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Show Shriver of Maryland, and Jimmy Carter of Georgia all knew that if Teddy Kennedy really wanted it, the 1976 Democratic nomination was his. But after- months of and Teddy Kennedy decided not to run. Why? Mail from the public indicated that many voters had not forgotten the July 1969 night at Chappaquiddick when his car plunged into the water and Mary Jo Kopechne. the girl at his side, drowned. The Republican opposition was sure to that accident and make it an issue of character. In addition, further tragedy had struck the Kennedy household. The Senator's son Teddy Jr., invaded by cancer, lost his right leg. The Senator's wife Joan, wracked by emotional instability, developed a drinking problem. The Senators 13 nieces and nephews, the offspring of his two assassinated brothers, John and Robert, regarded him as a surrogate father. And always there hung over Teddy the specter of further assassination, the possibility that another madman might gun him down just as two had killed his brothers. Accordingly on Sept. 23, 1974, Teddy took himself out of the running. ", , . My primary responsibilities are at home," he explained. "It has become quite apparent to me that I would be unable to make a full commitment to a campaign for the Presidency. simply cannot do that to my wife and children and the other members of the family." Did Senator Kennedy, via that statement, abandon for all time his hopes for White House occupancy? Would he possibly seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992? Would he remain wed to the U.S. Senate until retirement? To determine his views, asked the Senator the following questions: Q. Do you still have any Presidential ambitions? A. I've been reelected by the people of Massachusetts to another term in the Senate which has five more years to go. Q. Are you reconciled to remaining a United States Senator indefinitely? A. I expect to remain in the United States Senate for the foreseeable future. believe President Carter will be renominated and reelected in 1980, and expect to support him in that campaign Beyond that haven't given any real thought to what might happen. It's simply too far in the future to speculate. Q. Do you believe in fhe conspiracy theories concerning the murders of your two brothers? And are you satisfied that each was the scheme of one man? - re-te- ll I At age 45, Sen. Ted Kennedy ID., Mass ), shown above in the writer's study, has already spent 15 years in the US Senate. How much longer will he be content as a Senator or will he one dav decide to make the Presidential run I by Lloyd Shearer l I IT; !H 16 OS ANGELFS, CAI month. lcKard Moore Kennedy. 4r, the senior U S. Senator from Massachusetts, field subcommittee hearings in the black and Chicano districts of this cityMedia persons who covered Teddy Kennedy found him with his strong, clear voice, nis broad, handsome face, his bright blue eyes and curly, graying hair as photogenic and charismatic as ever. Several reporters, among them this 'At one. wondered what had happened to the inevitable Presidency of Teddv Kennedy " Before a Jimmy Carter, edged himself into the last Presidential race, the prospect of Teddy Kennedy occupying the White House in the 1970 s seemed reasonable and problematical. In early 1974 all the national polls revealed Kennedy as the front-runnfor the Democratic Presidential nomina te tion. Other potential contenders (we forget how many developed) Senators Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, Walter Mondale of Minnesota, Henry Jackson of Washington, Frank Church of Idaho, Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, George McGovern of South Dakota. Birch Bayh of Fred Harris of OklaIndiana, homa, Gov. Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania, Gov. Jerry Brown of California, Rep. Morris Udall of Arizona, Gov. George Wallace of Alabama, Sargent ex-Se- n. I I I continued |