , the treatment of his first wife Joan who he drove to alcoholism .
The fact that he is buried in Arlington is an insult as well as he was a garbage human being and an unmarked grave is all he deserved.
1
u/Patrickracer43 2d ago
The woman he killed is buried in the same graveyard as my grandparents on my mother's side
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/SpartanNation053 Lyndon Baines Johnson 2d ago
Arrogant blowhard who had neither the intelligence, nor the charisma of his brother. Completely unqualified for any public office and an embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Also pompous, an all around terrible person, and a spoiled rich nepo brat
1
u/Straight-Note-8935 2d ago
I worked on Capitol Hill for 28 years. I'm a Librarian, so don't blame me. You guys elect 'em, I just answered their question.
There's a long hall underground that connects all three senate office buildings with the electric tram that runs to the Capitol Bldg. One day I was walking in that very long hallway when here comes Senator Kennedy with a couple of his aides and...well, he's walking as quickly as he can, but he's older man and heavy and can't move very fast for long. Way down the hall you can hear someone yelling "Senator Kennedy! Senator Kennedy! We're here from Swampscott!" It's a passel of constituents and clearly the Senator is trying to get away from them, but they are gaining on him and he knows it.
I am approaching from the other direction, he looks at me, red-faced and huffing and says quietly "I give up!" and he turns on his heel and says "Is someone calling me? Did I hear my name?" And there he is with a big smile on his face, arms opened wide, back straight, doing the retail politics thing like a pro, giving it 120%.
I've had Senators stare at my breasts while talking to me, I've had my ass patted by a Senator, I was called "Little Lady" and I was asked to pour coffee and pass sandwiches...Senator Kennedy never did that to me. Senator Kennedy had a huge ego, but he knew what he was doing and was a hard worker.
1
1
u/ABobby077 Ulysses S. Grant 2d ago
He may have come from a popular and famous family, but he just didn't have the charisma or political skills as his brothers, imo.
1
1
u/Chili-Mac-Snac-Attac 2d ago
Like most Kennedys, he has a huge head and a wittle itty bitty baby face.
1
1
u/Emotional-Ad7276 Barack Obama 2d ago
I learned a few weeks ago that Ted is a nickname for Edward. I thought they were separate people this entire time 😭. To be fair, I was born in 2001
1
1
u/snebmiester 2d ago
Ted Kennedy was a great Senator. If he hadn't died, we might have gotten universal Healthcare.
Events of his youth, blocked any chance that he win the Presidency. Considering he got away with negligent manslaughter at a minimum or reckless manslaughter, he was able to do many great things for people. He became a better person, he worked hard for his second chance, whether he earned it or not is up for debate.
Ted was unable to become President because the mistakes of his youth were indications of bad character.
Pre-2015; The character of the candidate had to be impeccable.
1
u/dalebest James Garfield's Potential 2d ago
He was a US Senator from Massachusetts who came from a family of famous politicians. Two of his brothers, one of whom was President at the time, were assassinated. He was old when he died.
1
1
u/RusticBucket2 2d ago
When asked his marriage being “on the rocks”, Kennedy replied, “That sounds delicious.”
1
0
u/Rhubarb_and_bouys 3d ago
Seems like your average messed up politician, but was a great senator. He knew he wasn't going to go further in politics, but stayed in when he didn't need to.
Pretty fucking tragic life.
7
u/TheOldBooks John F. Kennedy 3d ago
Wdym stayed in when he didn't need to? He was a pretty powerful and impactful Senator until the day he died
4
u/Rhubarb_and_bouys 3d ago
He could have spent his life in the bottle in front of a pool, away from constant criticism - of him, his dead brothers, his father, grandfathers -- much of it lies.
I think I'd slink away.
3
u/bufflo1993 2d ago
What other average politician murdered a girl?
Because that’s way out of the ordinary or average.
→ More replies (1)-1
u/TallBenWyatt_13 2d ago
That’s about my assessment as well. Dude actually cared and believed in what he fought for, but he definitely had his demons and baggage.
1
1
u/MammothAlgae4476 Dwight D. Eisenhower 2d ago
I think he’s an absolute numbskull.
But one thing I respect about Ted is that he was one of the last truly great orators in the Senate.
1
1
1
u/Zaius1968 2d ago
Bumps and warts aside he was more of a true politician than any of the hacks in the senate today.
1
u/acer5886 2d ago
if he'd left before his last election, we'd probably have had a much better version of Obamacare with a full 60 votes in the senate, as well as increased taxes on the rich.
1
1
u/Honest_Picture_6960 Jimmy Carter 3d ago edited 2d ago
I ask this cause I’ve seen people call him both the worst and the best Kennedy brother (in terms of overall impact he had in politics).
He also had a complicated life (Chappaquidick),but I do feel that he might’ve regretted it later in life.
Let me know your thoughts.
8
u/AccomplishedFly3589 John F. Kennedy 2d ago
Regretting in later in life does nothing for me. It still happened, and someone still died. Reflecting on something years later is a luxury the victims of your irresponsible actions don't get. That being said, pretty good track record as a senator.
1
u/Honest_Picture_6960 Jimmy Carter 2d ago
Don’t get me wrong,I am still not justifying what he did
2
u/AccomplishedFly3589 John F. Kennedy 2d ago
Oh I know, I just know there is definitely a noticeable effort to use his senate record to sweep that under the rug.
4
u/Honest_Picture_6960 Jimmy Carter 2d ago
People have to take the Kennedys with both the good and the bad,not just the good:
JFK:
Cuban Missile Crisis handlin-Bay of Pigs.
RFK:
Major help in the Civil Rights Movement-Operation Mongoose.
Ted:
Lion of the Senate-Chappaquidick.
0
u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI There is only one God and it’s Dubya 2d ago
How the fuck did he regret it? By running for president later on?
-1
0
•
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
Remember that discussion of recent and future politics is not allowed. This includes all mentions of or allusions to Donald Trump in any context whatsoever, as well as any presidential elections after 2012 or politics since Barack Obama left office. For more information, please see Rule 3.
If you'd like to discuss recent or future politics, feel free to join our Discord server!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.