His approval rate in Texas was at an all time low, and JFK hoped a visit there would up his public opinion. Preparation work for his parade was sloppy; very few of the buildings along the parade route were inspected or secured. The night before his planned parade several of his secret service members went to a club where they drank and didn’t come back to the hotel until three or four o’clock in the morning (The Kennedy Curse; page 112). The next day, November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot in the head by Lee Harvey Oswald as his open car made its way down the parade route. The assassination of JFK has long been disputed as a conspiracy involving almost all of Washington and even the Mafia rather than just a mad act by a lone gunman. Evidence to support the conspiracy theory includes the trajectory of Oswald’s’ bullets. Many people say that the number of bullets and the directions of the wounds inflicted to JFK indicate another gunman (How Did It Really Happen?; page 270). All these conspiracy theories sprang up after the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby, which prevented Oswald from ever being …show more content…
However, they still had one hope that lay in the youngest brother, Edward Kennedy, better known as Ted. Ted followed the same path as his brothers before him, graduating from the best schools and getting straight into politics. His career started off when he became district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts in 1960 (Encarta.msn.com). In 1962 he was appointed to the Senate seat vacated by his older brother, JFK. In 1969 after his two older brothers had been assassinated, he made plans to begin campaigning for the democratic nomination for president. However, his plans were cut short, not because of another tragedy but because of a scandal that happened at Chappaquiddick Island. Ted Kennedy was driving to a rented beach house on the island with a young woman that had worked on Bobby’s campaign, Mary Jo Kopechne. The only way to the island was over a bridge that connected Martha’s Vineyard and Chappaquiddick Island. No one is sure if he was drunk or just inattentive, but either way he drove off the bridge, killing Kopechne in the process. Instead of sticking around and waiting for someone he left the scene. Not only did he leave, but he also failed to report the crime until his car was found in the water several days later. He was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident, driving without a license, and reckless driving, as well as having