"I'm sure he's already organizing everything in heaven so it will be completely ready for us with just the right Early American furniture, the right curtains, the right rugs, the right paintings," Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the president's sister, said in a eulogy. "Because of him, I was never lonely. 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. (Page 95), Jack and Lem on leave, Palm Beach, 1944"It's not clear whether Lem wanted to join the navy and see combat because Jack had, or because he wanted it for himself. In Jackies absence, Lem managed the Presidents dinner parties, social life and children. 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? [17] In 1956 he was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy's sister Jean to Stephen Edward Smith. He wanted to be with him, to be a part of whatever he wanted to do to continue Jack's legacy." 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. However, an earlier book by Hollywood writer Lawrence Quirk alleges that Billings was not rebuffed. ", Still, he was well aware of his proximity to history. "[48] Billings spent the last weekend of October 1963 with the couple, the last time he saw them together. But I'm stuck with the Kennedys emotionally, and I will be to the end of my life. And seated close to Kennedy is his shirtless, tanned and oiled best friend forever, his very gay chum, Kirk LeMoyne 'Lem' Billings. [4], Some historians believe that Billings expressed his sexual interest in Kennedy in writing in 1934 and that Kennedy rebuffed his advances. With so many people looking for a relationship with him as he rose through the political ranks, there was one man who stood out as one of JFK's near-constant companions. Billings, Lem (Kirk LeMoyne), 1916-1981. 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. President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas 50 years ago, leaving behind a mourning nation and his gay best friend, Lem Billings. After cocktails, Jackie and JFK proposed some skeet shooting and, legend has it, Williams was a better shot than Jack. He believed Billings loved Kennedy. (Page 213), "Jack made a big difference in my life. 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. Kennedy. It impressed . It is a historic rural cemetery. ", As Pitts writes, Jack "wasn't going to let anyone control his life, and he certainly wasn't going to let anyone choose his friends.". Article. The . enwiki Lem Billings; [30], The press frequently reported on his presence at Kennedy family events, such as the arrival of the Kennedy children in Washington in February 1961. (Page 100). Knowing the kind of intimate relationship that he had with the president, advisers were concerned about political repercussions, and even blackmail. "He never really came out of it. Lem Billings also buffered JFK from the toll that infidelity took on the Kennedy marriage. 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. He certainly didn't have the same interest in politics and women that Jack had. [34] He joined the President's entourage for his tours of Europe in both 1961 and 1963. Because of him, I was never lonely, Billings said once. Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son," and he sometimes acted as escort for several of the Kennedy women. Jack's best friend was Lem and he would want me to remind everyone of that today." 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." July 24, 2015. From there we would helicopter right to his father's front lawn. The book "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship," details the extraordinary relationship between two unlikely friends. 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! '"[39], Most recognized that Billings and Kennedy had been friends from youth and did not question their relationship or Billings' presence. 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. [4] The Muckers would pull pranks around the school and even planned to dump horse manure in the school gym, but that fell through after the headmaster found out. We might even attach the adjectives exclusive and romantic to this youthful friendship. Bobby Kennedy Jr. read the eulogy. "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. As the previous article mentions more has to be explored regarding the relationship between Lem and JFK! Billings then prepared responses and read them aloud to her. Billings would later spend nights in the White House where he had his own room, Schoolboy crush? Lem was no civilian; he was a member of the Viet Cong. Born in 1916, Billings was the son of a Pittsburgh doctor. While JFK is legendarily known as a master womanizer who frequently cheated on his first lady, his curious three-decades long intimate friendship with Billings suggests more than a simple bromance. Jack Kennedy and Lem Billings met at Choate and remained friends until the Dallas gunfire that ended Kennedy's life thirty years later. Otherwise he attended without female accompaniment. When the boy died at 4:19 a.m. Kennedy was clutching his little fingers. This is fascinating, Claire. On school breaks, Jack often brought Billings home with him, sparking Joe Kennedy to complain to his wife, Rose, 'Do we have to have that q***r around all summer?'. Eunice Kennedy Shriver said, 'I'm sure he's already organizing everything in heaven so it will be completely ready for us -- with just the right Early American furniture, the right curtains, the right rugs, the right paintings, and everything ready for a big, big party. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/661850801540d07650fabf52ced798bc30b638466ac906855c1e19da231d68b5.jpg. 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. [64], Billings' behavior changed drastically in the late 1960s. Eventually, the two friends made contact, however, and began exchanging letters just as they had when both were at home." Click to browse the Lem Billings Personal Papers KLBPP-001-003-p0015. The two grew so close over the following months that Billings was invited to the Kennedy family home in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season and, months later, to their Hyannis Port compound, where he was badly burned in a defective shower and hospitalized for three weeks. 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. Definitions: Cause of death vs risk factors. 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. But as I began to research him, I realized he was also very good friends with Jackie. 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? cause of death. 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. "[41] At the same time, he admitted that no one ever expressed the idea aloud during Kennedy's White House years. "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. Lem's team was attempting to take down a number of South Vietnamese officials. He reportedly never entertained or enjoyed social outings. 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College Amid Outrage, Thomas Orlina Shines a Light on Mental Health for Teen Mental Wellness Day. "[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. I don't know how we will carry on without him. Like millions of other young Americans, they faced an uncertain future. Harvard University. "'Of course, there was always Cape Cod in Massachusetts when the president wanted to be near the water,' Lem remarked. Kirk Lem Lemoyne Billings (15 Apr 1916 - 28 May 1981) 0 references . Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son," and he sometimes acted as escort for several of the Kennedy women. Lem Billings was a lifelong friend of Kennedy's, beginning from when they were roommates at Choate, continuing til Kennedy's assassination in 1963. 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. Needless to say, JFK may have had, in a sense, two widows. The 51-year-old daughter of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died Sept. 16 while working out at her Washington, D.C., gym. Billings, for his part, never married and eventually became a marketing executive and worked on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (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. [47], Billings spent less time with the President in the fall of 1963. 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. Quirk immediately pegged Billings as gay, noting his 'high, screechy laugh,' and 'high nasal whine of a voice.' 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. And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. 0 references. Wikipedia (3 entries) edit. In many ways, Lem was like a father to me and he was the best friend I will ever have.' Published online July 6, 2017. [16], On September 12, 1953, Billings was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. This may have been true of his wife, although perhaps she understood from the beginning that their marriage would be non-monogamous. 'What the hell have you been doing? I dont buy it. 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. Elisa Lam was a 21-year-old woman on an adventure when she died at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles' skid row. A historian wrote that after Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago Billings was "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows.'" ", So frequent a presence was he that Ted Kennedy, more than a decade younger than his brother Jack, said he "was 3 years old before it dawned on me that Lem wasn't one more older brother.". They met in 1933 in their sophomore year at Choate Rosemary Hall, the exclusive Connecticut prep school, when both were teenagers, working together on their class's yearbook, and Billings instantly became attracted sexually and otherwise to the handsome scion of America's self-styled royal family. "He needed Lem Billings to get around better than a trained nurse" that would have made his political career impossible. You can follow her on Twitter. (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. They werent even related. Criticisms from others in the Kennedy orbit insinuate that Jack took advantage of Lem's love for him without reciprocating. Bobby's decision to pick up Jack's torch was important to Lem as well. Pamela Long Wiggins, who was convicted of accessory to murder after the fact in connection with the Billings murders, died Thursday in state prison. JFK appeared to be in love with the idea of Billings being in love with him. ', But Billings was embarrassed about his effeminate mannerisms he'd remain publicly closeted for his lifetime. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3269576/How-Ethel-Kennedy-.. view all Lem Billings's Timeline A crew jock, he met Jack at Choate, a boys boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut (it is now co-ed). Lem Billings andBobby Kennedy Jr became close after JFK's death and allegedly took drugs together. 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Kennedy Anything Including Possible Affairs, oral history interview for the John F. Kennedy Library. ", 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. (Page 24), Lem and Bobby, Waterville Valley, N.H., circa 1967"'When Bobby joined the political fray, no one was happier than Lem. His father was a prominent physician and a graduate of the U.S. 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" he said as he gazed at him softly, It's been a long time. Co-executive Editor, Public Seminar and Professor of History, The New School for Social Research, Photo credit: Cecil Stoughton/Wikimedia Commons. To begin with, why would JFK give him a private room at the white house, to come and go at his leisure? The first lady, Jackie, had something of a love-hate relationship with Billings. JFK also shared women with male friends and relatives, a homoerotic impulse often seen in fraternities or other male organizations where men reinforce intimacy by having sex with the same woman. [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. Poor guy. In reference to this relationship, I came across another interview in which JFKs sexuality was discussed and that interviewer defended JFKs relationship with Lem? 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. He helped handle even some of Jack's most personal affairs, Pitts writes in his book: "Jack's dates would be managed by Lem. [54] Billings had his own room in the White House. In 1964, Billings was named to head a ten-person committee to select a memorial to Kennedy to be placed in the Kennedy Center. "[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. 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 for Kennedy himself, Vidal asserted that the president 'felt quite comfortable in the company of homosexuals as long as they were smart enough to hold his interest. [59], He escorted Jean Kennedy Smith, sister of the President, to a gala ballet performance in 1966[61] and Ethel Kennedy, the president's sister-in-law, to the 1971 opening of the Kennedy Center. [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. From 1933 to 1946, Billings and JFK exchanged letters, with Jack often antagonizing Lem in the correspondence. 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. And for Lem and Mark Chesmore, there's nothing more they enjoy doing than participating in their chosen sport of boxing. ', 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. As Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee recalled much later, "I suppose it's known that Lem was gay.. President John F. Kennedy has become infamous for his vivid, and some might say almost compulsive, heterosexual affairs. Billings could best be described as Kennedy's "wingman", closest male friend, and boon companion as they moved into adulthood. The year also brought a staggering . But even before then, Billings was a Kennedy fixture. The two became friends, then roommates. and yet you still think JFK was alive in December 1963! As one source told me, 'Young Bobby replaced Jack in Lem's heart of hearts.'. 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.