John F Kennedy Talk

JFK Image on Trial: Do details of an affair with a teen intern change your image of John F. Kennedy?

Former White House intern Mimi Alford one-upped Monica Lewinsky. She did considerably more than getting presidential splooge on a blue dress; this week, Alford revealed she allegedly lost her virginity to U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Frankly, who wouldn't?

If you're 19 and you've never had sex, losing "it" to the most powerful leader of the free world is wayyy more appealing than losing it to Bobby at the prom or Chip after the football game. The memories alone should be priceless. Not in Alford's case though. Her memories at worth $14.85 per copy of every autobiography sold.

Alford is doing her media tour, acting as if publishing the book is an exercise in catharsis, rather than betrayal. I don't begrudge her an opportunity to sell out the president for a buck. After all, these are her memories, too, and Kennedy has long been acknowledged as a playboy who regularly cheated on his wife.

So, this affair should really just fit right in with our image of JFK. It doesn't however. It is infinitely more sordid and disturbing. For the first time, I feel JFK's image has been irreparably tainted.

Perhaps it's because of the stark age difference and imbalance of power: Mimi was just 19 and the President was 45.

Perhaps it's because she was a virgin and she seemed to mean nothing to him.

Maybe it's that there was no romance. He reportedly never kissed her and ignored her publicly. She called him "Mr. President" in bed and they were not emotionally bonded.

As Alford tells the story in her new book, Kennedy pretty much viewed her as a piece of meat immediately upon meeting her. Alford revealed that Kennedy offered to give her a tour when she was hired to be an intern in his press office and then immediately took her to a bedroom where he allegedly began peeling off her clothes without asking, having sex with her in the most disrespectful of all places -- his marital bed. The former intern also asserts that on another occasion the President tried to give her a sex drug even though she said she didn't want one.

This contrasts with the image we had of JFK in his most famous affair with Marilyn Monroe. At least with her, Marilyn was as much the predator as she was prey. Plus, there seemed to be scintillating chemistry between them and the aura of carefree romance, in spite of the cloud of adultery.

Watching Mimi, now 69, tell her story to Meredith Vierra on "Rockcenter" Wednesday night simply made me sad. When they flashed JFK's picture at the end, he seemed rather pitiful to me and no longer charismatic and charming.

For that great loss, $14.85 seems too cheap.

Newest JFK Tapes Hint of Admirable Balance Between Fatherhood and National Leadership

Admirers and historians who like to hear how John F. Kennedy Jr. expressed himself when not formally giving television speeches to an American audience or making formal, public appearances, will treasure hearing recordings of private tapes recently unveiled by the JFK library and museum.

I’ve only heard snippets from clips show on news programs today, but the next time I’m in Washington, D.C., I’ll definitely be going to the library to hear more. Constantly, preserving himself on tape, JFK apparently recorded 260 hours of himself having telephone discussions or closed door meetings with officials. Most had already been released, but the remaining 45 hours that had been classified since his death have been made public. Often, his children were present and you can hear them in the background.

In the recordings, John F. Kennedy seemed to have a mix of casual formality that never came off as unpolished – even when his children were interrupting.

In one clip that I listened to, JFK had both his children, Caroline and John Jr., in the room while he was on the phone with a foreign official -- Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. He tells the children that they know the official because he gave them the gift of a dog, Pushinka. At that point, one of the children exclaims “Ooooh!”

Although there are much more serious moments, that’s my favorite because it appears JFK blended fatherhood and national leadership so well. In more weighty moments, the president discusses America’s race to send a man to the moon before Russia, conditions in Vietnam, and whether television clips to be shown at an upcoming Democratic National Convention should be black-and-white as usual, or in the new option: color.

To listen to these recordings, anyone can visit the JFK Library in D.C. and check out the audiovisual section of their archives. You might want to contact them ahead of time to make sure you can gain access to specific material: 617.514.1629 or Kennedy.Library@nara.gov.

In the Market for JFK Memorabilia?

Hearse of assassinated president for sale

Next week admirers of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy will have the rather gruesome opportunity to buy the hearse that ferried Kennedy’s body and his widow Jacqueline Kennedy to the Dallas airport for transport to Washington D.C. for his 1963 funeral and burial.

The white and silver Cadillac hearse with white curtains at the window and a green interior is one of several items up for sale in Scottsdale, Ariz. at the weeklong auction by the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company. Final sale of the vehicle will take place Jan. 21, although potential buyers can inspect it when the auction event opens on Sunday, Jan. 15.

I can't imagine too many people would be in the market for a hearse. Then, again, the ambulance that carried JFK was successfully auctioned a year ago by this same company. And gapers have been steadily viewing this hearse at museums for years.

The idea that the beloved president's bronze-colored casket lay in the hearse will mark the vehicle as a must-have nostalgic collectible and piece of history for some auction-goers with big enough pockets to win the relic.

But just how much would something like this go for? Perhaps not as much as you'd think.

In 2011, many expected bidding for the JFK ambulance to go for at least a million dollars.

It went for a fraction of that --selling for $120,000. Of course, there were rumors that the ambulance was not really the authentic one and had no association to JFK at all.

The hearse appears to be the real deal, though, as I can find no media reports deriding it as a scam.

Want it? Here are the auction details:

Date: Jan. 21.

What: 1964 Cadillac used to drive JFK's casket.

Place: WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 North Pima Road.

Lot #: 1293

Auction Contact: 480-421-6694

Go here to download bidding forms.

Good luck.