[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. We might even call it a romantic friendship. Part One Looking Out of the Frame: Camelot's Gay - OutHistory From there we would helicopter right to his father's front lawn. Have a nice one! [3] They became fast friends, drawn to each other by their mutual distaste for their strict school. 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. Lem, although said by Arthur Schlesinger to have been jealous of others who drew Jacks attention, was undoubtedly one of the personal assistants and friends who facilitated the Presidents daily need for sex by making sure that women were available when needed. Billings was a prep school roommate of Kennedy, an usher at his wedding and a campaigner for his successful 1960 presidential bid. Princeton University. [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. Billings, for his part, never married and eventually became a marketing executive and worked on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Lem Billings - Wikidata ", Still, he was well aware of his proximity to history. [68] His dying wish was for the young Kennedy men to carry his casket to its final resting place. They were especially fanatical about football. [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. John F. Kennedy bi-sexual or gay? "[53] Though newspapers often mentioned Billings' attendance at major social events, they identified him either as the escort of a member of the Kennedy family or included him in a list of Kennedy friends. He might have been the reason I never got married. A historian wrote that after Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago Billings was "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows.'" 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. Billings served with Sargent Shriver as a trustee for the Kennedy family trusts. I'm enclosing a letter to Lem, which I wish you would forward, as I haven't any idea where he is. Where you live matters: Life expectancy and causes of death in Latin The Depression had hurt the Billings family financially, and Lem Billings was at Choate on scholarship. Billings, for his part, never married and eventually became a marketing executive and worked on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 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. Kennedy and Billings remained intimate in part by managing Jacks sex life, his career, and his family, together. "Depending upon where the lung cancer was, her heart could have taken a direct hit," said Dr. Sharonne N. Hayes, a cardiologist and founder of the Women's Heart Clinic at the Mayo Clinic. Inside the relationship between JFK and Lem Billings Lem Billings was a lifelong friend of Kennedy's, beginning from when they were roommates at Choate, continuing til Kennedy's assassination in 1963. 1 leading cause of death among Native Americans in Montana during 2020 and the third-leading cause of death for the general population. JFK appeared to be in love with the idea of Billings being in love with him. ", 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. Williams, a handsome gay southerner, had already written seven hit plays. He believed Billings loved Kennedy. 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. The young Kennedys took the casket and carried it around the gravesite before returning it to the burial plot. But there is also an important story about race, and social class, to be told here. "And everything ready for a big, big party.". [10] In 1944 he received a commission in the U.S. Published online July 6, 2017. Gay History: John F. Kennedy Had A Gay Best Friend Who - timalderman 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. 'It was very hard for him, but he wanted to do it and he stuck with it,' Lucretia added. Ted Sorensen called him "an admirer almost a fawning admirer of his friend. With his political influence, Jack Daniels became a monopoly as the only legal whiskey distillery in 1947 in Tennessee. Jacqueline Bouvier would have the same problem, using every possible excuse to avoid the game, after she and Jack were married in 1953." Inside the intimate relationship between JFK and Lem Billings (2023) 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. 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'm not that kind of boy.' Their mothers just married the same man. Lem Billings - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core COVID No. 1 cause of death among Montana Native Americans [35] In 1962 he escorted two of the President's sisters, Eunice Shriver and Jean Kennedy Smith, around Europe for more than two weeks. "Because of him, I was never lonely. Because of him, I was never lonely, Billings said once. The 51-year-old daughter of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died Sept. 16 while working out at her Washington, D.C., gym. Criticisms from others in the Kennedy orbit insinuate that Jack took advantage of Lems love for him without reciprocating. The year also brought a staggering . 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? An autopsy report says Billings' cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. He had a very independent mind. JAMIE RICHARDSON: John F. Kennedy had no shortage of people who considered themselves friends of the 35th president. While web sleuths and conspiracy theorists were looking for the person who killed her . The fighting Chesmores: Ring veteran Lem Chesmore passing the craft on Mid-1930s. And all the while, Lem Billings was there: waiting, serving, comforting and helping the Kennedy family adjust to the public glare. As of 2018 Lem Billings is 65 years (age at death) years old. [20] He later said: "I realized that I did not want to work for the president because I felt it would change our relationship. 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. 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. [14] In 1958, he moved to the Manhattan advertising firm Lennen & Newell[15] as an advertising executive. John F. Kennedy's best friend for three decades was a gay man, according to a new book titled, "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings.The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship;" the book documents the relationship between the two men from its beginnings at a New England prep school in 1933 until the gunfire in Dallas in 1963. As they became close, Billings confided that his relationship with Kennedy was, in fact, sexual, to a point. 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. and yet you still think JFK was alive in December 1963! Allegheny Cemetery. COVID-19 became the No. ', 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. The elder Kennedys began to discourage the boys from associating with Billings because of his excessive recreational drug use (including alcohol). He sent one letter to Lem's mother addressed to the American Field Service PO Box in New York. We are a non-profit organization, wholly supported by The New School, and by the generosity of our sponsors and readers. Lemp Mansion: Tales of a Cursed Family and Their Haunted House Bobby Kennedy Jr's surrogate father was JFK's gay best friend [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. As one source told me, 'Young Bobby replaced Jack in Lem's heart of hearts.'. 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 . [37], Billings' role as "first friend" was assessed by many observers at the time and since. What happened Lem Billings? - Celeberinfo (Page 100). While Billings' missive is long gone, a startled Kennedy responded, 'Please don't write to me on toilet paper anymore. Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on May 28, 1981, at the age of 65. Billings could best be described as Kennedy's "wingman", closest male friend, and boon companion as they moved into adulthood. The Cold War was still raging, and there was fear Russian agents might use the friendship against Kennedy. 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. "Because of him," Lem Billings once said of President Kennedy, "I was never lonely" 'Haven't heard a word from you,' Jack wrote. I have also studied the forensics of the assassination for 21 years. "[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. 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. In 1964, Billings was named to head a ten-person committee to select a memorial to Kennedy to be placed in the Kennedy Center. Jack, meanwhile, drew on Billings' unerring presence in his life by his side in sickness and on the campaign trail and even at the White House, where Billings had a room (and where there were at least whispers among the staff about the truth of his personal relationships). He had clearly been adopted into the larger Kennedy clan, and Jackie drew him into her family circle as well. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Sometimes Jack bitched Lem out one letter saying, "Of all the cheap shit I have. Kennedy first met Billings when they were teenagers at a school called Choate. 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. ', White House visitor: Billings often spent the night at the White House, which upset Jackie Kennedy. [49], Friends from the 1970s confirmed that Billings was homosexual, but not open to discussing it. "He needed Lem Billings to get around better than a trained nurse" that would have made his political career impossible. But this may, in fact, just be gossip. But the man married to Jackie Kennedy was quietly chided for his compulsive philandering. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Prince Andrew has 'offered to manage prestigious Royal estates including Balmoral but King Charles has told PLATELL'S PEOPLE: Yes, Madonna toyboys are fun but not if you value your dignity. He wanted to be with him, to be a part of whatever he wanted to do to continue Jack's legacy." Jack, Lem, and Caroline enjoying the water, Hyannis Port, 1963. The first lady, Jackie, had something of a love-hate relationship with Billings. . Lem Billings may have been present for, but just outside the frame, of these pictures. But the point of the picture is the grief any couple would feel at the loss of a much-wanted child. In which 20 year old John F Kennedy's best friend shows up on his doorstep one evening. The two became friends, then roommates. "[44], Many testify to Billings' wit and ability to help the President relax. It is important to understand what is meant by the cause of death and the risk factor associated with a premature death:. The Once and Future Kennedys - The Washington Post In many ways, Kennedy was also enjoying the kind of sex life that would later characterize the gay mens party of the 1970s. JFK's Friendship with Lem Billings: His Best Friend Never Got Over 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. 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. The . 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 . This was at the end of their final presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York in October, 2008. 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). 'People think I'm a joke,' he once acknowledged. 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. "He did not want to hear one negative syllable, and there were a lot of negatives going along.". The Man Who Loved JFK - The Gay & Lesbian Review (Note my reply) I think the interview I have reference to is less than a year ago! Quirk immediately pegged Billings as gay, noting his 'high, screechy laugh,' and 'high nasal whine of a voice.' Vidal, the author of a best-selling gay World War II novel, published in 1947 at a time when most queer books were ruled obscene and evidence of homosexual acts could bring a prison term, was unabashedly public about his affairs with men. Len Hauss, a rugged mainstay in Washington's offensive line who started 192 consecutive games at center in a 14-year pro football career that led him to the Super Bowl and five Pro Bowl . Kennedy was allegedly on the receiving end of oral sex. ", 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.". [64], Billings' behavior changed drastically in the late 1960s. Lem Billings is a well known Celebrity. In the epidemiological framework of the Global Burden of Disease study each death has one specific cause. He didn't want to share his friendship with Jack. Get that ass! he said to Vidal. '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? 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. (Page 35), Jack and Lem in a Palm Beach photo booth just before their European tour, 1937, "Jack and Lem's summer in Europe began on July 1, 1937. [12], From 1946 to 1948, Billings attended Harvard Business School and earned an MBA. From 1933 to 1946, Billings and JFK exchanged letters, with Jack often antagonizing Lem in the correspondence. Was this part of his commitment to the Presidents good health? John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings - Internet Archive PHOTOS: Memories of JFK From His Gay Best Friend - Gay News, LGBT "At Choate, boys who were interested in sexual involvement with other boys were courteous and discreet, writing notes on toilet paper so they could be easily swallowed or flushed," David Pitts writes in his 2007 book Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship. [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. 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. 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? Lem outlived his friend by eighteen years; he died in 1981, and left his papers to the JFK Presidential library in Boston, MA. Lem Billings - Later Years Lem felt that the physical regimen at the Kennedy vacation homes was even more exacting than that at Choate. That he is believed to have been gay at a time when homosexuality was still illegal even being somewhat open about his sexuality, including within the powerful Kennedy clan sheds light on the strength of his ties to the family. Witch, Harridan, Harpy, and new insults like Karen and Terf. Both boys kept diaries on the trip, although Lem's was more of a scrapbook. [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. Access Restriction Status: Open. 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 photos and excerpts from David Pitts's book Jack & Lem, we remember President John F. Kennedy through the lens of his lifelong friendship with Lem Billings. 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. Authorities have identified the woman found dead in Billings home Although JFK embarked on affairs with women as a very young man, affairs that continued into his married life, Billings remained focused on an erotic life with men and never had a life partner. 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." [17] In 1956 he was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy's sister Jean to Stephen Edward Smith. Were Lem and Jack sexually intimate as well? For Jack and Lem, the carefree period of their lives -- their school and college years -- were now behind them. Ethel's alcoholic, philandering brother, George Skakel Jr., actually booted Billings in the a** at the church, knocking him into the aisle. "In many ways, Lem thought of his life as being over after Jack died," the younger Bobby Kennedy told Pitts for his book. [16], On September 12, 1953, Billings was an usher at the wedding of Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. Billings had once told Bobby that. 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. 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. Jack & Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untol 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. But above all, Bobby was very important to Lem personally. This may have been true of his wife, although perhaps she understood from the beginning that their marriage would be non-monogamous. ", 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.". As the previous article mentions more has to be explored regarding the relationship between Lem and JFK! A Death in the First Family - Vanity Fair Remembering JFK's Bond with His Boyhood Best Friend, Who Never Got Over https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/661850801540d07650fabf52ced798bc30b638466ac906855c1e19da231d68b5.jpg. Born in 1916, Billings was the son of a Pittsburgh doctor. 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. In "Jack and Lem", author David Pitts looks at the relationship between the late president and Kirk LeMoyne Billings or "Lem". And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. [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. But as I began to research him, I realized he was also very good friends with Jackie. His latest book, The Kardashians: An American Drama, will be published in September. 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. As Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee recalled much later, "I suppose it's known that Lem was gay.. ', Jacqueline Kennedy was reportedly unhappuabout her husband and Billings' three decade long relationship. Ironically, Motlow, who had sustained a stroke in 1940, died that same year . "Because of him, I was never lonely," Billings said once. Bobby Kennedy Jr. gave the eulogy. Published: 16:57 GMT, 9 June 2017 | Updated: 19:00 GMT, 9 June 2017. Sexual Abuse at Choate Went On for Decades. 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. Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' 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. Billings then prepared responses and read them aloud to her. 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.

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