By Jessica Hopper
Rock Center
Mimi Alford is speaking publicly for the first time about the secret she’s held for half a century. Alford claims that she had an 18-month-long affair with President John F. Kennedy when she was a White House intern.
“I think when you keep a secret and when you keep silent about something, you do it because you think it’s keeping you safe, but in fact, it’s deadly,” Alford told Meredith Vieira in an exclusive interview scheduled to air Wednesday on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.
In 1962, a 19-year-old Alford spent her summer in Washington, D.C., interning in the White House press office. She had just finished her freshman year at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. Four days into her internship, Alford claims that JFK aide, David Powers, invited her to go swimming in the White House pool. Alford was surprised when the 45-year-old president joined her and two others in the pool.
“It really didn’t seem unnatural, just because everybody was friendly and I went back to work afterwards,” Alford said. “No one said anything.”
Later that day, she says she received another call to visit the private floors of the White House. The naïve teenager didn’t question the president’s intentions when he asked to take her on a tour of the White House.
“The president came over to me and asked me if I’d like to take a tour of the second floor of the White House and see some of the rooms that had been redecorated. The last room that we went into was the bedroom and we walked into the bedroom and it was a beautiful room…I learned later that it was Mrs. Kennedy’s bedroom,” Alford said.
Alford says that she lost her virginity to the president in the first lady’s bedroom. In her soon to be released memoir, Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and its Aftermath, Alford described her first sexual encounter with the president writing that, “I wouldn’t describe what happened that night as making love, but I wouldn’t call it nonconsensual either.”
When asked if she felt overpowered by Kennedy, she told Vieira, “I think overpowered in the sense that he was the president. He was this unbelievably handsome man, 45 years old, overpowered in the fact that he had chosen me…and taken me on this tour. That's what I mean by being overpowered by the whole situation. Not overpowered physically that someone had grabbed me and done this to me and made me do something that I wasn't really willing to do, because I really think I was willing to do it.”
Alford emphasized to Vieira that if she had told the president no, he would have stopped. The affair continued for 18 months even after Alford returned to college.
“I think I was under the aura of, I had just a little bit of second thoughts, not enough to keep me from going back,” said Alford of the affair’s beginnings.
While interning, Alford would sometimes travel with the president. When she returned to college, he’d have arrangements made for her to come visit him. Sometimes, a limo would pick her up and take her to the airport to fly to Washington, D.C. Alford remembers doing homework in the limo as she headed to meet the president.
“I should have felt guilty. He was married to Mrs. Kennedy, but I didn’t at the time feel guilty,” Alford said.
Looking back now, Alford says that she realizes she was at Kennedy’s beck and call.
“I think that’s probably partly what makes me feel sad when I look back. It made me feel very special,” Alford said.
Alford described Kennedy as “boyish” and “shy” around her.
“I’m not going to say he loved me, but I think he did like me a lot. He cared about me,” she said. “Just the way he was, the way he smiled with me. I feel that he did. I feel that he actually cared about me.”
When pressed by Vieira about whether she really believes that Kennedy had genuine feelings for her or if believing that is simply a way for her to comfort herself all these years later, Alford said, “I think it’s a little bit of both.”
Now 68, Alford’s soon to be released memoir shares explicit details about the affair, including a claim that the president encouraged her to have sexual relations with at least one other person at the White House. Alford says that keeping the affair secret was more damaging than the affair itself. She said that it affected her relationships and contributed to the demise of her first marriage.
Alford was first publicly outed in 2003 when historian Robert Dallek wrote 37 words about an unnamed intern who had an affair with Kennedy in his biography of Kennedy called An Unfinished Life. The New York Daily News identified her and Alford issued a simple written statement confirming her secret relationship. She faded into obscurity, but said that the secret eventually became too much to hold inside.
“It’s not so much that I feel that I’m exposing myself, it’s that I’m really unburdening myself, it was a very difficult thing for me to do,” Alford said. “In fact, most mornings when I woke up I thought I don’t want to get up and write this book, I want to hide under the covers.”
Editor’s Note: Meredith Vieira’s exclusive interview with Mimi Alford airs Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 9pm/8c on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams. Vieira talks to Alford at length in the author's first candid interview.
Leave a Comment:
Who didn't JFK have an affair with? What does it matter?
What would you expect from a Kennedy? Only good one, John Jr. was taken way too soon. Bobby, John and Ted all deserved what they got. It is my belief that Bobby and John had something to do with Marilyn Monroes death. It will come out in years to come, or, it won't. Mary Jo Kopeckney same thing. A drunken Ted was up to his old antics. So what, you say? Because they did some good for the American people. We would have been better off without them. They thought they were bigger than life. I like guys like Jack Abramoff. No he wasn't the best but he wasn't afraid to name names was he? A bunch of cowards he named. It included both parties and then some. WE the people can't trust any of them. Newt should be Newtered. NOW Concerned American, L. Velasco
i just lost all respect for one of my favorite presidents, disgusting
What a shame. Even this mature woman seems more interested in some current fame and fortune rather than calling this out for what it was. This is disgusting. Just ask yourself if you were this woman's (a very young woman at the time) dad and found out that this was happening. I would have screamed bloody murder if I was her dad. Or ask yourself if you were Kennedy's wife. For goodness sakes, this is just pure abuse of power for sexual gratification and with a virgin. No matter how you spin it you cannot get any more vile. And the depraved nerve to send limo's for her all on the US taxpayer dollar and time. If I were God good old JFK would be burning in hell for eternity.
How many saying this story should have stayed buried were first in line to want all the juicy details from Newt's ex-wife and Cains accusers.
If this is correct indicates to me a person with poor self control and highly questionable morals/ethics, especially in taking advantage of someone so young and impressionable (19 vs 45). Gosh I would think any president needs to completely focus on important issues within extraordinary time constraints/burdens of the highest office in the US. Running around with Marilyn Monroe and who knows whom else was,if true, a real failure (IMHO) in priorities and underscored an utter lack of self-control. Kennedy and others who took the oath of the President and acted on impulses that most folks know enough to keep under control are diminished by these types of escapades. Regrettably so is the Office of the President and those morally strong individuals who know right from wrong in their personal and professional lives in serice to the country. I believe Ted Kennedy got his marriage "annuled" because it wasn't truly "consummated" (?) even though he had several children with his wife ! Bad enough to do these things and even worse for morally deficient leaders/role models to get on their "high horses" and tell the rest of us to walk the "straight and narrow" !
Immature behavior whether the current media promotions or a valueless man or woman like the so-called entertainment we are producing today will always cause pain and deception and confusion much like killing and robbing and raping our young people. The seven deadly sins are active among us and in our White House and government. Our leaders and law enforcement need to help return respectable and humane behavior instead of promoting all this "current day" attitude and fun that is destroying any chance of honor and principles in our lives or those of our future leaders and young people.
well, at least she was able to get out of the water, as opposed to other Kennedy 'girl friends'...
Come on, the man has been dead for over 40 yrs., why is this even news any more? Beside that point remember he who is without sin may cast the first stone. Our politicians, for the most part can hardly point their fingers at others while sticking their hands in the proverbial cookie jar! Let's get real......the best we can hope for is to elect a person to the presidency with the least amount of sins. But let me just say that if having affairs was what made for a bad politician than what does lying to the IRS and covering up funds do?
Who cares? Kennedy has been dead since 1963, this is 59 years later and there is no way to prove or disprove her story. Clearly, she's all about the money. The only question is why now? Running out of money or it took this long to come up with a plausible story?
Soap Opera time again. This isn't any big deal except for those who make money off this. Put the article in a magazine & it will sell more copies. She is 68 yrs old & needs some money, I've got a secret. FDR had a true girl friend, hugs & kisses & then some. His wife was always gone doing something good. Even a President such as FDR held many secrets among the very few. Today it's worth more money because of all the media about looking for anything to sell.
As a "right-winger", I still don't understand why this is news. Is there anyone alive that even cares ? Maybe she felt robbed of her "15 minutes" those 50+ years ago. Maybe she just needs some money to pay the rent.
Pathetic that she feels she has to bring this up now! What good does it do? She is just as responsible and airing her affair with the President is so selfish. Move on and quit bring up things that have no bearing. Do you think it is productive to the Kennedy family to re-hash your affair with someone who is dead.
I am totally repulsed by the Today Show airing this information. TMI = Too Much Information. I pity Caroline Kennedy. She's lost her whole family and now her father (who died for his efforts) is being smeared by this network. It's disgusting. I have watched Today for many years. I'm done!
Exactly...this kind of thing is only hurtful to the family that remains. There was much more to JFK than this...why not talk about all the good he did?
Who cares? I'm sick of this tabloid journalism....go to therapy and work it out in the privacy of your therapist's office and spare the rest of us.
She could have said no - even as a teenager. Girls weren't as loose back then. She strikes me as a bit of an opportunist, not naive at all. I am a boomer and remember Kennedy, both my parents voted for him, I was 10 when he died. It was definitely an aura that persisted many years after his death. However, it seems, if it is all true, that Kennedy was really a cad, to take a girl's virginity in his wife's bedroom! I had read that JFK was out on a boat in the south of France when his wife miscarried and didn't even want to go back until his father reminded him of his political career. Jackie wanted to divorce him then but old Joe Kennedy gave her a cool million (probably equivalent of 50 million today) to stay with him. Just think of remaining in a marriage with a man like that! Money helps however, and Jackie just spent to compensate for the heel she married. As Henry Kissinger once said, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac".
Bet Dan Quale is glad he was no Jack Kennedy!!!!
Or maybe not???
This is "news"? With all the important things that are happening in the world today, it is ridiculous that this merits Meredith Viera's debut on the series.
Also, as an attorney, this is simply "hearsay," with no ability of the so-called "accused" to comment on the issue. Objection, your Honor. Sustained.
I agree. What a disastrous debut for Meredith on RockCenter..and I like Meredith. The intern whore who had to unload her "story" on us so she could relieve her guilt and get a whole lot of money. Supermarket tabloid trash.
Thomas Jefferson, Grover Cleveland, and Warren Harding all admitted to having mistresses and God only knows how many more of our presidents did but "didn't tell". Yet it always seems to be so powerful when it's a Kennedy. Like they're the only men who cheated on their wives. To me it's not a Kennedy or a political thing but a man thing (and by that I mean both men and women). Definitely not something I condone but nonetheless an act that has been committed since the institution of marriage. And honestly, how is this former intern's startling news relevant to anything right now?
So why after all these decades does the old lady "need" to write a tell-all, juicy book? Because she can no longer bear the 50 years of guilt....yeah right. Stop lying Mimi, your bank account is a little low, you're still self-centered and maybe you hope the grandkids might think you're cool instead of so horribly embarrassing. In my opinion, you still haven't grown up!
1) It's probably true. Most presidents have mistresses.
2) It has nothing to do with the job they do as presidents. People cheat sometimes. It's not right but if a president is doing his job then there's no excuse to be trying to combine his personal life with his work life. Kennedy was a great president and this doesn't alter the job he did as president. Just like Clinton... he had an affair and the whole country was like "Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!" Why does everyone assume mixing someone's personal life with his work life is okay? It's not. If they do a good job on the job, then they should continue to do the job, even if they don't do a good job on their PERSONAL life that isn't any of our business.
Nathan, he was impeached for lying under oath, a felony. He lost his law license and paid Paula Jones off. Bad enough he was man who was accused of abusing women and using women like a kleenex, you blow your nose in and throw away. That is not impeachable... lying under oath, that's a crime and he should have been run out of town. George Will summed him up pretty good. "He wasn't the worst President in our history, but surely the worst person to hold that office." My favorite quote about Bubba comes from Deb Weiss... "Here is a soul so small, that even God would need a magnifying glass to perceive it."
I have two questions and a few comments. Was Ms. Alford 19 at the time of the affair? Was it ILLEGAL to have sexual relations with someone under 21 in Washington D.C. during this period of time? Let's call it for what it was: he never kissed her. He used her as a whore, therefore, violating the Mann Act to transport her across state lines for his sexual needs. There are three names for President Kennedy: Felon, Statutory Rapist, and Sexual Predator. I hope Ms Alford stops minimizing what happened to her and opens her eyes to the truth of what President Kennedy really did to her and her innocence - rubber ducky races aside - that's just plain creepy.
I have two questions and a few comments. First, wasn't Ms. Alford 19 when she and JFK started their affair? Wasn't it ILLEGAL in Washington D.C. at the time to have sex with anyone under 21? JFK was many things: Felon, Statutory Rapist, and Sexual Predator. Why does this story matter and why should we care? Because we lift up Kennedy as a great man that should be adored - with Camelot - and all that rot. President Kennedy treated Ms. Alford like trash, violating the Mann Act for his own sexual pleasure, and never kissing her on the mouth like she was a whore. He was the worst sort of example of Manhood. Can we please stop the Kennedy love-fest now, for the love of God?
True. But truth is not what some people want.
Thankfully we didn't have this story told during JFK's Presidency. Could you imagine? JFK would have been as scandalous as Bill Clinton. Thankfully Jackie Kennedy never had to hear this story in the news, although I'm sure she knew much of what her husband was up to.
I enjoyed Rockcenter previously. But this episode is really trashy b------t. Hope it's just a one-off.
why now? why 4 decades later?
I cant believe he had her do his friend also. WOW