The murder of Curtis Lemansky marked the beginning of the end for the Strike Team. Both boys kept diaries on the trip, although Lem's was more of a scrapbook. [9] He saw action in North Africa in 194243. According to Pitts, Billings never recovered from the death of his friend, suffering from a "deep depression" in the weeks and months after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. In many ways, Lem was like a father to me and he was the best friend I will ever have.' I have no evidence one way or another, but I would discount [any sexual activity.]. 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. For example, in Once Upon a Secret (2012), former White House intern Mimi Alford describes a prolonged affair she had with Kennedy, beginning in the summer of 1962 when she was 19 and ending shortly before his assassination on November 22, 1963. 'Dear Mrs. Billings. [14] In 1958, he moved to the Manhattan advertising firm Lennen & Newell[15] as an advertising executive. 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. Lem Billings is a member of famous Celebrity list. as not being gay since they only gave each other BJs (as in Lewinsky/Clinton sex?)! They were especially fanatical about football. LeMoyne Billings and Ethel Kennedy attend Liza Minnelli Concert on May 23, 1970 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. 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. The young Kennedys took the casket and carried it around the gravesite before returning it to the burial plot. She was expected to be constantly available for him, he was inconsiderate and unloving, and she was permitted to tell no one. In 1958, when Kennedy decided to launch a campaign for the presidency from his Massachusetts Senate seat, the United States had not yet experienced a sexual revolution that would challenge and change many people. [4], Some historians believe that Billings expressed his sexual interest in Kennedy in writing in 1934 and that Kennedy rebuffed his advances. He wanted to be with him, to be a part of whatever he wanted to do to continue Jack's legacy." Details of Lem Billings and JFK's three decade relationship are revealed in 'Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And The Dark Side Of The Dream'. 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." Later Years. [68] He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[69]. Born in 1916, Billings was the son of a Pittsburgh doctor. 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. Kennedy first met Billings when they were teenagers at a school called Choate. He had a very independent mind. "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. Lem Billings may have been present for, but just outside the frame, of these pictures. cause of death. Kennedy and Billings remained intimate in part by managing Jacks sex life, his career, and his family, together. Both men are being held in . When Jack discovered that Billings was gay once declining an amorous overture from Billings the friendship is thought to have gone on unharmed. 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. As we both know, homosexual relationships in English boarding schools were put down to adolescent hijinks and men *grew out of them*. Bobby's decision to pick up Jack's torch was important to Lem as well. Naval Reserve and served in the South Pacific until being discharged in 1946. Eventually, the two friends made contact, however, and began exchanging letters just as they had when both were at home." A historian wrote that after Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago Billings was "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows.'" Wikipedia (3 entries) edit. Billings served with Sargent Shriver as a trustee for the Kennedy family trusts. [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. 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. Criticisms from others in the Kennedy orbit insinuate that Jack took advantage of Lems love for him without reciprocating. He reportedly never entertained or enjoyed social outings. Harvard University. [68] His dying wish was for the young Kennedy men to carry his casket to its final resting place. As one source told me, 'Young Bobby replaced Jack in Lem's heart of hearts.'. 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). In 2009, Robert Dallek published part of an interview with Barbara Gamerekian, a former White House aide, who named three prominent women, two secretaries nicknamed Fiddle and Faddle and a college sophomore who couldnt type (Alford) as a few of the sexual partners who helped the President release his daily tensions, often in the White House swimming pool or on official trips around the nation, where women were sometimes flown in on separate planes so that they could be available. [64] Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis included Billings as a guest at a party marking the birthdays of her children Caroline (21st) and John Jr. (18th) in 1978. But the man married to Jackie Kennedy was quietly chided for his compulsive philandering. Kirk Lem Lemoyne Billings (15 Apr 1916 - 28 May 1981) 0 references . "Because of him," Billings once said. and yet you still think JFK was alive in December 1963! Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want to remind everyone of that today. 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. Booth, 32 years old, died of "undetermined causes" with no obvious signs of . EXCLUSIVE: Head teacher of leading grammar school is sacked for sending parents a list of striking teachers. 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. One of their friends thought "that Jackie was trying to close Lem out. [35] In 1962 he escorted two of the President's sisters, Eunice Shriver and Jean Kennedy Smith, around Europe for more than two weeks. "[Billings] was a witness to so much of what was going on. Lem Billings relaxed on the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate the summer of 1936. A crew jock, he met Jack at Choate, a boys boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut (it is now co-ed). place of burial. ", 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. [49], Friends from the 1970s confirmed that Billings was homosexual, but not open to discussing it. Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "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.". ', 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. 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. [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. (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. But was reportedly upset that her husband spent so much time with him, and that he often stayed overnight at the White House. But above all, Bobby was very important to Lem personally. Billings then prepared responses and read them aloud to her. And all the while, Lem Billings was there: waiting, serving, comforting and helping the Kennedy family adjust to the public glare. (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. Jack and Lem, as a reviewer for The New York Daily News put it in 1996, engaged in the kind of sexual experimentation not unknown at all-boys boarding schools.. Jack & Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings by David Pitts Carroll & Graf. "[25]:244 Sometimes he stayed for longer periods. (Page 80), Lem examines a damaged ambulance door following the Messerschmitt attack, Sirte, Libya, 1943. 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. 'Haven't heard a word from you,' Jack wrote. After Jack Kennedy's election to the presidency, Billings was a constant presence and overnight guest at the White House. In less than a year, the country would be at war." (Page 276). Authorities have identified the woman found dead Tuesday in a residence on Avenue B in Billings as Shanna Lynn Booth. 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. According to the book, a gift from Billings a whale's-tooth scrimshaw was buried with him. John F. Kennedy bi-sexual or gay? 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 . Billings as a teenager was 6' 2", weighed 175 pounds, and was the strongest member of the Choate crew. [34] He joined the President's entourage for his tours of Europe in both 1961 and 1963. Were Lem and Jack sexually intimate as well? Oscar Cainer tells all. Have you heard from him?' When a butler commented on the fact that Billings was leaving his belongings in one of the third-floor guest rooms, the First Lady replied: "He's been my house guest since I was married. Gore Vidal, the writer who claimed he viewed homosexuality as normal as heterosexuality, disparaged the JFK-Billings relationship during the Kennedy administration. [18], In 1960, on leave from his job, he worked on Kennedy's presidential campaign. However he does quote Billings admission that he may have been in love with Kennedy his whole life. 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. Lem Billings also buffered JFK from the toll that infidelity took on the Kennedy marriage. Still, Billings was viewed by many I interviewed for my biography of RFK Jr. as his gay Svengali who guided and literally tried to control every aspect of Bobby Jr.'s life from the time he was in his mid-teens. When the boy died at 4:19 a.m. Kennedy was clutching his little fingers. He claimed he had no idea who the Kennedys were, but they wanted to meet Williams, and Vidal produced him. "[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. 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. 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. Jack, Lem, and Caroline enjoying the water, Hyannis Port, 1963. 'I would take the shuttle down to Washington, go to the White House and we would be picked up by helicopter there -- flown to Andrews (Air Force Base) and taken by Air Force One to Otis on the Cape. Naval Academy. [11], After working on Kennedy's successful campaign for Congress in 1946, Billings toured seven Latin American countries with Robert F. 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. [47], Billings spent less time with the President in the fall of 1963. ', 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. "The agency, which was the 13th largest in the United States in 1971, went bankrupt the following year, listing almost $11 million in liabilities. Access Restriction Status: Open. I am gay and this relationship was more than relieving sexual tension! 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. "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. I'm not that kind of boy.'. He didn't want to share his friendship with Jack. Born in 1916, he was the son of a Pittsburgh doctor. I mean, I could have had a wife, and family, but what the hell -- do you think I would have had a better life having been Jack Kennedy's best friend, having been with him during so many moments of his presidency, having had my own room at the White House, having had the best friend anybody ever had, or having been married and settled down and living somewhere." The Kennedys were a liberal family and one that tolerated a lot of heterosexual promiscuity as well. "[48] Billings spent the last weekend of October 1963 with the couple, the last time he saw them together. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings (April 15, 1916 - May 28, 1981) was a prep school roommate and then lifelong close friend of President John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963). (Page 213), "Jack made a big difference in my life. After cocktails, Jackie and JFK proposed some skeet shooting and, legend has it, Williams was a better shot than Jack. [60] In 1965, Jacqueline Kennedy invited Billings to accompany her and her children to England for the unveiling of a memorial to President Kennedy at Runnymede. He had interests of his own that Jack didn't necessarily share. [44] "Jack made a big difference in my life," Billings said. Definitions: Cause of death vs risk factors. Billings took leave from his business career to work on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. ", 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. "He needed Lem Billings to get around better than a trained nurse" that would have made his political career impossible. The first lady, Jackie, had something of a love-hate relationship with Billings. A crew jock, he met Jack at Choate, a boys' boarding school, in Wallingford, Connecticut (it is now co-ed). Lem's team was attempting to take down a number of South Vietnamese officials. Was this part of his commitment to the Presidents good health? Billings had once told Bobby that. Like millions of other young Americans, they faced an uncertain future. Although Alford refused, she did not always have the self-confidence to say no: earlier, she had fellated a staff member in Jacks presence. Lem and Jack were insulated by money, and by the reticence of journalists to open closet doors that powerful men, gay and straight, preferred to leave closed. Why should a historian care about Kennedys sex life at all? Kennedy later graduated from Harvard, but the pair wrote letters back and forth, spent weekends together in New York and traveled to Germany in the summer of 1937. 12 pdf icon; leading cause of death data, including firearm, homicide, and drug poisoning mortality data, and infant mortality . Sprawling home where JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in 1996 is listed for sale for $7 MILLION by current Royal Mail increase price of first class stamp by 15p to 1.10 in record-breaking hike. Although Jack and Bobby were of different temperaments -- Jack, detached and cerebral, Bobby, intense and emotional -- Lem saw so much of Jack in Bobby. 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. 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. [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. 64, No. President John F. Kennedy has become infamous for his vivid, and some might say almost compulsive, heterosexual affairs. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. As Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee recalled much later, "I suppose it's known that Lem was gay.. I'm not that kind of boy.' Billings was a prep school roommate of Kennedy, an usher at his wedding and a campaigner for his successful 1960 presidential bid. [23] He represented the President when the alumni association unveiled Kennedy's portrait at Choate in May 1963. Bobby Kennedy Jr. gave the eulogy. ", 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. In "Jack and Lem", author David Pitts looks at the relationship between the late president and Kirk LeMoyne Billings or "Lem". In which 20 year old John F Kennedy's best friend shows up on his doorstep one evening. When Jack reached home, the two friends greeted each other like there was no tomorrow." 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. Billings was a longtime Kennedy family friend, working to preserve the slain president's legacy even after death. "I just became fascinated with Lem because he was a closeted but as they used to say 'practicing homosexual,' and he was very much part of the inner Kennedy circle from very early in his life," Bayard said. She needed Billings to keep the President company while she went horseback riding. In her memoir, Times To Remember, published eleven years after Jack's assassination in Dallas in 1963, she wrote that Billings had 'remained Jack's lifelong close friend, confidant, sharer in old memories and new experiencesHe has really been part of 'our family' since that first time he showed up at our house as one of 'Jack's surprises.
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