Every Kennedy Family Tragedy That Fueled the ‘Kennedy Curse’

After the accident, Ted Kennedy made public reference to the idea of ​​a family curse for the first time.

During his televised apology a week after the accident, Ted Kennedy said he wondered “if a terrible curse really hung over all the Kennedys,” The Washington Post reported.

It marked the first time a member of the Kennedy family spoke openly about the “Kennedy curse,” the Herald Tribune reported. But the speech was drafted by several speechwriters, The New York Times reported and it was arguably more of a PR stunt than a true apology or admission of guilt.

In the speech, he recalled the “confused thoughts” that went through his mind after the accident, in a speech he gave to the media after the incident.

“They were reflected in the various inexplicable, inconsistent and inconclusive things I said and did, including questions like whether the girl might still be alive somewhere outside that immediate area, whether a terrible curse really hung above all the Kennedys, if there was a justifiable reason for me to doubt what happened and delay my report, if somehow the terrible weight of this incredible incident could somehow be lifted from my shoulders,” said he.

“I can honestly say, I was overcome with a mixture of emotions: pain, fear, doubt, exhaustion, panic, confusion and shock.”