[16], On September 12, 1953, Billings was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. 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. 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. 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. As Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee recalled much later, "I suppose it's known that Lem was gay.. 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. Lem's raison d'tre was Jack Kennedy. I was pleased to note that things picked up after your arrival,' referring to Montgomery's battle with Rommel at El Alamein. Lem (Kenny Johnson) refuses to live the rest of his life as a fugitive in Mexico.S5E11 - Postpartum (FX The Shield)I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE VIDEO CLIPS. (Page 24), Lem and Bobby, Waterville Valley, N.H., circa 1967"'When Bobby joined the political fray, no one was happier than Lem. He was also plagued by ill health. Kennedys social intimacy with gay and bisexual men, and his comfort around homosexuality, is remarkable at a time when those friendships were stigmatizing and when gay and lesbian people were still prohibited from working on most federal jobs. He wanted to be with him, to be a part of whatever he wanted to do to continue Jack's legacy." During the night of May 28, 1981almost two decades after JFK's untimely death - 65-year-old Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack. In the summer of 1937 Billings and Kennedy took a summer trip through Europe which solidified their friendship. Lem Billings is a member of famous Celebrity list. 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. (Page 100). Either way, it was a courageous move in view of the casualties the navy was suffering in the Pacific at the time. I'm not that kind of boy.' Because of him, I was never lonely, Billings said once. Harvard University. Jack and lem billings jfk Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings (April 15, 1916 - May 28, 1981) was a close friend of President John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. [55] Kennedy knew that homosexual behavior on the part of Billings had been revealed by a fellow Choate student during their years there. Lem felt that the physical regimen at the Kennedy vacation homes was even more exacting than that at Choate. EXCLUSIVE: Head teacher of leading grammar school is sacked for sending parents a list of striking teachers. They were especially fanatical about football. In 1965, Mrs. Kennedy invited Billings to accompany her and her children to England for the unveiling of a memorial to Kennedy at Runnymede. Was this part of his commitment to the Presidents good health? His name was Lem Billings. Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want to remind everyone of that today. Gore Vidal, the writer who claimed he viewed homosexuality as normal as heterosexuality, disparaged the JFK-Billings relationship during the Kennedy administration. As the then-Senator stepped up for his turn, Williams admired his body. Billings was a prep school roommate of Kennedy, an usher at his wedding and a campaigner for his successful 1960 presidential bid. Kirk LeMoyne Billings and John F. Kennedy. Billings repeated his senior year so that he and Kennedy could graduate from Choate together in 1935. Witch, Harridan, Harpy, and new insults like Karen and Terf. "He was in a very deep depression; sometimes didn't want to live," Pitts told the New Haven Register in 2007. Pictures of the first family are typical of Cold War domestic norms: widely distributed before and after his death, these photographs show him as a conventional, heterosexual husband and a devoted father. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive selections from new issues of, what historian David K. Johnson calls the lavender scare, According to author Christopher Bram (2012), her fictional account of the love affair between Eleanor Roosevelt. Billings took leave from his business career to work on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. 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 . "'I'm sure he's already organizing everything in heaven so it will be completely ready for us . The Kennedy Curse" Episode 205 -- Pictured: Grant Logan as JFK, Adam Cropper as Lem Billings -- John F. Kennedy, "Dunker" the dog, and Lem Billings at the Hague, during their Europe trip. I have also studied the forensics of the assassination for 21 years. Lem Billings relaxed on the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate the summer of 1936. A Princeton friend and former business partner confided to Pitts about Billings that after Jacks death: He didnt want to live anymore, and other friends claimed that he never recovered from the loss. Lem Billings may have been present for, but just outside the frame, of these pictures. ", 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. Claire Potteris professor of history at The New School, and Executive Editor of Public Seminar. University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias died of "cocaine intoxication" after ingesting an unusually pure dose of the drug that stopped his heart within minutes, Maryland's chief medical . His father was a prominent physician and a graduate of the U.S. [4], In 1939, Billings graduated from Princeton where he majored in art and architecture[5] and wrote his senior thesis on Tintoretto. As the previous article mentions more has to be explored regarding the relationship between Lem and JFK! What is most interesting to me is the relationship between sexual abuse and power and how idolized men in particular seem to some along with this inability/unwillingness to be kind.Lems story seems tragic, good material for a play or musical. In "Jack and Lem", author David Pitts looks at the relationship between the late president and Kirk LeMoyne Billings or "Lem". A crew jock, he met Jack at Choate, a boys' boarding school, in Wallingford, Connecticut (it is now co-ed). "[44], Many testify to Billings' wit and ability to help the President relax. 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. According to Quirk, Billings revealed that his friendship with the future president of the United States 'included oral sex, with Jack always on the receiving end. But there is also an important story about race, and social class, to be told here. Kennedy and Billings remained intimate in part by managing Jacks sex life, his career, and his family, together. The year also brought a staggering . Inside Matt Hancock's 41-hour battle to save his career when photo of 'a snog and heavy petting' with aide Will Vladimir Putin's empress pay the ultimate price for his war on the West? Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on May 28, 1981, at the age of 65. [66], In 1987, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin described how Billings structured her interviews with him. And all the while, Lem Billings was there: waiting, serving, comforting and helping the Kennedy family adjust to the public glare. May I come inside?" Language: English Words: 1,469 . And seated close to Kennedy is his shirtless, tanned and oiled best friend forever, his very gay chum, Kirk LeMoyne 'Lem' Billings. [6][7], In 1941, Billings failed medical tests required by the military. 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College Amid Outrage, Thomas Orlina Shines a Light on Mental Health for Teen Mental Wellness Day. 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. When they arrived at the cemetery, it was already in place to be lowered. As one source told me, 'Young Bobby replaced Jack in Lem's heart of hearts.'. The young Kennedys took the casket and carried it around the gravesite before returning it to the burial plot. It would go on to become one of his most prized possessions." It would be the last Christmas in which the United States would be at peace for more than four years. 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. [3] They became fast friends, drawn to each other by their mutual distaste for their strict school. Featuring interviews with Ben Bradlee, Gore Vidal, Ted Sorenson, friends, family, and many others, award -- winning journalist David Pitts begins the story with the early friendship between the men. JFKs numerous affairs (before, during and after his marriage to Jackie) and his friendships with gay men suddenly had a social and cultural context that was neither gay or straight, but a harbinger of the sexual freedom and experimentation that would soon be championed in the counterculture and the mainstream. Of course, he had always loved the Cape and was completely happy there.'" "The agency, which was the 13th largest in the United States in 1971, went bankrupt the following year, listing almost $11 million in liabilities. [12], From 1946 to 1948, Billings attended Harvard Business School and earned an MBA. ', The Kennedy patriarch, Joe, a noted philanderer himself, was suspicious of Billings' sexual preference from the start of his son's close friendship with him. "[59], In 1964, Billings was named to select a memorial to Kennedy to be placed in the Kennedy Center. When their brother Bobby married Ethel Skakel in a royal-like wedding in Greenwich, Connecticut, the staunchly conservative republican and seemingly homophobic Skakels let their feelings about Billings' gayness be known. But even before then, Billings was a Kennedy fixture. As they became close, Billings confided that his relationship with Kennedy was, in fact, sexual, to a point. "'Of course, there was always Cape Cod in Massachusetts when the president wanted to be near the water,' Lem remarked. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings (April 15, 1916 - May 28, 1981) was a close friend of the Kennedy family, who had his own room at the White House during the Kennedy presidency. However, an earlier book by Hollywood writer Lawrence Quirk alleges that Billings was not rebuffed. 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. Quirk immediately pegged Billings as gay, noting his 'high, screechy laugh,' and 'high nasal whine of a voice.' The Kennedys tolerated his homosexuality, which was considered taboo at the time, Lawrence J. Quirk, the author of'The Kennedys in Hollywood' said Billings and JFK's relationship turned sexual at a point. JFKs sex life, and his attachments to men, also needs to be better understood for what it reveals about his inner life, and for a moment in United States political history when sex itself was undergoing seismic changes. He once called Billings the 'chief f****t at Camelot.' He may have been the reason I never got married. Article. 'What the hell have you been doing? In which 20 year old John F Kennedy's best friend shows up on his doorstep one evening. ', Their arrangement, Quirk asserted, 'enabled Jack to sustain his self-delusion that straight men who received oral sex from other males were really only straights looking for sexual release,' and he further observed, 'Jack was in love with Lem being in love with him and considered him the ideal follower adorer. Could he have been the third leg of what was clearly an unconventional marriage? JFK appeared to be in love with the idea of Billings being in love with him. President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas 50 years ago, leaving behind a mourning nation and his gay best friend, Lem Billings. The importance of other causes of death such as communicable diseases, maternal, neonatal and nutritional causes, and noncommunicable diseases like cancer and heart disease varied most between different countries. Collier and Horowitz described Billings, later in life, as invariably enmeshed in his late friend's larger family. Why should a historian care about Kennedys sex life at all? Lem Billings is a well known Celebrity. Kirk Lem Lemoyne Billings (15 Apr 1916 - 28 May 1981) 0 references . Knowing that, like many men who lived double lives, he could have had a wife and family, Billings regarded his friendship with Jack as a gift. The story of Jack and Lem opens a window into the presidency, but it also suggests that historians of heterosexuality might want to look more closely to see which gay lives are lived near, but outside the conventional frame, of heterosexual families, a project that novelist Amy Bloom has recently undertaken in her fictional account of the love affair between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickock. JFK's Best Friend Lem: Transcript. When Billings learned that the love of his life was dead on November 22, 1963, Pitts writes: It was as if he had been struck by lightning; he was consumed by grief. Lem was the second person Jacks sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, called after reaching her sister, Pat Lawford. [62], After the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Billings became depressed and started to drink in excess, an addiction that plagued him for most of his life. Between 1933 and 1935, The bond between Jack and Lem grew so tight, journalist David Pitts wrote in Jack and Lem (2008), that they really had no need for friendships with other boys.. Date (s) of Materials: 25 March 1964. cause of death. After the assassination of Robert Kennedy, a distraught Ethel turned over her son, Bobby Jr., to Billings to act as his surrogate father, sparking her brother-in-law, Terrien RFK's roommate at the University of Virginia law school to wonder why she would allow 'Lem to have such an intimate relationship' with her troubled third born, who would go on to have a a bizarre relationship with Billings, including the taking of drugs. And George Terrian, the alcoholic husband of Ethel Kennedy's alcoholic, pill-popping sister, Georgeann, told me in interviews for my book 'The Other Mrs. Kennedy' that, 'Everyone in the family knew Lem was q***r the Kennedys, the Skakels, everyone.'. We might even attach the adjectives exclusive and romantic to this youthful friendship. 'I borrowed the other half from an inheritance I was about to receive from my grandmother after I graduated from college,' remembered Lem. Williams, a handsome gay southerner, had already written seven hit plays. educated at. (Page 4), "When Jack wasn't trying to get Lem to sing on family occasions, he was cajoling him into playing sports -- usually touch football, a game Lem came to loathe. Copyright 20142023 The Editorial Board of Public Seminar, All Rights Reserved. Lem Chesmore is a 34-year-old Billings native who grew up on the sport. He managed the campaign in the Third Congressional District in the Wisconsin primary and then served as general troubleshooter and coordinator of television in the West Virginia primary. Published online July 6, 2017. (Page 307)Listen to a short phone conversation between the two of them: DAVID PITTS is a longtime journalist whose work has appeared in The Washington Post and other leading newspapers. He certainly didn't have the same interest in politics and women that Jack had. [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. He once described the Kennedy family's lack of business awareness: "Listening to the Kennedy brothers talk about business was like hearing nuns talk about sex. (Page 213), "Jack made a big difference in my life. This is fascinating, Claire. (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. However, he avoided the notoriety of coming out even after Kennedys death, perhaps because he feared that it would draw more negative attention to the extended Kennedy family, which soon struggled with a range of scandals: Chappaquidick, alcoholism, divorce and drugs were but a few. 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? Needless to say, JFK may have had, in a sense, two widows. 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. When Jack discovered that Billings was gay once declining an amorous overture from Billings the friendship is thought to have gone on unharmed. John F. Kennedy (right) and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings sit in a wicker chair outside the Kennedy family home in Palm Beach. Description: In this interview, Billings discusses John F. Kennedy's time at Choate, his family life, and their first trip to Europe together, among other issues.

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