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CHAPTER 2

John Kennedy’s Personal life

The second of nine children, Kennedy was reared in a family that demanded
intense physical and intellectual competition among the siblings—the family’s
touch football games at their Hyannis Port retreat later became legendary—and
was schooled in the religious teachings of the Roman Catholic church and the
political precepts of the Democratic Party. His father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, had
acquired a multimillion-dollar fortune in banking, bootlegging, shipbuilding, and
the film industry, and as a skilled player of the stock market. His mother, Rose,
was the daughter of John F. (“Honey Fitz”) Fitzgerald, onetime mayor of Boston.
They established trust funds for their children that guaranteed lifelong financial
independence. After serving as the head of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, Joseph Kennedy became the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, and
for six months in 1938 John served as his secretary, drawing on that experience to
write his senior thesis at Harvard University (B.S., 1940) on Great Britain’s
military unpreparedness. He then expanded that thesis into a best-selling book, ‘
Why England Slept’ (1940).John Kennedy is celebrated as a hero among the
Presidents of the United States Of America because he successfully negotiated
with the Soviet Union during the Cold War specifically during the Cuban Missile
crisis in addition to establishing the Peace Corps with his brother-in –law Sargent
Shriver then following with support for civil rights. Young Jack Kennedy grew up
in big, beautiful houses and received a top quality education. His family did not
suffer during the Great Depression, as many Americans had. Instead, the Kennedy
children swam, sailed boats and played sports. Jack also enjoyed reading books
and following the news. His older brother Joe wanted to enter politics, but Jack
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said he might become a teacher or writer. When he was a college student at

Harvard, Jack wrote a long paper about Britain in the years leading up to World
War II. A version of it was published in 1940 as a book. The war changed Jack’s
thinking about his future plans. During World War II, both Jack and his older
brother joined the U.S. Navy. In the Pacific, Jack became a hero. Kennedy had
done a bit of acting, which was one of his passions (he had appeared in many plays
while at Brown). He expressed interest in acting as a career, but his mother
strongly disapproved of it, considering it an unsuitable profession. On August 4,
1985, Kennedy made his New York acting debut in front of an invitation-only
audience at the Irish Theater on Manhattan's West Side. Executive director of the
Irish Arts Center, Nye Heron, said that Kennedy was "one of the best young actors
I've seen in years". Kennedy's director, Robin Saxe, stated, "He has an earnestness
that just shines through." Kennedy's largest acting role was playing a fictionalized
version of himself in the eighth-season episode of the sitcom Murphy Brown,
called "Altered States". In this episode, Kennedy visits Brown at her office, in
order to promote a magazine he is publishing.

Affairs and friendships

Kennedy was single in the 1940s while having relationships with Danish
journalist Inga Arvad and actress Gene Tierney. During his time as a Senator, he
had an affair with Gunilla von Post, who later wrote that the future President tried
to end his marriage to be with her before having any children with his
wife. Kennedy was also reported to have had affairs with women such as Marilyn
Monroe, Judith Campbell, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Marlene Dietrich, Mimi
Alford, and his wife's press secretary, Pamela Turnure. The full extent of
Kennedy's relationship with Monroe is not known, although it has been reported
that they spent a weekend together in March 1962 while he was staying at Bing
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Crosby's house. Furthermore, people at the White House switchboard noted that

Monroe had called Kennedy during 1962. J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director,
received reports about Kennedy's indiscretions. These included an alleged East
German spy Ellen Rometsch. According to historian Michael Beschloss, in July
1963, Hoover reportedly informed Bobby Kennedy about the affair. Hoover told
the Attorney General that he not only had information that the president, but also
others in Washington, had been involved with a woman "suspected as a Soviet
intelligence agent, someone linked to East German intelligence". Bobby Kennedy
reportedly took the matter sufficiently seriously to raise it with leading Democratic
and Republican figures in Congress. Former Secret Service agent Larry Newman
also remembered "morale problems" that the president's indiscretions engendered
within the Secret Service. Kennedy inspired affection and loyalty from the
members of his team and his supporters. According to Reeves, this included "the
logistics of Kennedy's liaisons ... which required secrecy and devotion rare in the
annals of the energetic service demanded by successful politicians." Kennedy
believed that his friendly relationship with members of the press would help
protect him from public revelations about his sex life Lem Billings was Kennedy's
"oldest and best friend" from the time they attended Choate together until
Kennedy's death. In the fall of 1941 Kennedy joined the U.S. Navy and two years
later was sent to the South Pacific. By the time he was discharged in 1945, his
older brother, Joe, who their father had expected would be the first Kennedy to run
for office, had been killed in the war, and the family’s political standard passed to
John, who had planned to pursue an academic or journalistic career. John
Kennedy himself had barely escaped death in battle. Commanding a patrol torpedo
(PT) boat, he was gravely injured when a Japanese destroyer sank it in the
Solomon Islands. Marooned far behind enemy lines, he led his men back to safety
and was awarded the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism. He also
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returned to active command at his own request. (These events were later depicted
in a Hollywood film, PT 109 [1963], that contributed to the Kennedy mystique.)
However, the further injury to his back, which had bothered him since his teens,
never really healed. Despite operations in 1944, 1954, and 1955, he was in pain for
much of the rest of his life. He also suffered from Addison disease, though
this affliction was publicly concealed. “At least one-half of the days he spent on
this earth,” wrote his brother Robert, “were days of intense physical pain.” (After
he became president, Kennedy combated the pain with injections of amphetamines
—then thought to be harmless and used by more than a few celebrities for their
energizing effect. According to some reports, both Kennedy and the first
lady became heavily dependent on these injections through weekly use.) None of
this prevented Kennedy from undertaking a strenuous life in politics. His family
expected him to run for public office and to win. In 1995, Kennedy and Michael
Berman founded George, a glossy, politics-as-lifestyle and fashion monthly, with
Kennedy controlling 50 percent of the shares. Kennedy officially launched the
magazine at a news conference in Manhattan on September 8 and joked that he had
not seen so many reporters in one place since he failed his first bar exam. Each
issue of the magazine contained an editor's column and interviews written by
Kennedy, who believed they could make politics "accessible by covering it in an
entertaining and compelling way" which would allow "popular interest and
involvement" to follow. Kennedy did interviews with Louis Farrakhan, Billy
Graham, Garth Brooks, and others. The first issue was criticized for its image
of Cindy Crawford posing as George Washington in a powdered wig and ruffled
shirt. In defense of the cover, Kennedy stated that "political magazines should look
like Mirabella." In July 1997, Vanity Fair had published a profile of New York
City mayor Rudy Giuliani, claiming that the mayor was sleeping with his press
secretary (which both parties denied). Although tempted to follow up on this story,
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Kennedy decided against it. The same month, Kennedy wrote about

meeting Mother Teresa, declaring that the "three days I spent in her presence was
the strongest evidence this struggling Catholic has ever had that God exists."

Family

The Kennedy family is one of the most established political families in the
United States, having produced a president, three senators, three ambassadors, and
multiple other representatives and politicians, both at the federal and state level.,
Kennedy embarked on a seven-week trip to India, Japan, Vietnam, and Israel in
1951, at which point he became close with his then 25-year-old brother Bobby, as
well as his 27-year-old sister Pat. Because they were several years apart in age, the
brothers had previously seen little of each other. This 25,000-mile (40,000 km) trip
was the first extended time they had spent together and resulted in their becoming
best friends. Bobby would eventually play a major role in his brother's career,
serving as his brother's attorney general and presidential advisor. Bobby would
later run for president in 1968 before his assassination, another Kennedy brother,
Ted, ran for president in 1980.Kennedy addressed the 1988 Democratic National
Convention in Atlanta, introducing his uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy. He invoked
his father's inaugural address, calling "a generation to public service", and received
a two-minute standing ovation. Republican consultant Richard Vaguer said he did
not remember a word of the speech, but remembered "a good delivery" and added,
"I think it was a plus for the Democrats and the boy. He is strikingly
handsome." People Magazine named Kennedy the Sexiest Man Alive in 1988.
Kennedy participated in his cousin Patrick J. Kennedy's campaign for a seat in
the Rhode Island House of Representatives by visiting the district. He sat outside
the polling booth and had his picture taken with "would-be" voters. The polaroid
ploy worked so well in the campaign that Patrick J. Kennedy used it again in
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1994.Kennedy also campaigned in Boston for his uncle's re-election to the U.S.

Senate against challenger Mitt Romney in 1994. "He always created a stir when he
arrived in Massachusetts," remarked Senator Kennedy. While attending Brown
University, Kennedy met Sally Munro, whom he dated for six years. While he was
a student at Brown, he also met Brooke Shields, with whom he was later linked.
Kennedy also dated models Cindy Crawford and Julie Baker, as well as
actress Sarah Jessica Parker, who said she enjoyed dating Kennedy but realized he
"was a public domain kind of a guy." Parker claimed to have no idea what "real
fame" was until dating Kennedy and felt that she should "apologize for dating him"
since it became the "defining factor in the person" she was. Kennedy had known
actress Daryl Hannah since their two families had vacationed together in St.
Maarten in the early '80s. After meeting again at the wedding of his aunt Lee
Radziwill in 1988, they dated for five and a half years, though their relationship
was complicated by her feelings for singer Jackson Browne, with whom she had
lived for a time. Also during this time, Kennedy dated Christina Haag. They had
known each other as children, and she also attended Brown University.

Marriage

After his relationship with Daryl Hannah ended, Kennedy cohabitated with
Carolyn Bessette, who worked in the fashion industry. They were engaged for a
year, though Kennedy consistently denied reports of this. On September 21, 1996,
they married in a private ceremony on Cumberland Island, Georgia, where his
sister, Caroline, was matron of honor and his cousin Anthony Radziwill was best
man. The next day, Kennedy's cousin Patrick revealed that the pair had married.
When they returned to their Manhattan home, a mass of reporters was on the
doorstep. One of them asked Kennedy if he had enjoyed his honeymoon, to which
he responded: "Very much." He added "Getting married is a big adjustment for us,
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and for a private citizen like Carolyn even more so. I ask you to give her all the
privacy and room you can." But Carolyn was, in fact, badly disoriented by the
constant attention from the paparazzi. The couple was permanently on show, both
at fashionable Manhattan events, and on their travels to visit celebrities such as
Mariuccia Mandelli and Gianni Versace.[56] She also complained to her friend,
journalist Jonathan Soroff, that she could not get a job without being accused of
exploiting herfame. In June 2019, Billy Noonan, a longtime friend of John F.
Kennedy Jr., released a video tape of the secret wedding. On July 13,
2019, TLC aired JFK Jr. and Carolyn's Wedding: The Lost Tapes, a two-hour
special containing footage of the wedding along with interviews with family and
guests.

Wife and children

Kennedy met his future wife, Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier (1929–1994),

when he was a congressman. Charles L. Bartlett, a journalist, introduced the pair at
a dinner party. They were married a year after he was elected senator, on
September 12, 1953. After suffering a miscarriage in 1955 and a stillbirth in 1956
(their daughter Arabella), their daughter Caroline was born in 1957 and is the only
surviving member of JFK's immediate family. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr.,
nicknamed "John-John" by the press as a child, was born in late November 1960,
17 days after his father was elected. John Jr., a graduate of Brown University, died
in 1999 when the small plane he was piloting crashed en route to Martha's
Vineyard. In 1963, months before JFK's assassination, Jackie gave birth to a
son, Patrick. However, he died after 2 days due to complications from birth.
Kennedy and his wife were younger in comparison to the presidents and first ladies
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who preceded them, and both were popular in the media culture in ways more
common to pop singers and movie stars than politicians, influencing fashion trends
and becoming the subjects of numerous photo spreads in popular magazines.
Although Eisenhower had allowed presidential press conferences to be filmed for
television, Kennedy was the first president to ask for them to be broadcast live and
made good use of the medium. In 1961 the Radio-Television News Directors
Association presented Kennedy with its highest honor, the Paul White Award, in
recognition of his open relationship with the media. Mrs. Kennedy brought new art
and furniture to the White House and directed its restoration. They invited a range
of artists, writers and intellectuals to rounds of White House dinners, raising the
profile of the arts in America. On the White House lawn, the Kennedys established
a swimming pool and tree house, while Caroline attended a preschool along with
10 other children inside the home. Kennedy was closely tied to popular culture,
emphasized by songs such as "Twisting at the White House". Vaughn
Meader's First Family comedy album, which parodied the president, the first lady,
their family, and the administration, sold about four million copies. On May 19,
1962, Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" at a large party
in Madison Square Garden, celebrating Kennedy's upcoming forty-fifth birthday.

He was the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic ever elected to the
presidency of the United States. His administration lasted 1,037 days. From the
onset he was concerned with foreign affairs. In his memorable inaugural address,
he called upon Americans “to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle…against
the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” He
declared:
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In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been
granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.
I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it.…The energy,
the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our
country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly
light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your
country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

He was an immensely popular president, at home and abroad. At times he

seemed to be everywhere at once, encouraging better physical fitness, improving
the morale of government workers, bringing brilliant advisers to the White House,
and beautifying Washington, D.C. His wife joined him as an advocate for
American culture. Their two young children, Caroline Bouvier and John F., Jr.,
were familiar throughout the country. The charm and optimism of the Kennedy
family seemed contagious, sparking the idealism of a generation for whom the
Kennedy White House became, in journalist Theodore White’s famous analogy,
Camelot—the magical court of Arthurian legend, which was celebrated in a
popular Broadway musical of the early 1960s.

Reputation

Historians tend to rate JFK as a good president, not a great one. But Americans

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consistently give him the highest approval rating of any president since Franklin D.

Roosevelt. among the many monuments to John F. Kennedy, perhaps the most
striking is the

Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, in the building that was once the Texas School
Book

Depository. Every year, nearly 350,000 people visit the place where Lee Harvey
Oswald

waited on November 22, 1963, to shoot at the president’s motorcade. The museum

itself is an

oddity because of its physical connection to the event it illuminates; the most
memorable—

and eeriest—moment of a visit to the sixth floor is when you turn a corner and face
the

window through which Oswald fired his rifle as Kennedy’s open car snaked
through Dealey

Plaza’s broad spaces below. The windows are cluttered once again with cardboard
boxes, just

as they had been on that sunny afternoon when Oswald hid there.Visitors from all
over the

world have signed their names in the memory books, and many have written
tributes: “Our
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greatest President.” “Oh how we miss him!” “The greatest man since Jesus Christ.”
At least

as many visitors write about the possible conspiracies that led to JFK’s
assassination. The

contradictory realities of Kennedy’s life don’t match his global reputation. But in
the eyes of

the world, this reticent man became a charismatic leader who, in his life and in his
death,

served as a symbol of purpose and hope. President Kennedy spent less than three
years in the

White House. His first year was a disaster, as he himself acknowledged. The Bay
of Pigs

invasion of Communist Cuba was only the first in a series of failed efforts to undo
Fidel

Castro’s regime. His 1961 summit meeting in Vienna with the Soviet leader Nikita

Khrushchev was a humiliating experience. Most of his legislative proposals died

on Capitol

Hill.Yet he was also responsible for some extraordinary accomplishments. The

most

important, and most famous, was his adept management of the Cuban missile crisis
in 1962,

widely considered the most perilous moment since World War II. Most of his
military
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advisers—and they were not alone—believed the United States should bomb the
missile pads

that the Soviet Union was stationing in Cuba. Kennedy, aware of the danger of
escalating the

crisis, instead ordered a blockade of Soviet ships. In the end, a peaceful agreement
was

reached. Afterward, both Kennedy and Khrushchev began to soften the

relationship between

Washington and Mosco.

Kennedy, during his short presidency, proposed many important steps forward.
In an

address at American University in 1963, he spoke kindly of the Soviet Union,

thereby easing

the ColdWar. The following day, after almost two years of mostly avoiding the
issue of civil

rights, he delivered a speech of exceptional elegance, and launched a drive for a

civil-rights

bill that he hoped would end racial segregation. He also proposed a voting-rights
bill and

federal programs to provide health care to the elderly and the poor. Few of these
proposals

became law in his lifetime—a great disappointment to Kennedy, who was never
very
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successful with Congress. But most of these bills became law after his death—in
part because

of his successor’s political skill, but also because they seemed like a monument to
a martyred

president. Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected to the presidency,
succeeding the man

who, at the time, was the oldest. He symbolized—as he well realized—a new
generation and

its coming-of-age. He was the first president born in the 20th century, the first
young veteran

of World War II to reach the White House. John Hersey’s powerful account of
Kennedy’s

wartime bravery, published in The New Yorker in 1944, helped him launch his
political

career. In shaping his legend, Kennedy’s personal charm helped. A witty and
articulate

speaker, he seemed built for the age of television. To watch him on film today is to
be struck

by the power of his presence and the wit and elegance of his oratory. His
celebrated inaugural

address was filled with phrases that seemed designed to be carved in stone, as
many of them

have been. Borrowing a motto from his prep-school days, putting your country in
place
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of Choate, he exhorted Americans: “Ask not what your country can do for you—
ask what

you can do for your country.”Another contributor to the Kennedy legend,

something deeper

than his personal attractiveness, is the image of what many came to call grace. He
not

only had grace, in the sense of performing and acting gracefully; he was also a man
who

seemed to receive grace. He was handsome and looked athletic. He was wealthy.

He had a

captivating wife and children, a photogenic family. A friend of his, the journalist
Ben

Bradlee, wrote a 1964 book about Kennedy called ‘That Special Grace’. The
Kennedys lit up the

White House with writers, artists, and intellectuals: the famous cellist Pablo
Casals, the poet

Robert Frost, the French intellectual André Malraux. Kennedy had graduated from
Harvard, and

stocked his administration with the school’s professors. He sprinkled his public
remarks with

quotations from poets and philosophers. The Kennedy’s family helped create his
career and,

later, his legacy. He could never have reached the presidency without his father’s
help. Joseph
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Kennedy, one of the wealthiest and most ruthless men in America, had counted on
his first son,

Joe Jr., to enter politics. When Joe died in the war, his father’s ambitions turned to
the next-

oldest son. He paid for all of John’s—Jack’s—campaigns and used his millions to
bring in

supporters. He prevailed on his friend Arthur Krock, of The New York Times, to
help Jack

publish his first book, ‘Why England Slept. Years’.Later, when Kennedy

wrote Profiles in

Courage with the help of his aide Theodore Sorensen, Krock lobbied successfully
for the book to

win a Pulitzer Prize. He had the brains, the courage, a shy charisma, good looks,
idealism, and

money.  Kennedy’s image of youth and vitality is, to some degree, a myth. His
ability to serve as

president was itself a profile in courage.

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