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He noted that everywhere Jack went, Billings was sure to follow, like a puppy dog. But above all, Bobby was very important to Lem personally. "[52] One historian wrote that after the 1963 assassination Billings was: "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows'. 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. (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. Gore Vidal, the writer who claimed he viewed homosexuality as normal as heterosexuality, disparaged the JFK-Billings relationship during the Kennedy administration. "[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. He never lost this.". You can follow her on Twitter. In many ways, Lem was like a father to me and he was the best friend I will ever have.' Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son," and he sometimes acted as escort for several of the Kennedy women. I dont buy it. Didnt Lem confess to a friend that he loved JFK? JFK appeared to be in love with the idea of Billings being in love with him. [63][25]:505 He maintained close ties to the Kennedys and their children for the rest of his life, frequently socializing with Bobby Kennedy Jr., to whom he became almost a surrogate father, and Christopher Lawford. One of their friends thought "that Jackie was trying to close Lem out. "He never really came out of it. [6][7], In 1941, Billings failed medical tests required by the military. 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. It would go on to become one of his most prized possessions." . Billings was so much a part of the extended Kennedy clan that he was regularly included in family gatherings, and Attorney General Robert Bobby Kennedy named his son Michael LeMoyne Kennedy. This essay was originally published at OutHistory.orgon November 22, 2013; it has been updated and re-edited. Billings worked on the 1960 campaign, and then lived at the White House for long stretches of time, a room permanently set aside for his visits. I've had enough of life': Grandmother, 86, is reduced to tears after killjoy Tory RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: As Florida governor and Donald Trump rival Ron DeSantis steps up his bid to win the Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers speaks out on his deep depression after chemotherapy which left him having 'How I snatched JK Rowling's baby out of her abusive husband's arms - and helped her flee with the Harry Top equestrian rider, 39, once known as the 'golden girl' of horse eventing, is facing jail after being A possum feared extinct is discovered by an amateur naturalist in Papua New Guinea being cooked on a Now California reparations panel RAISES amount it wants to give 1.8m black people from $220,000 to $360,000 My weekly horoscope: What will March 4th 2023 bring for MY star sign? 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. [34] He joined the President's entourage for his tours of Europe in both 1961 and 1963. Variability in proportionate mortality in 363 Latin American cities by country. [4], In 1939, Billings graduated from Princeton where he majored in art and architecture[5] and wrote his senior thesis on Tintoretto. 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. I have no doubt the same was true in American upper-crust boarding schools in the single-sex days. . 0 references. They remained close until Kennedy's assassinationBillings had his own room in the White House, and Joe Kennedy Sr. called him "a second son." (Which is odd considering JFK . On March 4, 1961, The New York Times reported, Billings even escorted two baby hamsters, Debbie and Billie, from New York to Washington, for young Caroline. 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.. Advocate Contributors November 22 2013 4:00 AM EST In photos. 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. ", 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. 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. He remained close with various family members, most notably Robert F. Kennedy Jr., though there was a dark side: Peter Collier and David Horowitz's The Kennedys: An American Drama for which Billings gave a number of interviews describes him descending into drug use in connection with his relationship with a young Bobby Kennedy (who had well documented drug issues himself). As Billings' biographer David Pitts told me, 'Once JFK decided that Billings was his best friend like it or leave, everybody in the family sort of fell in line with that. She needed Billings to keep the President company while she went horseback riding. 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. He became Jackies confidant and the trusted recipient of her views about the other women who flitted in and out of her husbands life. 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. (Page 100). ', 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. 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. 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. I have one additional comment, probably to be regarded as politically incorrect. 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. 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. He remained in the closet until his death in 1981 at the age of 65, according to Pitts. A funny photo of Senator John McCain catching himself after he nearly left the stage in the wrong direction after shaking hands with Senator Barack Obama. The one iconic photo of President John F. Kennedy up close and personal with a woman other than Jackie shows him and his attorney general brother, Robert, coming on to curvaceous Marilyn Monroe at a party. Access Restriction Status: Open. It is a historic rural cemetery. Those who knew Charles described him as a sour, angry man. 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. Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on May 28, 1981, at the age of 65. But was reportedly upset that her husband spent so much time with him, and that he often stayed overnight at the White House. [49], Friends from the 1970s confirmed that Billings was homosexual, but not open to discussing it. But as I began to research him, I realized he was also very good friends with Jackie. 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. The first lady, Jackie, had something of a love-hate relationship with Billings. 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 . The two became friends, then roommates. Kirk Lem Lemoyne Billings (15 Apr 1916 - 28 May 1981) 0 references . [19], In 1961, Billings declined Kennedy's offer to appoint him the first head of the Peace Corps, director of a new agency to promote tourism, the U.S. Travel Service, or ambassador to Denmark. [16], On September 12, 1953, Billings was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. Criticisms from others in the Kennedy orbit insinuate that Jack took advantage of Lems love for him without reciprocating. 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. 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. An autopsy report says Billings' cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. (Page 53), Jack, Lem, and Dunker, the dog they bought on their European tour in 1937"Jack and Lem failed to make any friends in Germany, unlike in the other countries they visited, except one -- Dunker, a lovable Dachshund that they ran into on their way to Nuremberg. [44] "Jack made a big difference in my life," Billings said. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was an American businessman known for his close and long-time friendship with John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. Author Louis Bayard focuses much of his upcoming novel Jackie & Me on the relationship between Billings and Kennedy, too. Lem Billings (right) was Kennedy's roommate at Choate and Princeton and an usher at his wedding, Spending most weekends at the White House during JFK's presidency, he became known as the "first friend." Although Billings kept his homosexuality private, it wasn't entirely a secret. I don't think it's true that he did not have views of his own, as some have said. Jack's best friend was Lem and he would want me to remind everyone of that today." The president was famously believed to have affairs during their marriage. John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings, right, who was a classmate from the Choate School and Princeton University, outside a drugstore, ca. Claire Potteris professor of history at The New School, and Executive Editor of Public Seminar. 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. According to the book, a gift from Billings a whale's-tooth scrimshaw was buried with him. I really got to know them well. The first time Kirk Lemoyne 'Lem' Billings was . But even before then, Billings was a Kennedy fixture. 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. In the summer of 1937 Billings and Kennedy took a summer trip through Europe which solidified their friendship. 'It was very hard for him, but he wanted to do it and he stuck with it,' Lucretia added. ', Jacqueline Kennedy was reportedly unhappuabout her husband and Billings' three decade long relationship. And all the while, Lem Billings was there: waiting, serving, comforting and helping the Kennedy family adjust to the public glare. 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. Jack & Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings by David Pitts Carroll & Graf. After saying in a quiet voice, "He put up quite a fight. How remorseless Stephen Bear continued his arrogant antics up until Do not sell or share my personal information. 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. 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. "'Of course, there was always Cape Cod in Massachusetts when the president wanted to be near the water,' Lem remarked. [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. Billings reportedly wrote the future president a love note on a piece of toilet paper (pictured at the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate), JFK was famous for his womanizing habits, but one of his closest relationships was withLem Billings. Williams, a handsome gay southerner, had already written seven hit plays. This was at the end of their final presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York in October, 2008. Definitions: Cause of death vs risk factors. Lem felt that the physical regimen at the Kennedy vacation homes was even more exacting than that at Choate. [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. [18], In 1960, on leave from his job, he worked on Kennedy's presidential campaign. 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. Smith, 433-4; see also: Smith, 113: "The only counterbalance to the [Kennedy] family's philistinism had been Lem Billings, whose passion for art and antiques had begun with his Princeton theses on Tintoretto, a precociously sophisticated study. Otherwise he attended without female accompaniment. [47], Billings spent less time with the President in the fall of 1963. Naval Academy. I was pleased to note that things picked up after your arrival,' referring to Montgomery's battle with Rommel at El Alamein. In recent years, there has also been talk of a movie adaptation. He reportedly never entertained or enjoyed social outings. 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. The Cold War was still raging, and there was fear Russian agents might use the friendship against Kennedy. 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. "[27] Billings never had a White House pass and said: "Jack and Jackie were so nice about this that I didn't even have to tell them whether I was coming or going. The Kennedys were a liberal family and one that tolerated a lot of heterosexual promiscuity as well. The affair was socially isolating for a very young and sexually un-liberated woman, causing her to deceive friends, boyfriends and ultimately her husband and children for most of her adult life. [35] In 1962 he escorted two of the President's sisters, Eunice Shriver and Jean Kennedy Smith, around Europe for more than two weeks. As we both know, homosexual relationships in English boarding schools were put down to adolescent hijinks and men *grew out of them*. [67], On May 28, 1981, Billings died in his sleep following a heart attack in his Manhattan apartment. 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. Billings had once told Bobby that. I'm enclosing a letter to Lem, which I wish you would forward, as I haven't any idea where he is. 73 Photos of Naturally Naked Men by Terry Hastings, 23 Masturbation Tips for People With Vaginas, 22 Terrifying Sexual Fantasies That Must Be Talked About, 30 Kinky Terms Every Gay Man Needs To Know, 10 Sex Toys for All Genders and How to Use Them, Alternative Orgasms: 20 New Ways to Hit the Spot, LGBTQ+ Rights Lawyer Shannon Minter's Home Hit by Tornado, 'First Deep Breath' Is a Moving Story of a Black Family & Queerness, Karine Jean-Pierre on Tennessee Anti-Drag Law: Unacceptable & Unfortunate, Texas GOP May Censure Congressman Over Support for Marriage Equality, 12 LGBTQ+ Films and TV Shows to Watch in March, The Dildo Nazi: Sex Toy-Selling White Supremacist Umasked, Lesbian Gov. "[44], Many testify to Billings' wit and ability to help the President relax. Billings was a longtime Kennedy family friend, working to preserve the slain president's legacy even after death. Felicia Farr m. 19622001 Cynthia Stone m. 19501956 Jack Lemmon / Wife He was 76. With his political influence, Jack Daniels became a monopoly as the only legal whiskey distillery in 1947 in Tennessee. "[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. In reference to this relationship, I came across another interview in which JFKs sexuality was discussed and that interviewer defended JFKs relationship with Lem? I don't know how we will carry on without him. On some weekends, Jack and Lem would go up there. 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. As the then-Senator stepped up for his turn, Williams admired his body. Jacqueline Bouvier would have the same problem, using every possible excuse to avoid the game, after she and Jack were married in 1953." After cocktails, Jackie and JFK proposed some skeet shooting and, legend has it, Williams was a better shot than Jack. Lem Chesmore is a 34-year-old Billings native who grew up on the sport. [28] One presidential aide later said that "some people saw him so much they thought he was the Secret Service. Have you heard from him?' I'd read a bit about Lem Billings in various Kennedy bios . "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 .