Image via Complex Original
Today marks the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination, and there's still much to be learned about the personal life of the iconic former president. At times Kennedy seems like a mythical icon, shrouded in a curtain of conspiracies and the overly romanticized and distorted Camelot/ Kennedy administration metaphor.
Was Kennedy a truly great president as purported by mainstream media? Despite his political and philanthropic endeavors, like the startup of the Peace Corps, his engagement in civil rights, and his adept management of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy's personal flaws, like his dependency on drugs and his womanizing liaisons, remained hush-hush throughout much of his presidency.
Maybe that's why Americans have remained fixated on JFK. Get to know the most elusive icon in American culture: 14 Things You Didn't Know About JFK.
14. JFK had a gay best friend named Lem Billings.
Serving as his longtime friend and special confidante, Lem Billings was JFK's best friend of nearly three decades up until his Kennedy's assassination. Upon meeting at Choate high school, Kennedy and Billings were inseparable. However, unknown to many, Billings even had his own room at the White House, where he was able to soothe JFK's temperament in dealing with political affairs. But this isn't to say that Kennedy and Billing's relationship ever consummated into a romantic one, it was purely a deep platonic relationship. The extent to their friendship could easily be captured by the fact that JFK was buried with a friendship namesake: a whale scrimshaw which was a gift from Lem. While it was never absolutely confirmed, everyone knew that Lemmings was gay but was kept silent as not to tarnish the Kennedy legacy at the time. However, it was speculated that Lemmings had deeper feelings for the President: "Jack made a big difference in my life. Because of him, I was never lonely," stated Lemmings in personal documents. "He may have been the reason I never got married."
[via Woolf and Wilde]
13. JFK might have survived his assassination if not for his brace.
Due to a sports injury in high school, JFK suffered from severe back pain, which resulted in him wearing a back brace during his presidency. Dr. Kenneth Slayer, who was the president's doctor at the time of the assassination, noticed that JFK was donned with a heavy brace from his chest to below his waist, which he believes may have cost Kennedy his life. Although his chances of living still may have been slim, Slayer suggested that the first shot that hit him had the velocity to knock the President completely down in the car. If he hadn't had his back brace on, Kennedy could have been knocked down, avoiding the fatal head shot.
[via The Inquisitr]
12. JFK's favorite record was the Broadway record of Camelot, inspiring the "Camelot" Kennedy legacy.
An idealist and optimist at heart, Kennedy had a huge interest in romanticized historical legends like King Arthur. He was also fascinated with heroes and Broadway, and often listened to musicals before going to bed. In Mrs. Kennedy's interview with Theodore White for Time magazine, the widowed First Lady told White "At night before going to bed...we had an old Victrola. It was a song he loved, he loved 'Camelot.'" But the late president and first lady took admiration for the last rhyming couplet at the end: "Don't let it be forgot that for one brief shining moment there was Camelot." This line, which was merely an obsession to Jackie, later became the foreground to the long-lasting metaphor between Camelot and the Kennedy administration. While it now serves as an epitaph of failed idealism; at the time, it served as a shining beacon of hope amongst a time of political strife and uncertainty.
[via The Daily Beast]
11. There are some eerie similarities between JFK and Lincoln's deaths.
Although they are merely coincidences, it's still sort of eerie to count the many similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy. Both were elected to the House of Representatives in '46 and elected to presidency in '60 (Lincoln in 1846 and 1860 and Kennedy in 1946 and 1960). Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre; Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in a Lincoln automobile, made by Ford. Booth ran from a theatre to a warehouse, while Oswald ran from a warehouse to a theatre. These are only a few from the extensive list of similarities.
10. JFK is the only president to win a Purple Heart and Pulitzer Prize.
Unlike other presidents, Kennedy was the first president to earn a Pulitzer Prize and a Purple Heart. In 1957, JFK wrote "Profiles of Courage, a book about U.S. senators who risked their careers for their personal beliefs and won a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy also received a Purple Heart for his courageous actions, rescuing three men in his crew from a destroyed boat rammed by a Japanese destroyer.
[via History]
9. JFK had a doctor named Dr. Feelgood.
Under the name Dr. Feelgood, Max Jacobson became Kennedy's close confidante and, in a sense, drug dealer. While suffering from numerous diseases, Kennedy was always in search of a way to keep the pain at bay. Dr. Feelgood's patients included not only JFK but Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Elizabeth Taylor, and Truman Capote, among others. It's also rumored that JFK may have been on Dr. Feelgood's elixir during the 1960 presidential debate when a charismatic Kennedy swept the floor against a sweat-clad and nervous Nixon. "I don't care if it's horse p*ss," said JFK. "It makes me feel good."
[via Daily Mail]
8. JFK's famous quote was inspired by his high school's headmaster.
Remember that famous quote, "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country?" Well, Kennedy was likely inspired by his deans down at Choate high school. Headmaster George St. John, who gave sermons at Choate, included a similar phrase in his speeches: "The youth who loves his Alma Mater will always ask, not 'What can she do for me?' but 'What can I do for her?'"
[via About]
7. JFK bought 1,200 Cuban cigars before declaring them illegal.
Despite his constant bouts of ailments, JFK still indulged in his occasional guilty pleasure: Cuban cigars. When he authorized the U.S. trade embargo, which would make Cuban imports contraband, Kennedy was faced with a predicament. Hours before the embargo was implemented, Kennedy asked his head of press and fellow cigar smoker Pierre Salinger to obtain 1,000 Petit Upmanns before they were deemed illegal. The next morning, Salinger went above and beyond and got 1,200 cigars for the president.
[via Daily Mail]
6. JFK donated his entire salary to charity.
Born into a rich family, JFK was always well off. Luckily, despite his flaws, he remained a humble and charitable man even to his presidency. Quite the philanthropist, JFK, like Hoover, donated his presidential salary of $150,000 to charity. Kennedy was also known for jumpstarting many profitable programs to help the poor, such as the Peace Corps.
[via PBS]
5. JFK wasn't a good student in high school, but still attended Harvard.
John's M.O. in high school was probably "Cs get degrees." Too busy plotting his next prank, JFK didn't spend much time on academics, and if he did, it didn't show in his transcript. On his transcript JFK's lowest grade was 50 in physics and his highest was an 85 in history. In a letter of recommendation, his father wasn't shy about criticizing his son's flaws: "Jack has a very brilliant mind for the things in which he is interested, but is careless and lacks application in those in which he is not interested." If you're still confounded as to how he got into one of the nation's most prestigious colleges, JFK's letter of interest further complicates things. What serves as the passe why-I-want-to-go-to-this-school essay, John wrote: "I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer." If Harvard received an application like this in 2013, the deans of admissions would probably laugh it off.
[via Washington Post]
4. Jackie Kennedy kind of told Marilyn Monroe off.
It should come as no secret: JFK and Marilyn Monroe had an affair. But many people don't know how heated the exchanges were between the sex icon and the first lady. Marilyn Monroe telephoned Jackie Kennedy to confess to having an affair with her husband only to be granted a snarky blessing: "Marilyn, you'll marry Jack, that's great... And you'll move into the White House and you'll assume the responsibilities of First Lady, and I'll move out and you'll have all the problems." According to a book entitled These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack and Jackie, Andersen described the notorious love triangle in the White House, noting that Monroe fully believed the President would leave Jackie. "Can't you just see me as First Lady?" a starry-eyed Monroe once asked her confidante Jeanne Carmen.
[via Daily Mail]
3. JFK was a prankster in high school.
Throughout his childhood, JFK had a friendly competition against his older brother Joe Kennedy. During his early academic years, John was in his older brother's looming shadow, which is likely why he became the school's biggest class clown. When Kennedy attended Choate high school in 1931, he exploded a toilet seat with a firecracker, which was later regarded by the headmasters as an antic perpetrated by "muckers." With a sense of wit and humor at an early age, Kennedy founded the "Mucker's Club," a small social group among his closest friends.
[via The Morning Record Newspaper1975]
2. JKF made a fake James Bond movie.
According to a new book entitled "JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and his Presidency," Kennedy took his obsession with James Bond to borderline fandom extreme. A month before his death, JFK created a fake James Bond movie that ironically depicted his assassination. Keeping true to the story, the grieving widow was played by Jackie Kennedy and perplexed Secret Service agents were played by the Secret Service themselves.
[via JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President]
1. JFK was a huge James Bond fan.
In a press conference, a reporter asked Kennedy what his favorite genre of books were, and, to his surprise, the President responded with the James Bond Series. While the series remained moderately successful in the '50s, the detective series skyrocketed to ubiquity once the public discovered it was Kennedy's favorite book hero. Kennedy even invited the author, Ian Fleming, to one of his lavish dinner parties. During a conversation, Fleming suggested the key behind Fidel Castro's unrelenting power was his beard. Kennedy later announced that the U.S. had found that beards attract radioactivity, which would later prompt Castro to shave his beard.
[via TIME]