", 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. [51] Red Fay, a friend of the President from his World War II service, said of Billings: "I didn't see anything overtly gay about him; I think he was neutral. 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. [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. Now thats very exciting! said Kennedy with a grin.. 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? 7 Gay Presidential Rumors You Won't Believe (But Maybe Should) 'Our story is one of hope': Conjoined twins who made history as first EVER pair survive to separation As Charles Bronson faces a parole hearing on Monday Will Britain's most violent prisoner soon be painting Is this Britain's most despicable man? 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. myocardial infarction. "[29] Historian Sally Bedell Smith compared him to Leonard Zelig, a nondescript character in Woody Allen's 1983 film who is always present in the back row at major events. 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. 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. The Kennedys were a liberal family and one that tolerated a lot of heterosexual promiscuity as well. John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings, right, who was a classmate from the Choate School and Princeton University, outside a drugstore, ca. Release of Secret JFK Assassination Records Delayed by Biden, Angering Some of the Kennedys. He may have been the reason I never married.. educated at. 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. "Because of him, I was never lonely. Lem Billings - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia However, gay men played another role in Kennedys history that was not overtly sexual: they were part of an avant-garde cultural world that Jackie Kennedy cultivated, as she linked the Kennedy name to national arts, letters and music for the first time. With his political influence, Jack Daniels became a monopoly as the only legal whiskey distillery in 1947 in Tennessee. To order a copy, click here. [18], In 1960, on leave from his job, he worked on Kennedy's presidential campaign. Len Hauss, Pro Bowl center for Washington Redskins, dies at 79 - The Definitions: Cause of death vs risk factors. 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. 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. Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem book by David Pitts Some of his partners saw the escape from monogamy as liberating too, understanding their romps with the President as special and carefree episodes that they were happy to flaunt. 228. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up. Details of Lem Billings and JFK's three decade relationship are revealed in 'Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And The Dark Side Of The Dream'. According to the book, a gift from Billings a whale's-tooth scrimshaw was buried with him. Historian Lois Banner has also provided details about Marilyn Monroes affair with JFK, one of numerous women procured for the President by Peter Lawford, who himself staged sexual orgies in Los Angeles that the President attended. He remained in the closet until his death in 1981 at the age of 65, according to Pitts. In their own words: 'each death is attributed to a single underlying cause the cause that initiated the series of . "He may have been the reason I never married." This essay was originally published at OutHistory.org on November 22, 2013; it has been updated and re-edited. Bobby's decision to pick up Jack's torch was important to Lem as well. In 1964, Billings was named to head a ten-person committee to select a memorial to Kennedy to be placed in the Kennedy Center. Lem Billings Is JFK's 'Go-Between' During Jackie Romance - Peoplemag In "Jack and Lem", author David Pitts looks at the relationship between the late president and Kirk LeMoyne Billings or "Lem". Inside the intimate relationship between JFK and Lem Billings (2023) Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want to remind everyone of that today. They were especially fanatical about football. In addition, gay and lesbian people often have reasons for not coming out, or not seeking the liberation of living in queer communities, lives that are worth exploring for what we might learn about queer milieus that do not fit a conventional liberationist narrative. Jack, Lem, and Caroline enjoying the water, Hyannis Port, 1963. 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. [34] He joined the President's entourage for his tours of Europe in both 1961 and 1963. 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. He certainly didn't have the same interest in politics and women that Jack had. As they became close, Billings confided that his relationship with Kennedy was, in fact, sexual, to a point. It was Bobby Kennedy Jr. who gave the eulogy. 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. For Jack and Lem, the carefree period of their lives -- their school and college years -- were now behind them. 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. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use. Lem Billings andBobby Kennedy Jr became close after JFK's death and allegedly took drugs together. Those who knew Charles described him as a sour, angry man. Sexual Abuse at Choate Went On for Decades. [14] In 1958, he moved to the Manhattan advertising firm Lennen & Newell[15] as an advertising executive. She had to submit questions in advance. July 24, 2015. (Note my reply) I think the interview I have reference to is less than a year ago! He claimed he was rebuffed: according to Pitts, it was Jacks decency at that moment that caused the pair to become close, and the moment they decided to become roommates. He may have been the reason I never got married. But Kennedy's reaction to Billings gay come-on soon changed and he became more amenable to his friend's advances, according to the writer Lawrence J. Quirk, author of 'The Kennedys in Hollywood.' Who was Jack Lemmon's wife? The murder of Curtis Lemansky marked the beginning of the end for the Strike Team. [3] They became fast friends, drawn to each other by their mutual distaste for their strict school. (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. Lem Billings also buffered JFK from the toll that infidelity took on the Kennedy marriage. Lem Billings and John F Kennedy were practically inseparable in prep school. The first lady, Jackie, had something of a love-hate relationship with Billings. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. A historian wrote that after Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago Billings was "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows.'" [25]:364 According to Kennedy family members, such as Peter Lawford, and others, Billings began using drugs[25]:365 due to the influence of the Kennedy and Lawford boys. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Soon I discovered that he glared with equal suspicion at anyone whose friendship with JFK postdated his own. 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. JFK, or 'Jack' as he was known by his close friends and family, had a gay best friend named Lem Billings, who he met in prep school when Kennedy was 15 and Lem . In many ways, Kennedy was also enjoying the kind of sex life that would later characterize the gay mens party of the 1970s. He was a beautiful baby," he ducked into a boiler room and wept. enwiki Lem Billings; ', White House visitor: Billings often spent the night at the White House, which upset Jackie Kennedy. "'Of course, there was always Cape Cod in Massachusetts when the president wanted to be near the water,' Lem remarked. '"[39], Most recognized that Billings and Kennedy had been friends from youth and did not question their relationship or Billings' presence. 384 pages, $26.95 THE OLD black-and-white photograph shows two good-looking young men sitting close together on the back bumper of a car, their fingers touching gently as they fondle a dachshund pup. [31] He accompanied the President to church,[32] launched a kite for the President's daughter Caroline,[33] and delivered pet hamsters to the Kennedy children. 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? About Lem Billings A long time best friend and alleged secret Gay lover of President JFK and later a surrogate father for Robert Kennedy Jr. after the murder of his father. Both Jack and Lem were crazy about dogs and soon fell totally in love with little Dunker. Claire Potter is professor of history at The New School, and Executive Editor of Public Seminar. He escorted Mrs. Stephen Smith, sister of the late President, to . [28] One presidential aide later said that "some people saw him so much they thought he was the Secret Service. Collier and Horowitz described Billings, later in life, as invariably enmeshed in his late friend's larger family. Billings, a 16-year-old third-year student, and Kennedy, a 15-year-old second-year student, met at Choate, an elite preparatory school, in the fall of 1933. 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. Use Restriction Status: None. One of their friends thought "that Jackie was trying to close Lem out. Eventually, the two friends made contact, however, and began exchanging letters just as they had when both were at home." 0 references. We might even call it a romantic friendship. I am gay and this relationship was more than relieving sexual tension! He had clearly been adopted into the larger Kennedy clan, and Jackie drew him into her family circle as well. [11], After working on Kennedy's successful campaign for Congress in 1946, Billings toured seven Latin American countries with Robert F. Jacqueline Bouvier would have the same problem, using every possible excuse to avoid the game, after she and Jack were married in 1953." [54] Billings had his own room in the White House. 64, No. 'It was very hard for him, but he wanted to do it and he stuck with it,' Lucretia added. Lem felt that the physical regimen at the Kennedy vacation homes was even more exacting than that at Choate. JFK may have had gay experiences with friend - IrishCentral.com Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son," and he sometimes acted as escort for several of the Kennedy women. "[48] Billings spent the last weekend of October 1963 with the couple, the last time he saw them together. "Jack made a big difference in my life," Billings said in his oral history for the Kennedy library, adding, "He may have been the reason I never got married.". The 51-year-old daughter of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died Sept. 16 while working out at her Washington, D.C., gym. Ben Bradlee, a Kennedy friend who worked at Newsweek during the Kennedy Administration, and no friend of Billings,[40] said "they were childhood friends and stayed loyal to each other forever." Was this part of his commitment to the Presidents good health? PHOTOS: Memories of JFK From His Gay Best Friend - Gay News, LGBT Naval Academy. President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas 50 years ago, leaving behind a mourning nation and his gay best friend, Lem Billings. 'People think I'm a joke,' he once acknowledged. 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 . John Fitzgerald Kennedy & Lem Billings: elisa_rolle - LiveJournal 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. I have been studying human sexuality for 25 years and am a Stanford grad and track athlete. John F. Kennedy Had A Sexual Relationship With His Gay Best Friend As Vice President at the Emerson Drug Company in Baltimore, he was responsible for inventing the 1950s fad drink Fizzies by adding a fruit flavor to disguise the sodium citrate taste. On some weekends, Jack and Lem would go up there. However, an earlier book by Hollywood writer Lawrence Quirk alleges that Billings was not rebuffed. Variability in proportionate mortality in 363 Latin American cities by country. 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. Jack Kennedy and Lem Billings met at Choate and remained friends until the Dallas gunfire that ended Kennedy's life thirty years later. (Page 24), Lem and Bobby, Waterville Valley, N.H., circa 1967"'When Bobby joined the political fray, no one was happier than Lem. [48] Billings saw the President for the last time when they dined at the White House with Greta Garbo on November 13, 1963, nine days before the President's assassination in Dallas. Later accounts detailed how Billings had found himself adrift as a student at Choate in the wake of his father's death: "The Kennedys provided family and support and so forth," his nephew told Princeton University's alumni magazine in 2017. 1 leading cause of death among Native Americans in Montana during 2020 and the third-leading cause of death for the general population. To begin with, why would JFK give him a private room at the white house, to come and go at his leisure? "[58] Though Gore Vidal thought Billings was "absolutely nobody," he also believed "it was a good idea that Jack had somebody he could trust like that around him." Billings as a teenager was 6' 2", weighed 175 pounds, and was the strongest member of the Choate crew. Kennedy was allegedly on the receiving end of oral sex. Jack and Lem on Apple Books 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. 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. [50] In 2006, looking back to the Kennedy Administration, Ben Bradlee said: "I suppose it's known that Lem was gay.It impressed me that Jack had gay friends. 0 references. What happened Lem Billings? - Celeberinfo The Story Behind the Man Who was Killed in the Famous "Saigon Execution [68] He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[69]. 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. As of 2018 Lem Billings is 65 years (age at death) years old. [26] When the First Lady was away, Billings organized White House dinner parties for the President and old friends,[27] and when the President traveled he kept the First Lady company. I am sure the good Lord knows that heaven is Jesus and Lem and Jack and Bobby loving one another.'. Though his name isn't as well-known as that of his boyhood best friend, Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was an important confidante for one of America's presidents and lived a life no less full of its own twists and turns. In its final year, Lennen & Newell had domestic billings of $140 million, and Mr. Toigo had said that the agency was worth between $12 million and $15 million and that he owned about 95 percent of the stock. As we both know, homosexual relationships in English boarding schools were put down to adolescent hijinks and men *grew out of them*. "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship" Kennedy knew Billings was in love with him (Billings declared his love and was rejected by Kennedy) and Kennedy liked that, the attention and knowing the power he has over billings also his wife Jackie Kennedy hated Billings and hated that he and . Jack and Lem : John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Though Billings who was working as a New York City advertising executive at the time of the assassination continued on at his firm for another decade, his life was never the same. 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. [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. From 1933 to 1946, Billings and JFK exchanged letters, with Jack often antagonizing Lem in the correspondence. He wanted to be with him, to be a part of whatever he wanted to do to continue Jack's legacy." 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. The two became friends, then roommates. "[38] Another said: "Members of the president's staff thought of him as a 'handy old piece of furniture. Billings, Kirk LeMoyne: Oral History Interview - JFK #1, 3/25/1964 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. If you want to discuss this further my e-mail:pscheck2@gmail.com). When Billings died of a heart attack in 1981, Bobby Jr gave the eulogy (From left to right: Lem Billings, Bobby Kennedy Jr andEthel Kennedy), Part of the family: From childhood to adulthood, Billings stayed close to Jack Kennedy and his family. 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. Otherwise he attended without female accompaniment. [16], On September 12, 1953, Billings was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings - Internet Archive When the boy died at 4:19 a.m. Kennedy was clutching his little fingers. Date (s) of Materials: 25 March 1964. [4], Some historians believe that Billings expressed his sexual interest in Kennedy in writing in 1934 and that Kennedy rebuffed his advances. His book Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, from which the text of this slideshow is excerpted, was one of The Advocate's five best books of 2007. Adapted from New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer's explosive new book, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: RFK Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream. As the previous article mentions more has to be explored regarding the relationship between Lem and JFK! [4], In 1939, Billings graduated from Princeton where he majored in art and architecture[5] and wrote his senior thesis on Tintoretto. 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). And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. 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. "Early on in their friendship, Lem sent Jack such a note and Jack replied in their usual jocular way, adding in parentheses, 'Please don't write to me on toilet paper any more. Even worse, many such slurs aren't from men but 'I couldn't do it without you': Victoria Beckham poses with her whole family after her PFW show - as she Brooklyn Beckham puts on a loved-up display with wife Nicola Peltz as they head back to hotel after Cruz Beckham supports his mother Victoria as he carrying his very own VB handbag on the way to her show Like father, like daughter! I have no doubt the same was true in American upper-crust boarding schools in the single-sex days. Bobby Kennedy Jr. read the eulogy. The year also brought a staggering . Williams, a handsome gay southerner, had already written seven hit plays. Still, the Kennedy clan accepted even welcomed Lem Billings into their exclusive inner-circle, practically adopting him, and he became a part of the family. Lem Billings had a remarkable friendship with JFK that lasted from 1932, when the two met as classmates in prep school, until JFK's assassination in 1963. When they arrived at the cemetery, it was already in place to be lowered. "The agency, which was the 13th largest in the United States in 1971, went bankrupt the following year, listing almost $11 million in liabilities. The parents who fear their 11-year-olds will be scarred for life by the graphic sex education lessons that Two Insulate Britain protesters are jailed for contempt of court after they defied a judge's orders not to 'Derek fights on, it makes me fall in love with him all over again:' Kate Garraway reveals there are days French authorities fear 'narco-tourists' could flock to Normandy beaches after 'more than two tonnes of Hopes for cervical cancer vaccine after trials in mice showed it reduced tumours 80 per cent of the time. As Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee recalled much later, "I suppose it's known that Lem was gay.. I'd read a bit about Lem Billings in various Kennedy bios . In Jackies absence, Lem managed the Presidents dinner parties, social life and children. 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. Oscar Cainer tells all. The Once and Future Kennedys - The Washington Post At one point, he is said to have remarked: "After I go, there'll be no more Kennedys.". "He never really came out of it. I'm not that kind of boy.'. 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.. Gore Vidal, the writer who claimed he viewed homosexuality as normal as heterosexuality, disparaged the JFK-Billings relationship during the Kennedy administration. You can follow her on Twitter. 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. "[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. 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. "He did not want to hear one negative syllable, and there were a lot of negatives going along.". I have one additional comment, probably to be regarded as politically incorrect. [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. After finding the body and returning the heroin . Having been given special access to the Billings papers by Robert Kennedy, Jr., Pitts was either unable to verify a sexual relationship, or he was unwilling to cite his source.