JFK, Monster?
“I knew that John F. Kennedy was a compulsive, even pathological adulterer, given to taking outlandish risks after he entered the White House. I knew he treated women like whores. And I knew he had more than a few issues with his father about toughness and manliness and all that.”
— Timothy Noah, “JFK, Monster”
But Did Kennedy have an appetite for subjecting those close to him to extreme humiliation? Should we re-evaluate our esteem for America’s 35th president in light of recent revelations?
Photo courtesy of the International Business Times.
Day 6 - Cuban Missile Crisis
October 21, 1962. Soviet freighters turn and head back to Europe. The Bucharest, carrying only petroleum products, is allowed through the quarantine line. U.N. Secretary General U Thant calls for a cooling off period, which is rejected by Kennedy because it would leave the missiles in place.
Pictured, the day book of Evelyn Lincoln, the president’s personal secretary, shows JFK’s frenetic schedule of meetings, phone calls and conversations.
'Explosive' Jackie O Tapes to be released
They’ve been vaulted since their recording a few months after her husband’s death, but now the secret confessions of Jackie Kennedy Onassis will be released. The shocking tapes reveal that the former first lady believed that Lyndon Johnson and Texas businessmen were behind the assassination of her husband on Nov. 22, 1963. She also confesses to an affair with actor William Holden, an act of retaliation for her husband’s own romps with a 19-year-old White House intern and other women. Jackie recorded the tapes with the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., but asked that they not be released until 50 years after her death, fearing the confessions would have made her family targets for revenge. Although she died only 17 years ago, her daughter, Caroline Kennedy, has agreed to release them early and have them aired on a special program on ABC. It is believed she agreed to the release in exchange for the network dropping its $10 million series about the family.
(via apsies)
A PRESIDENT TO REMEMBER: IN THE COMPANY OF JOHN F. KENNEDY - 9:30 P.M. (HBO)
On the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President Kennedy, Robert Drew combines film footage from four of his documentaries from the early 1960s (“Primary,” “Adventures on the New Frontier,” “Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment” and “Faces of November”) to create an overview of Kennedy’s life, from his campaign as a young senator to his assassination in 1963. Using critical moments captured by Mr. Drew and his associates, Albert Maysles, D. A. Pennebaker, Richard Leacock, Hope Ryden and James Lipscomb, the film follows Kennedy as he meets with union workers as a fledgling candidate; watches approvingly as his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, gives a stump speech; strategizes with staffers about election tactics; deals with the Soviet Union and Nikita S. Khrushchev during the Cuban missile crisis; and works with his attorney general, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, during a showdown with Gov. George Wallace over the integration of the University of Alabama. The documentary, narrated by Alec Baldwin, ends with scenes of a grieving nation. - NYTimes
From The Big Picture - a look at JFK, 50 years after he was elected president.
Allow me to introduce the Boston Globe, now on Tumblr, with ENORMOUS, great photos.
(via newyorker)
“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”
The Undamaged Zapruder Film
This copy of the film was made before Life magazine damaged frames in their copy.
Audio - listen to ABC Radio break in to programming and announce the shooting of JFK 47 years ago today.
Today in History
Fifty years ago today, a 43 years old John F. Kennedy, was elected the 35th president of the United States. He defeated Richard Nixon in one of the closest national elections ever, winning the popular vote by two-tenths of one percent (49.7% to 49.5%), while taking the Electoral College 303 votes to Nixon’s 219.
LIFE:
Kennedy’s Catholicism was a major issue in the campaign. It was publicly discussed, debated, analyzed, and — frequently — openly derided. The sticking point for literally millions of Protestants, Baptists, Methodists, and other non-Catholics was that they believed — genuinely believed — that once in office JFK would be taking his marching orders from Rome. In September, 1960, amid increasingly heated and, indeed, hostile rhetoric about his faith, Kennedy accepted an invitation to speak before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association and famously told the largely skeptical gathering: “I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party candidate for President who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters — and the Church does not speak for me.”
Above: from LIFE’s JKF: Unpublished, Never-Seen Photos
Theodore Sorensen, best known as the chief speechwriter for former President John F. Kennedy, died Sunday.
Sorensen was given credit for drafting a letter for Kennedy to former Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis which helped avert a confrontation with the Soviets that could have led to war.
“That’s what I’m proudest of. Never had this country, this world, faced such great danger. You and I wouldn’t be sitting here today if that had gone badly.”
Kennedy Family Asks Linda McMahon To Halt Ad Saying JFK Would Support Her Position
“(Your ad) distorts the legacy of President Kennedy in order to mislead voters into thinking that President Kennedy would support your position on tax policy.”
“Your ad falsly implies that President Kennedy would support tax cuts for the same reasons that you do.”
“In 1963 there was virtually no deficit and the top tax rate was 91% percent for income over $400,000. Today, the annual U.S. deficit is nearly $1.5 trillion and the top tax rate is 35% for income over $372,500.” - Ted Kennedy Jr. son of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy
“If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity”
John F. Kennedy
Some see diversity as the fabric of America, others like Conservatives see diversity as wedge issues and rights for some, but not others.
(via liberalsarecool)
“We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.”
John F. Kennedy
- wwr
“Two kinds of women, those who want power in the world and those who want power in bed.”
Jackie Kennedy died this day, May 19, 1994
Weird coincidence: On This Day: 1962 - Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday” for President Kennedy at a New York fundraiser. - WestWingReport
