Joan Kennedy dies at 89; classical pianist was first wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy

"The former Joan Bennett, one of the last remaining members of a family generation that included President John F. Kennedy, was a model and classically trained pianist when she married Ted Kennedy in 1958. Their lives would change unimaginably over the next decade and a half. Brother-in-law John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960 and assassinated three years later."

"In 1969, the car he was driving plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing his young female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy, who swam to safety and waited hours before alerting police, later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. Chappaquiddick shadowed him for the rest of his life, weighing against his own chances for the presidency."

"Joan Kennedy had three children with her husband, but also had miscarriages, including one shortly after the Chappaquiddick accident. She stood by her husband through the scandal, but their estrangement was nearly impossible to hide by the time of his unsuccessful effort to defeat President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Democratic primaries. They had been separated by then, and would later divorce. One bumper sticker from the campaign read Vote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy."

Joan B. Kennedy, formerly Joan Bennett, died at age 89. She was a model and classically trained pianist who married Ted Kennedy in 1958. The family endured major tragedies, including the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Ted Kennedy became a long-serving U.S. senator but faced scandal after the 1969 Chappaquiddick car incident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne and damaged his presidential prospects. Joan had three children, suffered miscarriages including one after Chappaquiddick, and remained with her husband through the scandal before separation and eventual divorce. She struggled for decades with alcoholism and mental health.

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