It's amazing to me that I never even realized, until yesterday, that these two events happened within 48 hours of each other. No wonder not that many people were outraged about Teddy The Swimmer. They probably didn't even hear about it!
I was 16 at the time, and we were preparing for my Daddy's birthday, which was the same day as the moon landing, so I'm not sure if I remember hearing about Mary Jo Kopechne's death, when it happened.
Reportedly Nixon invited Kennedy to be there at Cape Canaveral in Florida for the Apollo 11 launch, in tribute to JFK’s role in setting the goal of getting a man to the moon, but Teddy turned down the invitation. If Teddy had gone there, Mary Jo would most likely still be alive today.
“...I’m not sure if I remember hearing about Mary Jo Kopechne’s death...”
I remember Life Magazine’s coverage where they did the spin for Kennedy and made much of how dangerous “that damn bridge” was without guardrails. Of course nobody else had ever put their car in the drink from that bridge.