BOSTON — Kennedy, the ex-wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who endured a turbulent marriage marked by family tragedies, her husband’s infidelity and her decades-long struggle with alcoholism and mental health, died Wednesday. She was 89 years old.
The former Joan Bennett, one of the last members of the family generation that included President John F. Kennedy, was a model and classically trained pianist when she married Edward Kennedy in 1958.
Their lives will change unimaginably over the next decade and a half. John F. Kennedy’s son-in-law was elected president in 1960 and was assassinated three years later. His son-in-law, Robert F. Kennedy served as Attorney General under JFK, was elected to the US Senate in 1964, and was assassinated while seeking the presidency.
Her husband was elected to the US Senate and became among the country’s most respected legislators despite initial suspicions that he was exploiting his family connections. But Ted Kennedy also experienced scandals of his own making. In 1969, the car he was driving fell off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing his young passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.
Kennedy, who swam to safety and waited hours before notifying police, later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. Chappaquiddick would haunt him for the rest of his life, weighing heavily on his chances of running for president.
Joan Kennedy had three children with her husband, but she also suffered miscarriages, including one shortly after the Chappaquiddick accident. She stood by her husband during the scandal, but their separation was nearly impossible to hide by the time of his failed attempt to defeat President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Democratic primary. They were separated by then, and would later divorce. One of the campaign posters read: “Vote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy.”
Virginia Joan Bennett was born into a prominent family in Bronxville, New York, and as a teenager worked as a model in television commercials. She was a classmate of Jane Kennedy, the future senator’s sister, at Manhattanville College, where her exceptional beauty caught the attention of Ted Kennedy when he visited the campus to dedicate the building in 1957.
They married a year later, but Joan Kennedy struggled from the beginning to fit in with the powerful family.
“Joan was a shy, really reserved person, and the Kennedys were not,” Adam Clymer, author of “Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography,” said in a 2005 interview with the Associated Press.
Her love of the piano would be a trademark for most of her life. She became famous for opening her husband’s campaign rallies by playing the piano, and after their divorce, she toured with orchestras around the world. Her family said she would combine her elaborate playing with a message about the transformative potential of the arts and the need for equitable arts education.
In a 1992 Associated Press interview, she recalled playing the piano with her brother-in-law Bobby when he ran for president in 1968. “He took me with him and encouraged me,” she said. “He had the theme of ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ a Woody Guthrie song. I would play it on the piano and everyone would walk in, feeling good about everything.”
“It seems like a long time ago, but it’s part of my memories,” she said softly.
In a statement, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island praised his mother for her courage and talent.
“Besides being a loving mother, a talented musician, and an instrumental partner to my father as he launched his successful political career, my mother was an example to millions of people suffering from mental illness,” his statement said. “She will be missed not only by the entire Kennedy family, but also by the Boston arts community and the many people whose lives she touched.”
She also became one of the first women to publicly admit that she struggled with alcoholism and depression.
“I will always admire my mother for the way she faced her challenges with grace, courage, humility and honesty,” Ted Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “She taught me how to be more honest with myself and how listening carefully is a more powerful communication skill than public speaking.”
After Chappaquiddick, her drinking got worse. A series of drunk driving arrests led to a stay in alcohol treatment programs. Then in 2005, a passerby found her passed out on a Boston sidewalk in the rain, and she was taken to the hospital with a concussion and a broken shoulder. Her children intervened, and Ted Jr. obtained court-ordered guardianship to care for his mother.
Kennedy is survived by her two sons, nine grandchildren, and 30 nieces. Her daughter, Kara, died in 2011.
Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.