Indeed, it often seems that Kennedy did treat people who loved him for granted. As they became close, Billings confided that his relationship with Kennedy was, in fact, sexual, to a point. [63][25]:505 He maintained close ties to the Kennedys and their children for the rest of his life, frequently socializing with Bobby Kennedy Jr., to whom he became almost a surrogate father, and Christopher Lawford. The two had been friends since meeting as teenagers in prep school, and Billings even had his own room in the White House, but were they merely friends? When JFK was assassinated, he turned his attention to his nephew Bobby Kennedy Jr. "[48] Billings spent the last weekend of October 1963 with the couple, the last time he saw them together. Born in 1916, Billings was the son of a Pittsburgh doctor. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Billings had once told Bobby that. Billings had once told Bobby that when he died he wanted the pall-bearers to be members of Bobby's circle of young friends, whom he knew well and with whom he had done drugs. "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," David Pitts writes in his 2007 book Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship. Princeton University. Lem profited from the friendship--he was an official member of the Kennedy clan, he went to fancy White House parties and even had his own friendship at the presidential mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I have no evidence one way or another, but I would discount [any sexual activity.]. How Prince Harry's chat with guru who compared Hamas terrorists to Jews who battled the Nazis has appalled JAN MOIR: Goodbye Ken, the world always seemed safer with you on the airwaves, Abstaining from masturbating RAISES risk of anxiety, depression and erectile dysfunction, study warns. As Billings told researchers for an oral history interview for the John F. Kennedy Library, the two met as teenagers at Choate Preparatory School for boys in Wallingford, Connecticut, in 1933, while working on the student yearbook. Their very intimate relationship would last from those school days to Billings even having a room in the Kennedy White House distressing for the first lady to the day of Kennedy's assassination. [28] One presidential aide later said that "some people saw him so much they thought he was the Secret Service. Billings remarked (at the end of the story) that had he married and settled down, he would not have been happier than he was as . We might even call it a romantic friendship. President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas 50 years ago, leaving behind a mourning nation and his gay best friend, Lem Billings. It was Bobby Kennedy Jr. who gave the eulogy. When Jack discovered that Billings was gay once declining an amorous overture from Billings the friendship is thought to have gone on unharmed. Lem outlived his friend by eighteen years; he died in 1981, and left his papers to the JFK Presidential library in Boston, MA. I've had enough of life': Grandmother, 86, is reduced to tears after killjoy Tory RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: As Florida governor and Donald Trump rival Ron DeSantis steps up his bid to win the Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers speaks out on his deep depression after chemotherapy which left him having 'How I snatched JK Rowling's baby out of her abusive husband's arms - and helped her flee with the Harry Top equestrian rider, 39, once known as the 'golden girl' of horse eventing, is facing jail after being A possum feared extinct is discovered by an amateur naturalist in Papua New Guinea being cooked on a Now California reparations panel RAISES amount it wants to give 1.8m black people from $220,000 to $360,000 My weekly horoscope: What will March 4th 2023 bring for MY star sign? [10] In 1944 he received a commission in the U.S. Naval Academy. ", Billings' family could chafe at his adoration: "My uncle was not someone you could have a reasonable conversation with about what was going on with the Kennedys," his nephew said in Princeton's alumni magazine. However, an earlier book by Hollywood writer Lawrence Quirk alleges that Billings was not rebuffed. Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' They were bound together by a love of fun and practical jokes, resentment of Choate, and envy of their higher-achieving elder siblings -- Joe, Jack's brother, and Josh, Lem's brother." And all the while, Lem Billings was there: waiting, serving, comforting and helping the Kennedy family adjust to the public glare. A funny photo of Senator John McCain catching himself after he nearly left the stage in the wrong direction after shaking hands with Senator Barack Obama. JFK also shared women with male friends and relatives, a homoerotic impulse often seen in fraternities or other male organizations where men reinforce intimacy by having sex with the same woman. David Pitts quotes Vidal cruelly calling Billings "a lifelong slave," "the principal fag at court," and a "nurse" who helped Jack deal with the pain caused by Addison's disease. LeMoyne Billings and Ethel Kennedy attend Liza Minnelli Concert on May 23, 1970 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 1965, Mrs. Kennedy invited Billings to accompany her and her children to England for the unveiling of a memorial to Kennedy at Runnymede. She was expected to be constantly available for him, he was inconsiderate and unloving, and she was permitted to tell no one. Because of him, I was never lonely, Billings said once. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was an American businessman known for his close and long-time friendship with John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. "[21] In September 1961, he accepted an appointment to the board of trustees of the planned National Cultural Center, which later became the Kennedy Center. "[27] Arthur Schlesinger thought Billings "used to glare at me when we occasionally encountered each other in the company of JFK, and for a time I took this rather personally. Article. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Naval Reserve and served in the South Pacific until being discharged in 1946. I don't think it's true that he did not have views of his own, as some have said. I suppose if you dont do the missionary sex position thing you can call yourself straight and for any other position, it is just experimental straight sex? Joe generously paid for half the cost of Lem's ticket on the way over, saying Lem could pay at least part of it back when he graduated from Princeton. Felicia Farr m. 19622001 Cynthia Stone m. 19501956 Jack Lemmon / Wife He was 76. The elder Kennedys began to discourage the boys from associating with Billings because of his excessive recreational drug use (including alcohol). Although JFK embarked on affairs with women as a very young man, affairs that continued into his married life, Billings remained focused on an erotic life with men and never had a life partner. In Jackies absence, Lem managed the Presidents dinner parties, social life and children. If you want to discuss this further my e-mail:pscheck2@gmail.com). With that out of the way, their relationship continued essentially unchanged until JFK's assassination thirty years later.". And, say those close to him, Billings never, ever got over how his friend was assassinated one sunny day in Dallas exactly 58 years ago. "[41] Gore Vidal, who was banned from the White House after a run-in with Billings,[42] was critical of Billings,[43] but also thought Billings played an important role as an aide to Kennedy, who was often ill or in pain. [17] In 1956 he was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy's sister Jean to Stephen Edward Smith. [59], He escorted Jean Kennedy Smith, sister of the President, to a gala ballet performance in 1966[61] and Ethel Kennedy, the president's sister-in-law, to the 1971 opening of the Kennedy Center. Public Seminar is a journal of ideas, politics, and culture published by the Public Seminar Publishing Initiative at The New School. Perhaps, given his deep personal knowledge of the President and his friendship with the First Lady, he even gave directions as the photographer snapped the candid shots that would charm both the nation and historians. Plastic surgeon reveals five cosmetic procedures she would NEVER get - from dangerous Brazilian butt lifts BEL MOONEY:Why does caring for my dad take over my life? Co-executive Editor, Public Seminar and Professor of History, The New School for Social Research, Photo credit: Cecil Stoughton/Wikimedia Commons. 'People think I'm a joke,' he once acknowledged. Like the rest of the free world, Billings was devastated when President Kennedy was assassinated. 'Dear Mrs. Billings. 0 references. She had to submit questions in advance. The bond between Billings and John F. Kennedy continues to be of interest to many, with a new wave of attention cresting on social media apps like TikTok, where users have pored back over candid photos of the young men together. EXCLUSIVE: Head teacher of leading grammar school is sacked for sending parents a list of striking teachers. Was this part of his commitment to the Presidents good health? Why should a historian care about Kennedys sex life at all? While web sleuths and conspiracy theorists were looking for the person who killed her . Another shows older daughter Caroline, who became the American Ambassador to Japan under Barack Obama, learning to ride her pony. The two grew so close over the following months that Billings was invited to the Kennedy family home in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season and, months later, to their Hyannis Port compound, where he was badly burned in a defective shower and hospitalized for three weeks. Among the snapshots is one that shows a handsome pre-presidential Kennedy sunning himself, sprawled on a chaise at Patriarch Joe Kennedy's Palm Beach estate. educated at. Bobby's decision to pick up Jack's torch was important to Lem as well. As a younger man, he also served as something of a "go-between" for a young Jack Kennedy and the woman who would become Kennedy's wife, Jackie Bouvier, in 1950s Washington, D.C. One reason is that, in retrospect, the Kennedy presidency provides a transition from the years of what historian David K. Johnson calls the lavender scare and the unbuttoned, experimental 1960s that launched the gay rights movement. Lem Billings andBobby Kennedy Jr became close after JFK's death and allegedly took drugs together. Describing his friend as a "very normal, regular boy," Billings said his favorite of Jack's characteristics was his light spirit: "I've never known anyone in my life with such a wonderful humor and the wonderful ability to make one laugh and to have a good time. Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son," and he sometimes acted as escort for several of the Kennedy women. Lem had caught a cold in July by swimming in the Loire River at Chenonceau and Jack developed his own problems in Southampton on August 27 while saying goodbye to his mother and siblings Joe and Kick as they departed for America. One of their friends thought "that Jackie was trying to close Lem out. Both Jack and Lem were crazy about dogs and soon fell totally in love with little Dunker. [63], Billings served for many years along with Sargent Shriver as a trustee for the Kennedy family trusts,[65] working from an office in the Pan Am Building. "[41] At the same time, he admitted that no one ever expressed the idea aloud during Kennedy's White House years. Vidal thought Jacqueline Kennedy thought Billings "was kind of a nothing but Jack needed him and she was practical. And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. Prince Andrew has 'offered to manage prestigious Royal estates including Balmoral but King Charles has told PLATELL'S PEOPLE: Yes, Madonna toyboys are fun but not if you value your dignity. . [36] When the Kennedys spent the weekend at Glen Ora, their Virginia estate, Jacqueline Kennedy invited Billings to join them more often than the President did. An autopsy report says Billings' cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. In many ways, Kennedy was also enjoying the kind of sex life that would later characterize the gay mens party of the 1970s. But this may, in fact, just be gossip. "The agency, which was the 13th largest in the United States in 1971, went bankrupt the following year, listing almost $11 million in liabilities. [21][22] The next year, Kennedy named him to a board to plan America's participation in the New York World's Fair of 19645. Although Alford refused, she did not always have the self-confidence to say no: earlier, she had fellated a staff member in Jacks presence. Now thats very exciting! said Kennedy with a grin.. Once, Alford remembered, Kennedy suggested that she would be doing him a favor if she agreed to help his younger brother, Ted, a newly elected Senator, with his own tensions, while the President watched from across the pool. Williams, a handsome gay southerner, had already written seven hit plays. When the boy died at 4:19 a.m. Kennedy was clutching his little fingers. I'm not that kind of boy.' Bobby Kennedy Jr. gave the eulogy. A new book is claiming that John F. Kennedy had more than just a platonic friendship with his life-long gay best friend, Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings. Like many gay men of his generation, Lem may have been very comfortable with his own sexuality and the privacy of his relationship to Jack. 0 references. Soon I discovered that he glared with equal suspicion at anyone whose friendship with JFK postdated his own. Bobby Kennedy Jr. read the eulogy. A queer perspective on JFK is not readily visible in official histories that feature iconic images and stories about one of the first administrations to offer the public ongoing access to the White Houses backstage. Sitelinks. After Jack Kennedy's election to the presidency, Billings was a constant presence and overnight guest at the White House. Ted Sorensen called him "an admirer almost a fawning admirer of his friend. Billings once admitted that he made a pass at Jack early on. While trying to locate the body of a dead CI named Angie Stubbs, Lem stole a brick of heroin from Salvadoran drug dealer Pittario and warned him that he would only give it back once he located the body. Jack" he said as he gazed at him softly, It's been a long time. Lem Billings is a member of famous Celebrity list. Perhaps, however, Billings simply chose not to come out for his own reasons, devoting much of the rest of his life to preserving the memory of the man he loved. "[53] Though newspapers often mentioned Billings' attendance at major social events, they identified him either as the escort of a member of the Kennedy family or included him in a list of Kennedy friends. Born in 1916, he was the son of a Pittsburgh doctor. It would go on to become one of his most prized possessions." Those who knew Charles described him as a sour, angry man. When Jack reached home, the two friends greeted each other like there was no tomorrow." The pair matriculated at Princeton together in the fall of 1935, although Jack had to withdraw for health reasons, probably early signs of the Addisons disease that would plague him the rest of his life. [54] Billings had his own room in the White House. In their own words: 'each death is attributed to a single underlying cause the cause that initiated the series of . ", Matriarch Rose Kennedy wrote in her biography that Billings was "one of 'Jack's surprises,' " and soon found a place for himself: "He has really been part of 'our family' since that first time he showed up at our house. Billings took leave from his business career to work on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. In the summer of 1937 Billings and Kennedy took a summer trip through Europe which solidified their friendship. place of burial. [4] Billings' first visit with the Kennedy family was for Christmas in Palm Beach in 1933, after that, he joined them for holidays, participated in family events, and was treated like a member of the family. [55] Kennedy knew that homosexual behavior on the part of Billings had been revealed by a fellow Choate student during their years there. In less than a year, the country would be at war." Anyone who wants to know more about JFKs actual sex life can email me at tim.a.nicholson@gmail.com Here is my sons grandfather with JFK in Dec 1963. [56] Charles L. Bartlett, a journalist who introduced Kennedy to Jacqueline Bouvier[57] and friend of both Billings and Kennedy, described their relationship: "Lem was a stable presence for Jack. it would not surprise me knowing how most of the Kennedys (including ole Joe!) Billings was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 15, 1916, the third child of Frederic Tremaine Billings (18731933) and Romaine LeMoyne (18821970). Kennedy. John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings, right, who was a classmate from the Choate School and Princeton University, outside a drugstore, ca. JFK's oldest and best friend was Kirk LeMoyne Billings, known as "Lem." The two became fast friends in prep school and, after graduation, they traveled to Europe together. This was at the end of their final presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York in October, 2008. I really got to know them well. Claire Potteris professor of history at The New School, and Executive Editor of Public Seminar. Knowing the kind of intimate relationship that he had with the president, advisers were concerned about political repercussions, and even blackmail. Lem Billings (left) with John F Kennedy (right) Kennedy and Billings had a sexual relationship including 'oral sex, with Jack always on the receiving end.' Kennedys in Hollywood by Lawrence J. Quirk / The Dark Side Of The Dream The comments below have been moderated in advance. JFK's Best Friend Lem: Transcript. In photos and excerpts from David Pitts's book Jack & Lem, we remember President John F. Kennedy through the lens of his lifelong friendship with Lem Billings. Lemmon died about 9 p.m. Wednesday at USC/Norris Cancer Center with his wife, actress Felicia Farr, two children and a stepdaughter at his bedside.
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