In 1969, Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick, an island near Martha's Vineyard. The car went into the water, and though Kennedy swam free, his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned in the overturned vehicle. Kennedy fled the scene and waited nine hours to report the incident he later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident.

He responded, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”