Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot (81 page)

Read Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot Online

Authors: J. Randy Taraborrelli

Tags: #Large Type Books, #Legislators' Spouses, #Presidents' Spouses, #Biography & Autobiography, #Women

Volumes consulted:
To Jack with Love; Black Jack Bou- vier: A Remembrance,
by Kathleen Bouvier;
The Bouviers,
by John Davis;
The Auchincloss Family,
by Joanna Russell Auchincloss and Caroline Auchincloss;
Our Forebears,
by John Vernou Bouvier, Jr. (privately printed);
The Kennedy Legacy,
by Theodore Sorenson;
With Kennedy,

by Pierre Salinger;
Upstairs at the White House,
by J. B. West;
Diamonds and Diplomats,
by Letitia Baldrige;
Power at Play,
by Betty Beale;
Ethel Kennedy and Life at Hickory Hill,
by Leah Mason (unpublished manuscript);
The Other Mrs. Kennedy,
by Jess Oppenheimer;
Ethel,
by David Lester;
The Kennedy Women,
by Laurence Leamer;
Jack and Jackie,
by Christopher Andersen;
All Too Human,
by Edward Klein;
The Sins of the Father,
by Ronald Kessler;
Seeds of Destruction,
by Ralph C. Martin;
First Ladies,
by Carl Sferrazza Anthony;
Jacqueline Kennedy,
by Gordon Langley Hall;
The Kennedy White House Par- ties,
by Ann H. Lincoln;
Jacqueline Kennedy: La Premiere Dame des Etats-Unis,
by Peter Peterson;
Jackie: The Ex- ploitation of a First Lady,
by Irving Shulman;
Jackie, Oh!,
by Kitty Kelley;
The Pleasure of His Company,
by Paul B. Fay, Jr.;
The Bouviers,
by John Davis;
Kim Novak: Reluc- tant Goddess,
by Peter Harry Brown;
Jacqueline Kennedy: Beauty in the White House,
by William Carrl;
Jackie: The Price of the Pedestal,
by Lee Guthrie;
The President’s Partner,
by Myra Gutin;
The Kennedy Promise,
by Henry Fairlie.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: news and other published accounts of Skakel and Bouvier family history; questionnaire answered by John Davis; transcript of Stephen Smith interview by Lester David; Ted Sorenson interview on
Today Show,
1998; Rose Kennedy obituary, January 23, 1995, by John J. Goldman,
Los Angeles Times;
“A Left Coast Kennedy: Max Kennedy,” by Susan Salter Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times Magazine,
March 14, 1999;
The Kennedys
(APB Video);
Jackie O.
(APB video).

Jackie’s First Meeting with Ethel; Jack Proposes Marriage; All of This, and More; Joseph and Jackie’s Deal; Sisterly Advice; The Bennetts

As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral His- tories, personal interviews were conducted with Joan Braden, George Smathers, Mary Fonteyn, Paul B. Fay, Jr., Sancy Newman, Chuck Spalding, Lawrence Alexander, Larry Newman, Joseph Paolella, Joseph Livingston, Ted Livingston, Joe Gargan, Mary Lou McCarthy, Bess Abel, Betty Beale, Oleg Cassini, Paul Fay, David Lester, Lem Billings, Morton Downey, Jr., Geraldo Rivera, Luella Hen- nessey, Frank Mankiewicz, and Jeanne Martin.

Volumes consulted:
Changing Habits: A Memoir of the Society of the Sacred Heart,
by V. V. Harrison;
The Society of the Sacred Heart in North America,
by Louise Callan;
Ethel,
by David Lester;
A Woman Named Jackie,
by

C. David Heymann;
All Too Human,
by Edward Klein;
Living with the Kennedys,
by Marcia Chellis;
Kennedy Wives, Kennedy Women,
by Nancy Gager;
The Kennedys: An American Drama,
by Peter Collier and David Horowitz;
America’s First Ladies,
by Christine Sandler;
Jackie,
by Hedda Lyons Watney;
Torn Lace Curtain,
by Frank Saunders;
JFK: The Man and the Myth,
by Victor Lasky;
My Story,
by Judith Exner, as told to Ovid Demaris;
Bitch,
by Buddy Galon;
The Censorship Papers,
by Gerald Gardner;
The Whole Truth and Nothing But,
by Hedda Hopper and James Brough;
Uncommon Grace,
by J.C. Suares and J. Spencer Beck;
Remembering Jackie,
by
Life
editors;
The Woman in the White House,
by Winzola McLendon;
Ethel Kennedy and Life at Hickory Hill,
by

Leah Mason (unpublished manuscript);
Presidential Wives,
by Paul F. Baker.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: “Kennedys in Hollywood” (E-Channel broadcast); news accounts of the deaths of George and Ann Skakel; Se- cret Service record at John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library; var- ious news accounts of Bennett family history; John Davis questionnaire; “With Kennedy,” by Pierre Salinger,
Good Housekeeping,
August 1966.

A Legacy of Infidelity; Jack’s Affair with Marilyn

As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral His- tories, personal interviews were conducted with Peter Sum- mers, Leo Damore, George Smathers, Helen Thomas, Michael Selsman, Barbara Gibson, David Powers (question- naire), Joe Gargan (questionnaire), Jimmy Haspiel, Micky Song, Cindy Adams, Liz Carpenter, Hildi Greenson, Jim Ketchum, Joseph Paolella, Larry Newman, and Pierre Salinger.

Volumes consulted:
Gloria and Joe: The Star-Crossed Love Affair of Gloria Swanson and Joe Kennedy,
by Axel Madsen;
Swanson on Swanson,
by Gloria Swanson;
JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy,
by Herbert Parmetl;
John Kennedy: A Political Profile,
by James MacGregor;
Honey Fitz,
by John Henry Cutler;
John F. Kennedy and American Catholicism,
by Lawrence H. Fuchs;
JFK: Reck- less Youth,
by Nigel Hamilton;
Rose Kennedy: A Life of Faith, Family and Tragedy,
by Barbara Gibson and Ted Schwartz;
The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga,
by Doris Kearns Goodwin;
The Kennedy Women,
by Laurence Leamer;
Times to Remember,
by Rose Fitzgerald

Kennedy;
Marilyn: The Last Take,
by Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham;
The Decline and Fall of the Love God- dess,
by Patrick Agan;
The Masters Way to Beauty,
by George Masters;
Marilyn Monroe: An Uncensored Biogra- phy,
by Maurice Zolotow;
Marilyn Monroe: Confidential,
by Lena Pepitone;
Robert Kennedy and His Times,
by Arthur

M. Schlesinger, Jr.;
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,
by Lester David.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: questionnaire answered by Joe Gargan;
Marilyn: The Last Word
(documentary); “Jacqueline Kennedy,” by Mary Van Rensselaer,
Ladies Home Journal,
April 1961; “Of Man, Myth and Might-Have-Beens,” by Bob Adams,
St. Louis Dispatch,
November 22, 1988.

Jackie’s Expensive Diversion; Madcap Ethel during the Kennedy Presidency; Joan’s Social Impasse; Trying to Understand Each Other; Jackie’s Documentary:
A Tour of the White House;
The Voice; “Secrets Always Come Out”

Interviews with Jim Ketchum, Larry Newman, Pierre Salinger, Hugh Sidey, Mickey Song, Joan Braden, Helen Thomas, Paul Fay, Betty Beale, C. Wyatt Dickerson, Letitia Baldrige, Barbara Gibson, Rita Dallas, Luella Hennessey, Ben Bradlee, Mari Kumlin, and David Powers (question- naire).

Volumes consulted:
In the Kennedy Style,
by Letitia Baldrige;
Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration,
by James A. Abbott and Elaine M. Rice;
The Kennedy White House Parties,
by Anne H. Lincoln;
Uncom- mon Grace,
by J.C. Suarez and J. Spencer Back;
A Woman

Named Jackie,
by C. David Heymann;
My Life with Jacque- line Kennedy,
by Mary Barelli Gallagher;
The Other Mrs. Kennedy,
by Jess Oppenheimer;
The Last of the Giants,
by Cyrus Leo Sulzberger;
Joan: The Reluctant Kennedy,
by Lester David;
A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy,
by Perry Wolf;
JFK: The Memories,
by Hugh Sidey, Chester Clifton, and Cecil Stoughton;
John F. Kennedy, President,
by Hugh Sidey;
Office Hours: Day and Night,
by Janet Travell;
Upstairs at the White House,
by J.B. West;
The White House Chef Cookbook,
by Rene Verdon.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: news accounts of Joan’s fifteenth anniversary party for Ethel and Bobby; “Jackie Kennedy: A Tour of the White House” (broadcast); “At Home with the Kennedys” (broad- cast); transcript of David Lester’s interview with Lem Billings; “A Visit to Camelot,” by Diana Trilling,
The New Yorker,
June 2, 1997; “Havanas in Camelot,” by William Styron,
Vanity Fair,
July 1996; “Say Good-bye to the Presi- dent,” 1985 BBC documentary; “In Step with Ethel Kennedy,” by James Brady,
Parade,
April 3, 1988; “A Last, Loving Remembrance of JFK,” by Jim Bishop,
Good Housekeeping,
March 1964; “Jacqueline Kennedy: The Fu- ture of a Noble Lady,” by William V. Shannon,
Good House- keeping,
April 1964; “Smashing Camelot,” by Richard Lacayo,
Time,
November 17, 1997; “The Dark Side of Camelot (Judith Exner),” by Kitty Kelley,
People,
February 29, 1988; “The Exner Files,” by Liz Smith,
Vanity Fair,
Jan- uary 1997.

A note regarding President Kennedy’s indiscretions: The Secret Service kept handwritten logs in which were recorded the names of all visitors entering the White House

and the person they intended to visit. When a visitor was going to see the President, the gate logs would indicate it by noting a visit to “Evelyn Lincoln,” “Residence,” “Presi- dent,” or “Mansion.” When the visitor was a woman being smuggled in for JFK, the gate log would read “David Pow- ers Plus One” or “Kenny O’Donnell Plus One.” These logs, organized chronologically by month and year, were used as research for this book and made available to the author by the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.

A note regarding the oft-reported press conference to be held by Marilyn Monroe in 1962, during which she planned to reveal government secrets: In 1985, when Ethel Kennedy was told about the supposed press conference by an associ- ate at ABC News during a meeting with her at Hickory Hill, she said, “Oh my God! Bobby didn’t discuss those things with me unless I pushed and pushed for information—and I almost never did unless it involved the safety of the family. He would never have discussed anything like that with Mar- ilyn Monroe. Please, let’s be sensible. It’s ridiculous.” (Ethel made these comments in a meeting at Hickory Hill with high-level executives at ABC-TV to voice her extreme un- happiness about a planned twenty-six-minute segment of the show
20/20
detailing the intimate relationship between the Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe. The program was ulti- mately canceled, some have alleged, because Ethel used as leverage her close relationship with ABC president of News and Sports, Roone Arledge. Also, David Burke, a vice pres- ident of ABC News, was a top aide to Ted Kennedy; and Jeff Ruhe, an assistant to Arledge, was married to Bobby’s and Ethel’s fifth child, Courtney Kennedy, twenty-nine at the time.)

Also regarding that episode of
20/20,
Geraldo Rivera, who worked for the program at the time, told me during one appearance of many I made on his show: “I alleged at the time and have said repeatedly that, in my opinion, the story was killed not because it lacked journalistic merit—because I think the story was absolutely solid journalistically—but rather because of the relationship between certain members of ABC News management and the Kennedy family. I said at the time that it smacked of cronyism. I will say it until the day I die.” Hugh Downs has a two-word explanation as to why the show didn’t air: “Cold feet.”

Bobby Meets Marilyn; “Life’s Too Short to Worry about Marilyn Monroe”; Jackie’s Ultimatum to Jack; Bobby’s Rumored Affair with Marilyn

Personal interviews with Peter Dye, Max Block, Nunziata Lisi, Jeanne Martin, Patricia Brennan, Joan Braden, James Bacon, Clint Hill, Gore Vidal, George Masters, George Smathers, Chuck Spalding, Leah Mason, Jim Whiting, Micky Song, James Haspeil, Ben Bradlee, Morton Downey, Jr., Jim Ketchum, Sancy Newman, Anthony Sherman, Ger- aldo Rivera, Bernard Flynn, and Paul Fay.

Volumes consulted:
Marilyn: The Last Take,
by Peter Harry Brown and Patte B. Barham;
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography,
by Donald Spoto;
Marilyn Monroe: An Uncen- sored Biography,
by Maurice Zolotow;
The Curious Death of Marilyn Monroe,
by Robert Slatzer;
Marilyn Monroe in Her Own Words,
by Robert Taylor;
Robert Kennedy at 40,
by Nick Thimmesch;
Marilyn Monroe: A Complete View,
by Edward Wagenknecht;
The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys: An American Saga,
by Doris Kearns Goodwin;
The Kennedy

Men,
by Nellie Bly;
The Marilyn Conspiracy,
by Milo Speriglio;
Marilyn: The Last Months,
by Eunice Murray with Rose Shade;
The Ultimate Marilyn,
by Ernest W. Cun- ningham;
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe,
by Donald H. Wolf;
Chief: My Life in the LAPD,
by Darryl Gates;
The In- timate Sex Lives of Famous People,
by Irving Wallace, et al.;
RFK,
by C. David Heymann;
Marilyn and Me,
by Susan Strasberg;
The Kennedys in Hollywood,
by Laurence Quirk;
Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets,
by James Spada;
The Unabridged Marilyn,
by Randall Riese and Christopher Hitchens;
Crowning Glory,
by Sydney Guilaroff as told to Cathy Griffin;
Hollywood Is a Four Let- ter Word,
by James Bacon;
Show Business Laid Bare,
by Earl Wilson;
Sinatra: A Complete Life,
by J. Randy Tarabor- relli;
Sinatra: The Man and the Myth,
by Bill Adler;
Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio?,
by Maury Allen.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: transcripts of interviews with Milt Ebbins (August 6, 1992), Pat Newcomb (August 3, 1994), Joseph Naar (De-

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