U.S. Senate in 2000 or for New York governor in
- Famously married, nationally celebrated, pro-
fessionally accomplished, Kennedy seemed poised
for a dramatic entrance into political life, one that
perhaps could have ended in the White House. Trag-
edy struck, however, on July 16, 1999, when the small
airplane that Kennedy was flying crashed into the At-
lantic Ocean, several miles off Martha’s Vineyard,
Massachusetts. Kennedy, an amateur pilot, was flying
at night from New York to Massachusetts with his
wife Carolyn and her sister Lauren to attend a wed-
ding. President Bill Clinton ordered an extensive
maritime search and rescue operation. The remains
of the bodies were found five days later and were cre-
mated and scattered into the ocean.
Impact John F. Kennedy, Jr., represented the inter-
section of two cultural trends of the 1990’s: the in-
creasing popularization of politics and the fascina-
tion with media celebrities. He fruitfully cultivated
this union in his magazineGeorge, which strove for
serious political commentary with a lively people-
centered perspective. However, Kennedy’s greatest
impact was more one of loss than of accomplish-
ment, as his life was tragically ended just as he
seemed poised to realize his full potential.
Further Reading
Blow, Richard.American Son: A Portrait of John F. Ken-
nedy, Jr.New York: Henry Holt, 2002.
Heymann, C. David.American Legacy: The Stor y of John
and Caroline Kennedy. New York: Atria Books,
2007.
Leamer, Laurence.Sons of Camelot: The Fate of an
American Dynasty.New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
Howard Bromberg
See also Journalism; Publishing.
Kennedy rape case
The Event A member of a prominent political
family is tried and acquitted on a charge of rape
Date December 2-23, 1991
This high-profile criminal trial involved William Kennedy
Smith, nephew of the late U.S. president John F. Kennedy
and Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy and the son of for-
mer U.S. ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith.
On the evening of March 30, 1991, William Kennedy
Smith met Patricia Bowman at a Palm Beach,
Florida, bar he was visiting with his uncle Senator
Ted Kennedy and cousin Rhode Island representa-
tive Patrick Kennedy. Bowman and a friend went
back to the Kennedy estate with Smith and his rela-
tives. Smith and Bowman went for a walk on the
beach, and it was there that Bowman alleged that he
raped her. After the alleged assault, Bowman re-
turned to the Kennedy home, where she called a
friend to pick her up and take her to the police sta-
tion. After giving a statement to the Palm Beach Po-
lice Department, she was taken to Humana Hospital
to be examined and treated for injuries.
Upon questioning, Smith denied the rape allega-
tion, stating that they had engaged in consensual
sex. Bowman was subjected to two polygraph tests
and a voice stress analysis—all of which suggested
that she was telling the truth. Additionally, forensic
evidence collected at the hospital, including docu-
mentation of the bruises on Bowman’s body, sup-
ported her claim of sexual assault. Smith was eventu-
ally arrested and charged with rape, but not before
the Kennedy family was publicly accused of stone-
walling the authorities and attempting to obfuscate
the investigation. Several allegations of preferential
treatment were leveled at the police, with critics not-
ing that it took weeks after the alleged assault before
Smith was questioned or the property searched for
evidence.
Before the trial, three women came forward to
the prosecution and alleged that Smith had also
raped them. None of the three women had pressed
charges at the time of their alleged attack, noting
that they did not think they would be believed be-
cause of Smith’s family connections. The prosecu-
tion sought to include their testimony in order to es-
tablish a pattern of behavior on the part of the
defendant; the judge disallowed their testimony for
use as evidence at trial.
On December 2, 1991, the case went to trial and
was televised around the world. Bowman’s face was
electronically blurred during her testimony to pro-
tect her identity. The case ended with an acquittal on
December 23—a verdict reached after seventy-seven
minutes of deliberation.Impact This trial is considered to be one of the
most highly publicized and televised rape trials in
U.S. history. After the trial, Bowman allowed report-The Nineties in America Kennedy rape case 479