Edward Kennedy Autobiography: True Compass

[John Simkin]

Edward Kennedy’s autobiography was reviewed by Stephen Robinson in the Sunday Times this week. Robinson argues that Kennedy has little of real importance to say about the assassination of JFK and RFK: “There is little new or revealing about Jack or Bobby that does not conform to the familiar Camelot myth so artfully created by Jackie Kennedy. Nor are the accounts of his brothers’ deaths satisfactory.”

Nor is Kennedy willing to tell us the truth about Chappaquiddick. He has had 40 years to come up with an explanation of why he left Mary Jo Kopechne to drown in his car in a few feet of water. “To this day, I cannot tell you how I escaped that car.” Nor can he explain why he did not help Mary Jo to get out before he did. Nor does he explain why he did not seek help from neighbouring houses. The only thing he says of any importance is that he decided to take Mary Jo back to her hotel after she got emotional while talking about the assassination of RFK.

Kennedy’s co-author is not named but according to Robinson it “has the lethally bland narrative tone of the ghost-written US presidential autobiography”. In fact, Robinson speculates that the prologue where he talks about his final illness is “the only section that has the voice of Kennedy and might actually have been written by him.”

[Anthony Thorne]

Saw this in a bookstore today, and browsed through to the page covering November 22nd. He accepted the official story, told RFK to do the same, is aware of 'conspiracy theorists' but sees no reason to doubt the Warren Commission etc etc. Not sure if I expected anything different but next time I'll check out the prologue as mentioned above. I bet the conversations he and RFK had with their intimates regarding the death of JFK may have been somewhat different.