Good Ted, Bad Ted: The Two Faces of Edward M. Kennedy

Vacillating between sympathy and rebuke, this gossipy biography portrays Senator Edward Kennedy as ``the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of American politics.'' ``Good Ted'' is a fighter for the underprivileged, a ``superb legislator'' and caring father. ``Bad Ted'' is the liar of Chappaquiddick, the alcoholic and loutish sexual swinger. David, a journalist and author of five books on the Kennedys, limns Ted as ``a victim of the family mystique,'' unsuited for the role of patriarch which his father Joseph forced upon him after his brothers' deaths. He treads familiar ground in chapters on Chappaquiddick, nephew William Smith's acquittal on rape charges, the senator's sexual conquests and first wife Joan's emotional deterioration and recovery. David divulges that John Hinckley initially stalked Senator Kennedy for three months before he shot President Reagan. We also learn that Nixon, fearful of the prospect of facing Kennedy in the 1972 presidential campaign, launched a covert operation with aides John Ehrlichman and H. R. Haldeman to dig up dirt on Kennedy. Photos. Author tour. (May)