Just saw him speak. He wrote a new book on Jack Kennedy. At 39 years old I'm no spring chicken but out of the 1,000 people in attendance I saw maybe three people younger than me (not surprising of course because a book on Kennedy would attract an older crowd and most younger people are at work).
Interesting stories on JFK including could he get elected today with the health problems he had and specifically with being on steroids. Said because of the amount of time he had to spend alone as a kid due to his health issues he hated being alone as he got older. It was one reason he cheated so much and he often invited other couples over for dinner so it wasn't just he and Jackie. This was not because he didn't like Jackie he just wanted more people there. Also had a buddy who lived with them at the White House so he would always have a friend there. Hadn't heard that before. Would be pretty cool to be that guy. "Yeah, I'm living at the White House right now..."
Matthews said Obama has no real friends in Congress, that he is alone. Said he needs someone that will go on TV and have his back. He said if Obama losses the election Democrats will lose Congress so they need to work together.
Working for MSNBC and speaking in San Francisco he had to give some liberal shout outs. Said Republicans are idiots. Said they are anti-intellectual and anti-science. Said the Republican bench is better than the starting team of Cain, Palin, Bachmann etc. Made fun of Fox News.
(He did talk about how corrupt Joe Kennedy was and how JFK did not want to be like him in that regard. I believe Bfgrn may have had a heart attack if he was there to hear that.)
I am not surprised at accusations about Joe Sr. He was not lilly white, but he did make it through Congressional confirmation hearings. Any corruption of substance would have been brought out by his many enemies.
Lem Billings had a room at the White House. He was JFK's best friend from Choate prep school. Lem was gay.
“That John Kennedy maintained a deep friendship with a man whom he knew to be gay, and did so in an age of homophobia—at great potential risk to his political career and reputation—is an extraordinary demonstration of loyalty and commitment,” writes David Pitts, author of the first full account of what he characterizes as “a love story unknown to most Americans.” But, he reminds us, “risk avoidance was not part of Jack Kennedy’s DNA.”
At Choate, boys who were interested in sexual involvement with other boys were courteous and discreet, writing notes on toilet paper so they could be easily swallowed or flushed. Early on in their friendship, Lem sent Jack such a note and Jack replied in their usual jocular way, adding in parentheses, “Please don’t write to me on toilet paper any more. I’m not that kind of boy.” With that out of the way, their relationship continued essentially unchanged until JFK’s assassination thirty years later. When circumstances determined that Lem and Jack would attend different colleges, they kept in touch by telegram, sometimes dispatching up to seven a day, and they spent their weekends together in New York City.
Throughout his life, Jack Kennedy coped with incapacity and severe pain from his various ailments—Addison’s disease, colitis, hepatitis, malaria, recurring infections, and a bad back. Lem knew how to help Jack with all his old problems—and keep them confidential. Jack’s medical tribulations are a frequent subject of his amusing early letters to Lem, some of which are quoted in Nigel Hamilton’s 1992 book JFK: Reckless Youth.
The two friends’ relationship remained essentially unchanged even when Kennedy became president. He offered Billings a choice of administration posts, but Billings, who worked in advertising and was once offered a job as the Marlboro Man, preferred to buy and restore old houses. He stayed frequently in the White House, where he had his own room; only he, the President, and Jackie required no White House pass. He traveled and holidayed regularly with Kennedy, who would often introduce him to foreign dignitaries as “Admiral Billings” or “Undersecretary Billings.”
Jack Kennedy, it seems, was perfectly comfortable around gay people. Another gay friend, aviation adviser Langdon Marvin, recalls a discussion that took place while Kennedy was in the bath, with Sinatra singing “All or Nothing at All” on the record player. And seeing Leonard Bernstein and Igor Stravinsky exchanging kisses on both cheeks at a state dinner, Jack asked, “How about me?”
Although heterosexual, Kennedy’s interest was in sexual conquest rather than in “spending much time with women.” He enjoyed the company of bold, intelligent men who had a good sense of humor. “I just seem to be attracted by men like that,” he said. “Maybe it’s chemical.” He told an aide, “I only got married because I was 37 and people would think I was queer.” When he did marry, his wife got along well with Billings, who sometimes had to explain Jack to Jackie—or vice versa. It’s easy to forget that in JFK’s era, the press was far less intrusive than today. Pitts remarks that Kennedy’s aides “knew that the press would never print a story about the President’s best friend being gay—no more than they would print anything about his extramarital affairs.” Or the precarious state of his health.
After Robert Kennedy’s assassination, Billings became a surrogate father to Bobby Jr. and other Kennedy boys, several of whom have spoken of Billings with great affection. His leadership helped establish the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the John F. Kennedy Library. Senator Ted Kennedy described the friendship between his brother and Billings as “a bond of perfect trust and understanding that served them all their lives.” Eunice Kennedy Shriver is quoted as saying that “President Kennedy was a completely liberated man when he was with Lem.” Another friend remarks of the two men’s relationship, “it was love, and not all love has to be consummated.”
Jack & Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings
When JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Lem was in New York City. When Bobby Kennedy, whom Lem was also close to, died, it is said that Lem became exceedingly depressed. Rumor states that Billings began to drink heavily after this. Billings maintained close ties to the Kennedys and their children through his life. The older Kennedys made it clear that the younger Kennedys (Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., David Kennedy, and Christopher Lawford, to be specific) should stop keeping company with Billings. They felt that he drank and used recreational drugs too much. Regardless, Lem was like a father to Bobby Jr. after his father’s assassination.
Lem Billings died in his sleep following a heart attack on May 28, 1981. Lem’s dying wish was for the young Kennedy men to carry his coffin, but when the Kennedy men arrived at the cemetery, the casket was already in place, ready to be lowered. The young Kennedys retrieved the coffin from its position and carried it around the gravesite before returning it to the burial plot.
Jack & Lem: A life-long friendship
