How The Times covered Chappaquiddick on Saturday, July 26, 1969

Edward Kennedy has signed a multimillion-dollar deal for his memoirs, triggering speculation that both his frontline political role – and that of his iconic, tragic family – may be finally coming to an end.

The book is expected to cover the assassinations of his brothers, John and Robert, as well as other episodes that have punctuated his family history and held much of America in its thrall for half a century – including events leading up to Chappaquiddick where his car crashed off a bridge in 1969, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. Senator Kennedy, who admitted leaving the scene of an accident and was given a two-month suspended jail sentence, never fully recovered from the incident which contributed to the failure of his own White House bid in 1980.

Sources close to the veteran Massachusetts senator acknowledge that he will have to address the subject of Chappaquiddick in the book but say that it remains “out of bounds” in both public interviews and private conversations. “I’ve been fortunate in my life to grow up in an extraordinary family and to have a front row seat at many key events in our nation’s history,” said Mr Kennedy, in a statement about the book.

“I hope my reflections can contribute to a deeper understanding of many events in the history of this great country and to a more in-depth picture of an American family.”

At 75 he has another five years of his current Senate term left to serve, and friends suggest that he may be looking to retire in 2012 having seen too many of his colleagues stay on past their prime.

The only other member of his extended family serving in Congress is his son, Patrick, who is recovering from addiction problems and last year was arrested for crashing his car into a police barrier near Capitol Hill. The careers of many other Kennedys have been similarly blighted by scandal – or ended by death – since the Camelot era of his brother John’s presidency.

The memoirs are due for publication in 2010, the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s election to the White House. The timing means that the book’s revelations will not influence next year’s White House race.

Mr Kennedy, who has served 45 years in the Senate, remains a towering figure on Capitol Hill not least because he keeps his views about colleagues to himself and avoids making enemies unnecessarily. He has yet to endorse any candidate for 2008 and his backing will be eagerly sought, particularly in the early state of New Hampshire that borders the Kennedy clan’s Massachusetts heartland.

Although the publisher, Twelve, a division of the Hachette Book Group, refused to say what it had paid, some newspaper reports suggested that the figure was more than the $8 million (£4 million) earned by Hillary Clinton.

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