Joseph Gargan was one of only two men, along with Paul Markham, in whom Ted Kennedy chose to confide immediately after the Chappaquiddick automobile accident which killed Mary Jo Kopechne.
13 Facts About Joseph Gargan
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Orphaned at the age of sixteen, Gargan spent two consecutive summers with the Kennedys, and, being closer in age to Ted than the other Kennedy brothers were, developed a close relationship with his cousin Ted.
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Joseph Gargan fell out of favor with the Kennedy family in 1988, with the publication of journalist Leo Damore's book, Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-Up, because Joseph Gargan revealed in interviews with Damore details not released in public testimony, such as how Ted Kennedy contemplated covering up his role in the incident by claiming Kopechne was driving his car.
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The Kennedys looked to Joseph Gargan to take Teddy under his wing as a peer big brother and keep him out of trouble, something his older brothers could not do because of their greater age difference.
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Joseph Gargan participated in Jack Kennedy's successful 1952 Senate campaign and 1960 presidential campaign, as well as Ted's 1962 and 1964 senate campaigns.
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At Ted's request, Gargan became chairman of the Robert F Kennedy 1968 presidential campaign.
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Joseph Gargan walked just over a mile back to the cottage where a party he hosted was occurring, and summoned Gargan and Paul Markham to drive him back to the site, where Gargan dived into the pond in a futile attempt to find Kopechne.
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Markham seconded this opinion, but Kennedy argued against it, and according to Joseph Gargan, said he could plausibly deny knowledge of the accident if they agreed that he had gotten out of the Oldsmobile beforehand and Kopechne was the one who drove it off the bridge.
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Joseph Gargan said this lie was not safe, as neighbors could have seen their car at the bridge, and he would have no part of it.
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Joseph Gargan understood this at the time to mean that Kennedy would go to the police station and report the accident; however, he came to understand later that Kennedy thought it meant that Joseph Gargan and Markham would go along with his cover-up lie.
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Joseph Gargan was disappointed in his misjudgement of Kennedy's character, when he believed he would do the right thing.
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Joseph Gargan married Betty Hurstel, an Indiana native who worked at Notre Dame.
13.
Joseph Gargan was portrayed by Ed Helms in the 2017 film Chappaquiddick.