WI EMK dies at Chappaquiddick

Say for whatever reason, Edward Kennedy can't swim free of the vehicle, and drowns along with Kopechne. What does that mean for family prospects? His Senate seat? Who tries to take up the Kennedy mantle?

Yes, RogueBeaver, I'm looking at you.
 
Senate seat is a special election. The governor is a Republican, Francis Sargent, so the GOP takes that seat for a few months at least. In family terms it screws everything up completely, because there is no male authority figure. Ted had none of Bobby's moral authority, which is a major factor in how the current generation (minus John/Caroline, who were raised as Bouviers) turned out. To the uninitiated it sounds like I'm overemphasizing RFK's role as paterfamilias but it cannot be underestimated. He was God-Emperor and it was very well understood by everyone. Does Joan remarry? Perhaps.

At the time the heir apparent/presidentiable was RFK Jr. Without Ted it is even more guaranteed than OTL that he will go into criminal activity. At the time, all of his father's willpower, intellect plus a presence his father didn't have, but without the judgment/sense of boundaries. So as per OTL the burden eventually falls on John, though that doesn't become apparent for a few years. Does Jackie return from Greece? Yes, for the same reasons as OTL.

Assuming events go similar to OTL, Carter might face a challenge from Moonbeam in '80. Without Ted Kennedy in '80 the DLC wing is strengthened a bit earlier from OTL, but they still appear with Hart and Clinton picking up where RFK left out. By the 1990s the press will start speculating about John's future as per OTL, and as per OTL his answer is "yes, but when I think the time is right." So quite possible that a Republican victory in 2000 by either Bush or McCain means a POTUS JFK Jr. come 2008, a DLC Dem as per OTL (a charter Clinton backer).
 
Ted wasn't, but he was the only one left. In-laws were ranked lower on the pecking order than Kennedys, because they weren't true Kennedys. The exception to that is Ethel, because she meshed so well with the Kennedy women. (Who are the polar opposite of Jackie in every way) Ethel's attempts at controlling her kids are best described as tragi-comic and the less said the better TBH. It didn't matter before '68 but it certainly mattered afterwards.

The Kennedy men were always the primary parent, not the women. You can't judge Jack because his kids weren't old enough when he died to make the call, but as I said Jackie raised them as Bouviers and she was the only one with that sort of authority over her kids. Not that she needed it of course. For Ted, and certainly for Bobby that was the case. Dates back to Rose and Joe, Joe was the nurture one, Rose was the nature one, distant, aloof. Whenever something came up it was the father who got petitioned by the kids, not the mother. When the fathers were alive, it was always the fathers who administered either administrative or occasionally physical (mostly Bobby in that regard) punishment.

What does this mean? Little change from OTL, but you still have the Gang of Three running wild. Those were the mischief-makers with criminal records: Bobby Jr., the ringleader, his sidekicks Chris Lawford and Bobby Shriver, and the wannabe (who of course ended up being the victim and dying) David. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them got not just felonies but prison terms. The Bobbies have the willpower to get out of the cycle voluntarily and clean themselves up, as happened in the mid-80s IOTL. Lawford struggled and David didn't have that willpower, so he will certainly die ITTL as well.
 
I may be mistaken, but I thought that Massachusetts was, prior to Romney's time as governor, a state in which the governor could appoint a person to fill a Senate vacancy until the next scheduled election.
 
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