Chappaquiddick, Manson Murders?

I think it should have been mentioned. Here's TIME Magazine's cover for July 25, 1969 (meaning it was published July 21--it was always four days earlier than the date listed on the cover):

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601690725,00.html

"MAN ON THE MOON" is the headline, appropriately enough (and the previous week's cover had also been in anticipation of the moon landing). But now check out the cover for the very next issue (which came out July 28):

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601690801,00.html

The word "Chappaquiddick" is not there, but it's a closeup of "EDWARD KENNEDY AFTER FUNERAL", along with an extra banner across the corner saying "THE KENNEDY DEBACLE: A GIRL DEAD, A CAREER IN JEOPARDY". So that's pretty big news, when you're the first thing to take over TIME's cover after the moon landing.

Same deal for Newsweek (and it's the relatively rare, huge story that would be on both covers the same week). They actually go with the moon, then Kennedy ("Should I Resign?"), then back to the moon:

http://backissues.com/publications/Newsweek-1969/28?sortBy=codeAsc

Subsequent weeks, though, show no sign of the Sharon Tate murder on either magazine's cover, although they may have been on inside pages. But still, I'll give them a pass on that. Chappaquiddick should have been mentioned, though.

Ironic too, that older brother Jack had started the ball rolling with his ringing declaration eight years earlier: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." And then, right smack in the middle of Apollo 11's four-day trip to the moon, Teddy drives into the drink with Mary Jo Kopeckne. Crazy.

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I was 15 in 1969 and was acutely aware of Manson, Chappaquidic and the moon landing. Newspapers and TV were saturated with these stories. Plus we had radios lol

Sorry my posts are so long. I was alive during these incidents, so I thought my memories of the events might be of interest to some folks.

My memory is that the Manson murders did not make a huge impact on the entire US until the perps were captured. This did not occur until November-December 1969 well after the Woodstock festival. People on the East Coast may have been freaked out that Sharon Tate was brutally murdered, but it was just another murder initially. There was no knowledge of a cult, or any real connection to the LaBianca murders of the following day. All this came to light months later.

When the murders were initially reported, news media spun the crimes as most likely the result of the "lifestyle" of the victims. Media jumped to the conclusion these crimes were the result of a drug deal gone awry or some kind of hippie orgy. This is why Roman Polanski was so enraged, not only by the horrific murder of his wife and son, but because his wife and friends' reputations were smeared and dragged thru the mud while the police looked for the killers. After the truth was discovered, little was done to restore Sharon's reputation -- she did NOT use drugs at all. In fact, Roman and Sharon were the farthest people from "hippies" imaginable. They were very wealthy, drove extremely expensive cars, wore fancy clothes & jewelry, lived in Benedict Canyon and consorted with the rich. Abigail Folger was an uberweathy heiress. The only thing these people had in common with the hippie movement was they smoked weed & listened to the Jefferson Airplane. The similarity stops there.

In short, to me it makes sense that Patricia Gray chose not to include any reference to the Manson family in her screenplay.

As for Chappaquiddick, that's more problematic. Again though, when initially reported, it was spun as a terrible car accident. It was months later after intense investigation that it was determined that Teddy Kennedy had run from the scene of the accident, and that Mary Jo Kopechne may have survived if Teddy had dove in the water and tried to get her out of the car, rather than run.

So again, at the time of the accident, July 18, 1969, I don't know if Chappaquiddick had been clarified as the historical scandal it actually was. After all, Teddy was the next logical Kennedy to run for President. After Chappaquiddick, he could never run for President. It always astonished me that he still remained in politics after that terrible tragedy. Shows you the power of the Kennedy brand.