At least one of these intimates, Kirk LeMoyne Lem Billings, was one of Jacks cherished body men, and he lived part-time in the White House throughout the three years of Kennedys presidency. JFK's Best Friend Lem: Transcript. ", Last edited on 24 December 2022, at 15:36, "JFK's Best Friend Lem: Transcript | JFK Library", Princeton University Undergraduate Senior Theses, 1924-2018 Art and Archaeology, 1926-2018, Alfred E. Clark, "Adolph Toigo, Ex-Chairman of Advertising Agency Dies," January 1, 1982, "End Comes at Lennen & Newell," April 12, 1972, "Miss Jean Ann Kennedy Married," May 20, 1956, "Kennedy Names Friend," September 20, 1961, "U.S. Board Formed to Advise on Fair," January 12, 1962, "Choate Unveils Kennedy's Portrait," May 5, 1963, "Prayer for Nation Joined by Kennedy," January 2, 1961, "Caroline Learns Father Isn't Much of a Kite Pilot," July 7, 1963, "Caroline's 2 Hamsters Hunted in White House," March 5, 1961, "2 Kennedy Sisters in Poland for Visit," September 2, 1961, "Huntington Hartford Weds Diane Brown in New Jersey," October 8, 1962, Luther Turmelle, "Book details JFK's friendship with gay man," May 16, 2007, "Friend of Kennedy Named To Head Memorial Group," July 8, 1964, "Humphreys Attend a Gala Ballet Premiere," January 19, 1966, Nan Robertson, "Glittering Audience Attends Kennedy Center's Opening," September 9, 1971, Michael C. Jensen, "Managing the Kennedy Millions," June 12, 1977, Doris Kearns Goodwin, "Fitzgeralds and Kennedys," March 8, 1987, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lem_Billings&oldid=1129296144, This page was last edited on 24 December 2022, at 15:36. 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. educated at. John F. Kennedy (right) and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings sit in a wicker chair outside the Kennedy family home in Palm Beach. Lem Billings is a member of famous Celebrity list. ', Jacqueline Kennedy was reportedly unhappuabout her husband and Billings' three decade long relationship. During that time, he told researchers, "All the kids came over to see me. In the fictionalAmerican Adulterer (2009), novelist Jed Mercurio s imagines a Kennedy who believes that ejaculating several times a day was crucial to maintaining good health and mental alertness, a form of self-care and that controlled his attacks of Addisons Disease by preventing seminal fluid from backing up into his body. In addition to Lem, Kennedys bisexual brother in law, actor Peter Lawford, and novelist Gore Vidal, a relative of Jackies, were frequent visitors and playmates. I'm not that kind of boy.'. The story about Lem Billings '39 and JFK was very interesting and even moving (cover story, April 12). Now thats very exciting! said Kennedy with a grin.. But the point of the picture is the grief any couple would feel at the loss of a much-wanted child. "[Billings] was a witness to so much of what was going on. Len Hauss, a rugged mainstay in Washington's offensive line who started 192 consecutive games at center in a 14-year pro football career that led him to the Super Bowl and five Pro Bowl . [4], In 1939, Billings graduated from Princeton where he majored in art and architecture[5] and wrote his senior thesis on Tintoretto. I don't know how we will carry on without him. Jack Kennedy and Lem Billings met at Choate and remained friends until the Dallas gunfire that ended Kennedy's life thirty years later. But this may, in fact, just be gossip. Ironically, Motlow, who had sustained a stroke in 1940, died that same year . Quirk had met Billings in the mid-Forties when both were volunteers in Jack Kennedy's first congressional campaign. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings and Mary Lasker attend a party at the New York City home of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. On June 14, 1977. Lem Billings Is JFK's 'Go-Between' During Courtship with Jackie as Imagined in New Novel PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at Louis Bayard's upcoming Jackie & Me By Sam Gillette Published on. With his political influence, Jack Daniels became a monopoly as the only legal whiskey distillery in 1947 in Tennessee. From the time John F. Kennedy and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings met at Choate, until the President's assassination thirty years later, Jack and Lem remained best friends. Those who knew Charles described him as a sour, angry man. For Billings' funeral, some of the younger Kennedys served as pallbearers (as Billings himself had done for some of their own, like the slain Sen. Robert F. Kennedy). "[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. Our most accurate accounts of JFKs emotional carelessness are not from Lem, who was loyal to his friend until his death, but from women who later came forward about affairs that now, in the era of #MeToo, sometimes raise harsh questions about whether some of these relationships were abusive. For many other Americans as well, Bobby became the last best hope for resurrecting Camelot, for a return to the kind of liberal idealism that Jack had epitomized. Pitts' 2007 book helped spur renewed interest in the friendship between President Kennedy and Billings. After the assassination of RFK in 1968, the flamboyant Billings transferred his obsessive affection for Jack, to handsome teenager Bobby Jr. David Pitts, the author of 'Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship,' told me, 'Lem was a gay man and he had a 14-year-old, good-looking kid living in his house with him and there had been rumors because of that. (Page 64), Harry Dixon, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, John Coleman, Charlotte McDonnell, Jack and Lem, Palm Beach, Christmas 1940, "After his sojourn in Hollywood, Jack returned to the East Coast in time for the Christmas vacation period, during which he liked to spend time with his family and Lem. 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. That he is believed to have been gay at a time when homosexuality was still illegal even being somewhat open about his sexuality, including within the powerful Kennedy clan sheds light on the strength of his ties to the family. 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." Published: 16:57 GMT, 9 June 2017 | Updated: 19:00 GMT, 9 June 2017. 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. Kirk LeMoyne " Lem " Billings (April 15, 1916 - May 28, 1981) was an American businessman known for his close and long-time friendship with John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. "[45] Billings also served the President as an artistic adviser, selecting scrimshaw for display in the Oval Office[46] and, on one European tour, quickly assembling a selection of artworks to be presented as gifts. 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. "[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. [16], On September 12, 1953, Billings was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. He was by all accounts JFK's best friend . "[59], In 1964, Billings was named to select a memorial to Kennedy to be placed in the Kennedy Center. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. I have been studying human sexuality for 25 years and am a Stanford grad and track athlete. After finding the body and returning the heroin . And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. 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'm not that kind of boy.' Didnt Lem confess to a friend that he loved JFK? Bobby Kennedy Jr. gave the eulogy. Lem Billings relaxed on the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate the summer of 1936. To order a copy, click here. I really got to know them well. John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings, right, who was a classmate from the Choate School and Princeton University, outside a drugstore, ca. President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas 50 years ago, leaving behind a mourning nation and his gay best friend, Lem Billings. ', Roommates: JFK and Billings (right) roomed atChoate and again atPrinceton (pictured mid-1930s outside a drugstore with roommate Ralph Horton Jr), JFK's sisterEunice Kennedy Shriver said his relationship with Billingswas a 'complete liberation of the spirit' for Jack (Pictured on their Christmas card with fellow Princeton roommateRalph Horton Jr), While her husband had his qualms about Billings and couldn't stand to have him around, the matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, had a different take. His mother was a Mayflower descendant and his great-grandfather Francis Julius LeMoyne was a prominent abolitionist linked to the underground railroad who helped establish what is today known as LeMoyne-Owen College. While Billings' missive is long gone, a startled Kennedy responded, 'Please don't write to me on toilet paper anymore. ", Still, he was well aware of his proximity to history. [3] They became fast friends, drawn to each other by their mutual distaste for their strict school. For Jack and Lem, the carefree period of their lives -- their school and college years -- were now behind them. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use. [44] "Jack made a big difference in my life," Billings said. How remorseless Stephen Bear continued his arrogant antics up until Do not sell or share my personal information.
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