By Jessica Hopper
Rock Center
Mimi Alford says her 18 month affair with President John F. Kennedy was glamorous and fun, but also says the experience revealed a darker side of the king of Camelot.
“I was sort of swept into this web,” Alford told Meredith Vieira in an exclusive interview broadcast Wednesday night on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams. “The handsome president, his charisma, his magnetism.”
“Webs are sort of gentle, in a way. They’re controlling, but they are gentle,” Alford said.
Half a century after the affair, it’s still difficult for Alford to talk about the relationship that she says began when she was just 19 years old.
“I don’t think what I did at 19 was bad,” Alford told Vieira through tears.
“I’m remembering how enthusiastic I was and how much fun I was to be with,” Alford said. “I wasn’t after anything. I wasn’t after a job. I was just a young girl.”
Alford says that her sexual relationship with the 45-year-old Kennedy began in the summer of 1962, four days into her internship at the White House. She describes the affair as one where she and the president never kissed. Even in their most intimate moments, she called him Mr. President, never Jack, Alford says.
“It wasn’t a romantic affair. I don’t really remember the president ever kissing me and it, that makes me sad. I don’t remember really kissing him either and I think really that I didn’t, I certainly didn’t learn how to have a real relationship through that relationship,” Alford said.
Now 68, Alford has written a book, Once Upon a Secret My Affair with John F. Kennedy and its Aftermath, sharing explicit details about her relationship with the president. She describes Kennedy as both “boyish” and “shy” around her, but also writes about witnessing his demons.
While Alford and Kennedy’s affair began in 1962, she first met the president a year earlier. In 1961, she was a senior at Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut and was the editor of the boarding school’s newspaper. She wanted to interview her school’s most famous alumna, Jackie Kennedy. She didn’t get the interview with the first lady, but she was invited to visit the White House and interview Mrs. Kennedy’s social secretary, Letitia Baldridge.
While visiting the White House, she met Kennedy briefly. A year after her article was printed, she was a freshman at Wheaton College in Massachusetts when she received a surprising offer of a job as a White House intern. Alford had never applied for the job.
“I was excited about this job. It seemed like a miracle,” Alford said. “And I was a little bit wide-eyed I think, not knowing exactly what to expect, but full of enthusiasm and hope.”
Parts of Alford’s story are impossible to confirm because the people involved are no longer alive. However, NBC News talked to several people tied to the JFK administration who confirm that Alford was a White House intern and had special access to the president. An oral history by JFK White House aide Barbara Gamarekian references a beautiful intern named Mimi who Gamarekian suspected had an affair with Kennedy. Gamarekian is no longer alive.
The First Encounter with Pres. Kennedy
The debutante from a prominent New Jersey family headed to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1962 to begin working in the White House press office. Four days into her internship, Alford says JFK aide David Powers invited her to go swimming.
“He said, ‘A group of us are going to have a swim at lunchtime. Would you like to join us?’” Alford said. “I think I was probably so taken in by being invited to go do it that I didn’t think too much about it’s odd, should I be doing this, should I not be doing this? I thought, no, I’ll just go ahead and do it.”
Alford says she was joined by two others in the pool, White House staffers Priscilla Wear and Jill Cowan, who were playfully dubbed ‘Fiddle and Faddle.’
“And while we were there, shortly after that, the president arrived. So I was sort of surprised that the president was joining us. No one had said the president was going to join us, but he went and put on his trunks and came into the water,” Alford said.
Alford finished her swim with the president and returned to work.
“It didn’t seem unnatural. It sounds funny to say that, but it really didn’t seem unnatural, just because everybody was friendly and this is what we were doing and I went back to work afterwards,” Alford said. “No one said anything.”
NBC News’ calls to Priscilla Wear to confirm the story were not returned.
Alford says that a few hours after her first swim with the president, she received another call from JFK aide Powers. This time he invited her upstairs to the White House residence for a welcoming of the new staff.
“There was a pitcher of daiquiris on the coffee table and Dave [Powers] poured me one,” Alford said.
It was the first time she’d ever tasted a daiquiri.
“And then the president arrived,” Alford said. “He sat down, very relaxed, put his feet up on the coffee table and sort of joined in on the conversations…Obviously these were the people that he liked to relax with and then there was I, which seemed a little odd, but I didn’t think much about it.”
Alford says Kennedy singled her out and asked if she wanted to take a private tour of the rooms his wife had recently redecorated.
“There was nothing in my mind that thought anything other than what I was being offered which was a tour of what the White House looked like,” Alford said.
Kennedy led Alford on the tour, which she says ended in Jackie Kennedy’s bedroom.
“I felt the president getting closer and closer to me,” Alford said. “His way didn’t make me nervous and he came close, very close, and looked me right in the eyes and I actually, he then put his hands on my shoulder and sort of guiding me down to the edge of the bed, sort of the corner of the bed and I think he may have even said to me, ‘Is this all right’…I don’t really think I knew what he was talking about.”
Alford says she was a virgin who had only kissed a boy when she was in eighth grade.
“Obviously what did happen was I lost my virginity right there. Then, I think I went a little bit into shock,” Alford said. “He kept asking me if I was all right and I was all right, there was not a lot of conversation.”
In her memoir, Alford writes that Kennedy “maneuvered me swiftly and unexpectedly and with such authority and strength that short of screaming, I doubt if I could have done anything to thwart his intentions.”
Decades later when Alford confided in friends and family, some questioned whether she was raped by Kennedy.
“I don’t consider it was rape. I don’t,” Alford said. “If I had said no, I think the president would have stopped, but I didn’t…there was no coercion.”
A few days after her first tryst with Kennedy, Alford says she was invited again to the private floors of the White House.
“I had just a little bit of second thoughts, not enough to keep me from going back,” Alford said.
Alford describes this as a pivotal point in her relationship with Kennedy saying that it marks the beginning of their secret affair.
Rubber Ducks, Cooking with Kennedy and Special Hair Treatments
In her book, Alford calls her sexual encounters with Kennedy varied and fun, describing the president as a sensualist who also enjoyed being completely silly, especially in the bathtub.
“He had a collection of little yellow rubber ducks and they were in the bathtub and rubber ducks became sort of part of the game,” Alford said. “We had races with rubber ducks in the bathtub. I know he was not being president when he was with me.”
She says Kennedy taught her how to cook eggs in a double broiler the way he liked them. They listened to records.
“I think maybe I reminded him of a younger time in his life,” Alford said.
She says that she even learned how to help Kennedy keep his hair perfectly coiffed by performing special hair treatments.
“I ended up taking care of the president’s hair. He had this, he had that wonderful hair and it always needed to be in great shape and so I learned how to do the head treatments,” Alford said.
Alford says that she sometimes performed the hair treatments in the Oval Office. Alford says that during her internship, she would sometimes spend the night at the White House, but nobody would ever acknowledge the affair.
“Secret Service might have known, but nobody ever talked to me about it,” Alford said.
She traveled on occasion with the president, flying on the support plane in her role as press office intern. On one trip, she says that she ended up at a party at Bing Crosby’s home in California.
“It was exciting. It was glamorous, it was fun,” Alford said.
During many of her trips with the president, Alford says that she often played the “waiting game,” spending hours in a hotel room waiting for Kennedy to pay her a visit.
“I should have felt guilty. He was married to Mrs. Kennedy, but I didn’t at the time feel guilty because I think I felt this closeness to him,” Alford said.
Looking back now, Alford realizes she was at the beck and call of the 45-year-old president.
“I can see it’s not a good place for a 19-year-old to be in a relationship that’s so imbalanced and with such a powerful person and an older man and at the beck and call,” Alford said. “I see how sad it was.”
Kennedy’s Request to ‘Take Care’ of Aide, Ted Kennedy
While Alford says the president made her feel special, she also says that he had a “dark side.” The most disturbing incident occurred at the White House pool, Alford says.
JFK aide Powers was sitting poolside while Alford and Kennedy swam. Alford claims Kennedy whispered in her ear that Powers looked tense and asked her, ‘Would you take care of it.’
Alford writes in her book, ‘I knew exactly what he meant. Take care of it. That was a challenge to give Dave Powers oral sex. I don’t think the president thought I’d do it, but I’m ashamed to say that I did.”
An emotional Alford told Vieira that the incident still makes her sad and angry.
“It makes me angry because I didn’t just splash water in the president’s face and tell him to get lost,” Alford said. “It makes me sad because I did it.”
JFK aide Powers died in 1998, before Alford came forward with her secret.
Alford claims the president asked her to “take care” of his brother, freshman Senator Ted Kennedy, in the fall of 1963 towards the end of their affair, but she refused.
Pregnancy Scare and the Cuban Missile Crisis
When Alford returned to college in the fall of 1962, she briefly panicked that she might be pregnant. She says she contacted JFK aide Powers.
“He said that he would put me in touch with someone who would put me in touch with someone who would put me in touch with someone down the line if I should need help and luckily I didn’t,” Alford said.
Alford says that she and Kennedy continued their relationship. She says that they devised a nickname, “Michael Carter,” for Kennedy to use when calling her dorm.
When a phone call wasn’t enough, Alford says the president would brazenly make arrangements to bring her back to Washington, D.C. She claims that even returned to visit the president during the tense night before the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved.
“I think the president wanted me to be there,” Alford said. “I really didn’t spend much time with the president. I was just there.”
She didn’t sleep with the president that night.
Alford returned to the White House as an intern again in the summer of 1963. She was in charge of photo sessions in the Oval Office which meant she saw the president almost daily. Since Jackie Kennedy was pregnant, Alford says she had limited access to Kennedy after hours.
Alford never met the first lady and she says Kennedy only discussed his family with her after the death of his newborn son, Patrick, in August 1963. Patrick Kennedy died of an under developed lung syndrome shortly after birth.
As the fall neared, Alford was falling deeper in love with Tony Fahnestock, a college student she’d been dating since the beginning of 1963. She kept her relationship with Kennedy secret from Fahnestock. When she and Fahnestock became engaged, Alford says Kennedy congratulated her.
“He was happy for me and sort of joked that, ‘Oh, well, you’re not going to leave me are you?’ So it was a kind of complicated thing for me, but he was happy that I had met Tony.”
Alford says that Kennedy gave her two gold pins with diamonds in the center of them as a present and an autographed picture that said, “Warm regards and best wishes and appreciation.” He joked that no one would ever know what he was really appreciating her for, Alford says.
Once she was engaged, she says the dynamics of her relationship with Kennedy shifted from being sexual to more of a friendship.
Kennedy’s Assassination and Burying the Secret
Alford says the last time she saw Kennedy was 15 days before he was assassinated. She says that they saw each other at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City on Nov. 15, 1963. Alford claims Kennedy gave her $300 as a wedding gift and promised to call when he returned from Texas. Seven days later, the president was dead.
Alford heard the devastating news when she and her fiancé were driving to his family’s home in Connecticut.
“I could hardly breathe. I was in so much pain,” Alford said. “Here was Tony who I was going to marry, who I loved, there was the president who I had loved, who I had spent 18 months with, he was dead. The feelings were just explosive inside me.”
Her grief stunned her fiancé, prompting him to probe about her relationship with Kennedy. She confessed the affair. It was the first time she’d told anyone.
“Tony’s reaction was emotionally violent,” Alford said. “His response was so devastating that at that moment what happened for me was I just shut down emotionally…because what Tony said to me was, ‘you and I will never ever talk about this and you are never to tell anybody else.’”
Alford buried the secret and says that she shut down emotionally. She did her best to cover up her past, never mentioning her summers as a White House intern on resumes and getting rid of gifts Kennedy had given her. She cut up the autographed picture and pawned the gold and diamond pins.
“It’s very hard to live without telling people,” Alford said.
Alford and Fahnestock married in 1964. In a sadly similar twist of fate to Mrs. Kennedy, Alford lost her first baby to the same under developed lung syndrome that had taken Patrick Kennedy. Alford went on to have two healthy baby girls.
No Regrets and Moving Forward
Alford says that her emotional shutdown impacted her marriage to Fahnestock, leading to their eventual divorce. Still, she doesn’t regret the affair.
“I don’t actually regret that I had the affair with President Kennedy. What I regret is that I was shut down emotionally,” Alford said.
Alford told Vieira that she wishes she’d told her parents about the secret relationship.
“I think they died not knowing all of me,” she said.
The story of Alford and Kennedy’s alleged affair was first mentioned in 2003 when historian Robert Dallek mentioned a beautiful intern who was believed to be one of Kennedy’s paramours in a biography of Kennedy. When the New York Daily News tracked her down, Alford submitted a written statement acknowledging the affair, but did not speak publicly.
Shortly after the story became public, she met her current husband, Dick Alford. Mimi Alford says his encouragement helped her confront her past and led her to write her memoir, even though she knows she will have critics.
“People are going to judge me. There’s nothing I can do about that. All I can say is that, for me, to write this book, Once Upon a Secret, was extremely important. I had to do it…I can’t separate the Kennedy name from it. This was part of the story,” Alford said.
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After hearing this story this evening, I'm sorry but only after being in the White House for 4 days at the age of 19 and supposedly being from a well-to-do family - a Debutant - can you imagine and not having the "morals" of a street walker to air such a story like this NOW. It's been 60 years!!! Back in my day and we're about the same age, I was raised in the Methodist Church that you did not give yourself up until you were married and you NEVER would even think about having an affair with a married man let alone the President of the United States!! Sorry, but these stories have two sides and of course, we can't ask the other side now can we??
No we cant and its sad that I really dont beleive her. Hovver would of jumped on this like nothing just to get at the Kennedys
You seriously would have said NO to him?
how come no one asked her first hasband if she ever told him about this, when the jfk died, as she says in the inteview
I dont understand how this women can expose a president who has has been dead for years. leave the man in peace..he still was a good president. who cares if you had an affair Gossip Gossip Gossip You with No Class!!
I concur wholeheartedly with Linda Jones 5183049. It has been too long, besmirches the memory of the last US President to be ASSASSINATED! and now the right-wing, led by GE's NBC is doing a CHARACTER ASSASSINATION of one of the most beloved presidents of the last century, flawed though he was. I note in her on-air presentation she often repeats, "...as I write in my book..." which shields her from saying it actually happened. This makes a mockery of TODAY's serious news efforts and I just switched the channel. A two-day spread interview? You're kidding me!
Why don't people give Ms. Alford a break instead of condeming her as Ann Curry did in her interview. Ms. Alford was brave to come forward in spite of the fact that what occurred back then was amazingly outrageous. I think she deserves to be heard and her soul searching is important to effectively deal with any harbored demons.
I think that this woman has been carrying this experience as a burden her whole life and has been personally damaged by it emotionally. Coming out with this story doesn't do any damage to the JFK image because there are countless examples of his infidelities. Her telling of the story is a cautionary lesson to young girls/women who are just starting out in life. There were a few questions not asked by Viera that should have been - "During the time that you were engaged with JFK in a sexual relationship, what were your thoughts about how your actions might affect his family or the nation if they were discovered? Do you think that you lacked something in terms of a moral foundation that you so easily slipped into this situation? What advice would you give your grand daughter if she was put into this position?" The absence of these questions is a glaring omission in my opinion.
He was a good POTUS in your opinion? He used his power and position to turn her into a whore at the age of 19 and that is OK in your opinion?
There is such a double standard out there when it comes down to this thing that it is amazing. Kennedy was a likable guy but behind the scenes he was a scumbag IMO.
Now that we know more and more of the Kennedy clan isn't it time we drop their name from "American Royalty"?
Way, way too much air time spent by NBC exposing another alleged affair involving JFK. The issue is no longer newsworthy and the main female character appears to be an emotional wreck. Although this may be a catharsis of sorts for Ms. Alford at this juncture in her life, was it really worth the time, effort and money expended by the network and the representing staff to convey this story? I love the Today Show and have been a faithful follower of the same for decades, but this piece was a soap opera that didn't need to be overexposed.
This story has merit due to it's historical importance of relating the President in the true context of how he lived his life as an abuser. What is most sad is NBC and Meredith Vieira not treating this professionally but exploiting Ms. Alford to the lowest level. Why would you ever make any person read the most derogatory section of their book that talks about sexual abuse except for ability to exploit her. She didn't want to include this section but it illustrated the true relationship structure and control of the President. This was done to embarrass her (further abuse her) and sensationalize the story. She was 19 and sexually abused by the President when he on multiple occasions he tried to force her to pleasure of his friends. This is very close to a crime (sexual harassment in the work place at least) and NBC used it to make Ms. Alford out to have poor judgement versus a victim of coercion. This act if chosen as the focal point in your story should be in the context of abuse not for entertainment and Meredith's set up was beyond contempt. She was trying to demonize her because President Kennedy is an institution that they (NBC) is trying spin as moderately responsible. This is sad and NBC should apologize to Ms. Alford and the audience and this interview should be put in line with Penn State treatment of victims.
Does anyone really care who Mimi lost her virginity to or slept with?
All she wanted was a good book deal and 15 minutes of fame. She should have taken this to her grave. Her telling this serves no purpose.
Is it only me or does Mimi look like Ruth Madoff?
Mimi should have kept this info to herself, or maybe just shared it with a professional therapist. This is not need-to-know info, just more gossip and sensasionalism to satisfy the tabloid mentality of some of us.
She may have been young, but she knew better. She said "she didn't think it was bad" at the time and that it was "fun and glamorous". JFK may have acted predatory, but he really didn't have to twist her arm; she let it happen.
I am appalled that your program or any news agency would give Ms Alford airtime regarding her book about her sexual affair with former President Kennedy. American citizens will foever be aware of JFK's womanizing behavior. We know his 'handlers' helped him get the gals and keep them secret (secret for the most part anyway). Say what you will, it's out there. It’s one thing to know your father was a philanderer and quite another to have the intimate details written in a book and then broadcast to the world just so Ms Alford can ‘feel better.’ She readily agrees she would do it all over again. What I find despicable and disrespectful is this 68 year old woman publicizing her book and behavior! Clearly she has no respect for herself, her behavior and the office of the presidency. What's worse is that she has no respect for JFK’s surviving daughter and his grandchildren. Ms Alford may be trying to make herself feel better; to hell with how his family feels about it.
I find it disgusting and disrespectful that NBC or any news agency for that matter would give the author airtime. Have you no respect for the former president, the office or his family!!!!! In my opinion, this woman and her book deserve NO airtime.
First of all, why would this surprise you that a news station would report on a story such of this? Secondly, I think all Presidents should have equal opportunity air time ;) If you are going to report on Bush or Obama, or any President, then Kennedy is fair game. It doesn't matter if they are a former President. History is History. Why were you watching if you were so appalled? Exactly...because you were interested and that is why they air it. If you weren't interested, you wouldn't be posting.
Personally I don't know many women who could keep a secret for over 50 years, so kudos to her!!! Now days, it would be on Twitter or Facebook a minute after it happened. So say what you want about her, but I find her to be brave. I can't imagine coming out and telling the story, knowing that she would have a lot of people who would be upset.
JFK GAVE THIS STORY TO MIMI TO TELL. This is Mimi's story and she has a right just like every other American to tell their story. If JFK hadn't been such a womanizer, their would be no story to tell. He and ONLY he could have prevented all the womanizing stories from surfacing. This is the consequence of his actions.
@Lindsay Jane: "Late president.." "Former president.." How about ASSASSINATED--SHOT DEAD PRESIDENT, which is what happened to John F. Kennedy. You, dear girl, have no respect, and I am being restrained in this response to you.
Apparently JFK had no respect for the office he held.
I agree with pt90su95. What surprises me more than this story actually getting airtime (wow - Kennedy had an affair? Really? Wow! That's big news. NOT) is that the story itself says that nothing in the story can be confirmed. It smells like James Frey all over again. But, the good news is I never have to read this book, because it sounds like the entire 'story' (fake or real) is right here in this article.
@ Lindsay Jane - You go girl - You are correct on so many levels. For those of us who are Mimi's age or grew up during the same time or even those of us who are 10 years younger; I do believe everything that she says and more. For those of you who want to deny the truth or condemn Mimi's right to state facts - may I remind you that she deserves just as much respect as JFK! No one knew back in those days, that technology would open the doors to information and allow this kind of open forum. Today's culture "allows" her to be truthful and bluntly honest. If people do not like it - it is too bad. I warn my grandchildren to be careful about using Facebook or texting - "if your mother can't see it or read it - I warn them that they had better not do it." Years from now, they may regret even being friends with someone who may or may not be famous for either all of the right reasons or all of the wrong reasons! None of us knows what the future holds.
For months, we had Tiger Woods and his paramours on the evening news and they still show up from time to time today. Why? Because Tiger had a huge following with his golf career and he looked good on TV. Don't believe me - look at all of the sponsors he had. We have all of this on TV or online today because of technology and our press. We did not hear personal stories about sport figures or even movie stars usually unless they committed a crime or it was told after they died. So what has changed since Mimi and JFK - our willingness to discuss private matters in public. Many women during this time (especially young woman from good families) faced similar situations while attempting to move forward in their careers. They were placed in situations they did not know how to handle in a mature manner.
All of you naysayers watch this junk called reality TV with the Snooky's of the world, but let someone from a main line family tell the truth about her experiences as an intern in the White House and suddenly you want to crucify her. Calling her a liar or even worse making excuses and defending a 45-year old married, man just because he was elected to a political office is what's wrong with this picture. These were the days when if you cried wolf, women had no DNA proof and suddenly their lives were put on trial. If you want to examine her story, please put it within the context of historical correctness and reality of the late 50's and early 1960's. Most young girls were not even told about birth control pills because birth control was for married women and not intended as a dating tool to prevent pregnancy.
I give people like Lindsay Jane my support and the Mimi's out there who lived during this time and appreciate what some women faced after graduating from either high school or college during this time. We had to live our lives based on certain realities that we never dreamed to find ourselves living. The books were not written that held some of the answers to the questions or obstacles that we faced in our lives. That is the reality and the truth - not the sacred memory of a man who wrote his own history by electing to make the choices and decisions that he made when he played with their lives. You might recall, that as young Americans, we held him up in high esteem as our President. He was our President. Mimi was in love with America's idol - practicallty every woman in this country was in love with JFK. Women everywhere even started to dress like Jackie! They loved the image, but no one really knew the man. This is why shows like Mad Men are so popular today. We were in love with what we thought we knew during this time - when in truth it was a lie or a distortion of the facts. Eisenhower is said to have had his paramour, but no one cares. Why? No one wanted to look like Mamie Eisenhower and you did not have young women or their mothers falling in love with Dwight Eisenhouser when they heard him speak on TV. Americans fell in love with JFK and Jackie - everyone wanted to be like them. This is why even today, a national news network is still interested in covering the story.
Catawba - Huh???
thats right !!!!! i love lindsey.....you said what i was thinking.
tell suzanne bailey a few things. check out what she had to say.
this woman suzanne is a disrespectful piece of work ....and i cant stand her FOR WHAT SHE SAID ABOUT MIMI! IM GLAD I DONT KNOW HER.
Yes, and it's sad that anyone is shot. But it doesn't negate what he did, or didn't do, in office. He MIGHT have been a great president. We don't know, he wasn't around long enough. He had some good moments (Cuban Missile Crisis) and some not-so-good moments (Bay of Pigs, Vietnam). He was human and the fact he was assassinated, doesn't make him into a god.
I am appalled that your program or any news agency would give Ms Alford airtime regarding her book about her sexual affair with former President Kennedy. American citizens will foever be aware of JFK's womanizing behavior. We know his 'handlers' helped him get the gals and keep them secret (secret for the most part anyway). Say what you will, it's out there. It’s one thing to know your father was a philanderer and quite another to have the intimate details written in a book and then broadcast to the world just so Ms Alford can ‘feel better.’ She readily agrees she would do it all over again. What I find despicable and disrespectful is this 68 year old woman publicizing her book and behavior! Clearly she has no respect for herself, her behavior and the office of the presidency. What's worse is that she has no respect for JFK’s surviving daughter and his grandchildren. Ms Alford may be trying to make herself feel better; to hell with how his family feels about it.
I find it disgusting and disrespectful that NBC or any news agency for that matter would give the author airtime. Have you no respect for the former president, the office or his family!!!!! In my opinion, this woman and her book deserve NO airtime.
Pt90su95, you entitle to your opinion, just because kennedy was a president, it doesnt give him the right to cover his affair and his womanizing behaviour. Anyone who he was banging entitled to tell their story, as long as it is the truth and not a made up story. Mr President should know the consequences for him and his family when he slept around and had affairs. I am glad NBC broadcast this and tell the world.
I totally agree with this comment. This woman is a selfish loser and is trying to make money at the expense of the Kennedy family. This makes no sense that she should make money off this.
This is an incredible statement... How do you honestly know if she is telling the truth? Do you think it is still relevant after all these years? She IS, after all, admitting that she would not call it rape. She discarded all evidence that there was ever an affair. I totally question her veracity. Who people are sleeping with is none of the public's business. That should stay between husband and wife. She has no business spreading gossip and a woe is me story just to sell her book. I for one will not purchase this piece of fiction.
While this 'lady' went to the same college as Jackie Kennedy, she obviously lacks her class. Whatever happened to discretion? Why air one's dirty laundry in public? If she neede to 'feel better' about it all, why not see a professional, or a clergyman, or someone who could help her, not write a book for profit.
It is appalling that she would try to paint herself as an 'innocent', did she NOT have a brain, or free will? She has no bad feelings about having had relations in this man's wife's bedroom? She claims it 'felt natural', I bet it did! She was, after all, nineteen years old, NOT nine, it seems to me she should have known right from wrong, or was she a 'zombie'? Shame on her for coming out with this story, true or not, to make a 'buck'. Her callousness towards the feelings of the Kennedy survivors is troubling.
While this 'lady' went to the same college as Jackie Kennedy, she obviously lacks her class. Whatever happened to discretion? Why air one's dirty laundry in public? If she neede to 'feel better' about it all, why not see a professional, or a clergyman, or someone who could help her, not write a book for profit.
It is appalling that she would try to paint herself as an 'innocent', did she NOT have a brain, or free will? She has no bad feelings about having had relations in this man's wife's bedroom? She claims it 'felt natural', I bet it did! She was, after all, nineteen years old, NOT nine, it seems to me she should have known right from wrong, or was she a 'zombie'? Shame on her for coming out with this story, true or not, to make a 'buck'.
Just because someone is President does not mean he was not a men. He put his pants on one leg at a time. This women sounds like she was raped and was in way over her head. JFK did great things for America. He was a great president. But he was still human. No human is without flaws. Her story seems very real. Yes it is a dirty little secret No one wants to hear. I think it is true!!!!
Clearly Mimi is lying but over time might believe her own fairy tale. Everyone is dead so it's just her story. With all the pretty adult women in the President's life we are to believe a 19 year old plan looking girl was a mistress and yet alone a virgin. She said she come from money and great education but it seems she sounds like a tramp and tried to hit on the President. In the 60's every girl who like a boy claimed to be pregnant. When she was with Tony she was a virgin. Mimi shows alot like a mental patient. Evidence gone and a boyfriend who says forget about it. Tony knew who he married and it was how their marriage was based on who she really was.
Brian this is a sad sick lady and it shows how low people will go for a buck. Much like the girl who continues to believe she had Michael Jackson's baby. I think each person planned this and hope to use a great President's personal life to make money. Great to see there is nothing to prove but just her story. We will learn this is a sick lady who came up with an idea and hopes to finally benefit.
Brian let's get to a story on the Banks settlements their important and true.
You are ignoring the part of the story that states that two different people confirmed long before this happened that President Kennedy had an affair with a pretty blonde intern named Mimi in the summers of '62 and '63. Just because at least one of them is now dead does not mean that what they said when they were alive is not true.
Many people remember for a buck what happen 50 years ago and only the dead know the truth. We learned that with the Natalie Wood death as the need to sell a book, the man on the boat teamed up with the book writer to say how Natalie was murdered and who did it. Well after slow book sales it shot up when the Los Angeles DA reopened the investigation. In the end nothing changed and the man/book writer did very well with book sales and profit. Mimi and the book writer worked to make money and saw how well it works. Each women who even has a rich powerful man look at them will wait until everyone is dead and sale their fairy tale. We are a country that likes sex sandals and dirt as it's entertainment. Mimi will tell her story and hope enough people like the idea a so call virgin 19 year old tapped the US President when even famous beautiful women like Marilyn Monroe who did have an affair never spoke of it. Look for another fairy tale and who knows some of the women who entertained President Reagan at those Wealthy mens club private parties, but these women might not be looking for a quick buck from people who believe the Brooklynbridge is for sale/chicken little the sky is falling and we have alot of people buy those stories.
I will never understand why people think someone is lying when they do not reveal a relationship with a man from decades ago. Call me crazy but why would a teenager admit to the world or even her family & friends that she was sleeping with the President of the US?! No one would have believed her then----they would have thought she was infatuated with him! At some point in time, the truth sets you free---and it is very cathartic for her. I applaud her for coming forward---it is never easy for anyone. And unless you have been in her shoes, don't be so judgmental. Honesty, the truth and letting this secret finally come out is a very healthy process for any woman. I applaud her.
And the media was after Herman Cain for what?
Pt90su95, you entitle to your opinion, just because kennedy was a president, it doesnt give him the right to cover his affair and his womanizing behaviour. Anyone who he was banging entitled to tell their story, as long as it is the truth and not a made up story. Mr President should know the consequences for him and his family when he slept around and had affairs. I am glad NBC broadcast this and tell the world.
Well, finally another one is out of the bag. Coming from that era when womanizing was accepted in our culture, it was not such a big thing back then since it was part of being a man. It was a different era when people did not sit in judgement as they readily do now days. Today when every little move by a president is dissected and if caught, the powerful are put through the ringer for political gain. This country has become so nasty and many salivate at the potential of personal destruction for political power. I detest it all!
You must be very young if you believe that people weren't judgemental in the 1960's. Morals and standards were much more ridged at that time. People were very vicious if a person did not conform to the social standards of the day and this is why there was so much secrecy. People were expected to be more responsible about their activities than they are today and were held accountable when they broke the rules particularly when it came to sexual activity.
A real man in that period of time was serious, responsible and had dignity. That dignity included being faithful to his wife if for no other reason than to protect her from ridicule and embarassment. It was not considered manly to be unfaithful it was rather seen as a weakness or character defect like drug addiction. You need to go back to the history books or have a chat with your grandmother before you start explaining what it was like at this time. You are clueless. If it was so acceptable for men to have affairs when Kennedy was president why did his staff work so hard to cover it up?
What goes on today in the form of condemnation does not have the same basis and motivation of the plain old uncomplicated morality of the '60's. It is used as a power tool and has nothing to do with genuine moral outrage. The behavior of people then and now do not equate. Many things going on today which are morally reprehensible would never have been tolerated in the 60's simply because Americans exhibited more dignity then as opposed to now.
This story is disgusting.There is no reason for her to come out now. I don't buy the story that she had to free herself of this secret. Really .How come she has no remorse for what she did and affirms that in fact she has no regrets. The only regret was just not telling her parents! Personally, I would have believed her more if the reason was that she didn't want her parents to know about her dirty secrets. She should be ashamed of herself. I not saying the President wasn't a flawed man. Where was her self respect and morals. This isfor Ms Alford's financial gain. Shame on her for the hurt &pain she has brought on Caroline & her family now. How very selfish. Unfortunately in today's society everyone is going to run out and buy her book and make her a very wealthy, retired, ex presidential call girl; How sad! Final thought, everyone who could have confirmed the story are dead and she got rid of every gift and the autographed photo. Hummmmm!!! Even Monica saved the dress. I the media wonders why the public dislikes them. I thought Ms Viera was better than this.
No offense to people that were in the JFK era, since I wasn't, I am frankly disappointed with this week's episode of Rock Center being totally devoted to this one topic! It wasn't even worth watching it, for ME! So I deleted it from my DVR...Sorry Brian!
In 1963 before President Kennedy died my father discussed with my mother, brother and myself an episode that he had that very day at a psychiatrist's office in Beverly Hills. President Kennedy was comming out into the waiting room and my father was waiting. My father was a pharmaceutical salesman for Eli Lilly. President Kennedy said the the Doctor "All I care about it that you take care of Marilyn!". After the President left and my father met with the doctor his told my father since they knew each other that it was in regard to the President being concerned with Marilyn Monroe's emotional health because the doctor was treating her. He told my father to please not discuss this with anyone and that the President had been having an affair with Marilyn . The psychiatrist mentioned that the President had several mistresses and that he was always seeing a lot of other women. He also told my father that the only reason Jackie said with the President was because he was elected President. She would have filed for divorce if he had lost the election. Also that after he stopped being President she would be getting a divorce. She was paid a very large settlement by Jack's father to stay married to him because Ambassador Kennedy wanted his son to be President for a very long time. After he left office Jackie was told she would get her divorce. This was why she wasn't with the President much was because she knew about his serial infidelities and that he wasn't going to change. Like father like son. President Kennedy's father Joseph was a serial adulterer and he used women like they were chattel. This was why it didn't surprise me when she said that the President told her to pleasure another man because he didn't respect women who were used just for pleasure.
I grew up with this story. My father was also a Captain in WWII and was a photographer for Stars and Stripes and had the job of documenting with his photography what was discovered in the concentration camps that he liberated along side General Patton. My father belonged to the 101st Airborne and faught at the Battle of the Bulge. Because of this one battle my father never took the family on camping trips and did NOT LIKE THE SNOW after that battle. When I was about 8 years old in 1959 I found the book that my father had help take the pictures for along side Margaret Burke White about the liberation of the concentration camps. I knew about the holocaust before it was made famous or discussed in the U.S. because this book was in our home.
My father taught me always to never believe everything you read and to question and investigate everything and then come to a conclusion. I was an avid L.A. Times newspaper reader everyday after school from 3-4 p.m. from the time I was 10 years old in 1960
Your Father was a very wise man and he was correct, keep following his advice because fairy tales like Mimi is telling is mainly in her mine and for a fast buck.
Is this appropriate, that a psychiatrist should reveal such confidences to this woman's father?
I'm sorry, but this woman strikes me as a psychopath.
yup.
is it me or does it sound as if she is pretty proud of what she has done,what about his wife and kids
,have heard no mention of them,she just wants to sell books,and shame on nbc for giving her so much air time!!!
AGREE.
Re: JFK's Intern:
Meredith Viera is a sanctimonious, condescending, hypocrite during her entire interview with Ms. Alford. Little doubt Ms. Viera would have pushed Ms. Alford right out of the way to get into JFK's bed ahead of her if she had the chance. JFK was 'white hot' in the esteem of women and they would have formed queues around the White House, if it weren't for the secret service objections.
Brain Williams adds his bizarre comment warning that children should not hear the contents of JFK's sexual exploits even as we bomb women and children in Afghanistan...better dead than exposed to sex, I guess, and that is kind of Taliban like thinking is it not?
The hypocrisy of American women is so deeply engendered regarding sex, and these same women castigate men who want to pay for sex with a classy, and attractive courtesan. Yes, we 'know' that women are as pure as the driven snow; we understand their psychological need for self-deception. But women carry things too far when they 'demand' fidelity, pressure hypocritical politicians like Elliot Spitzer to prosecute courtesans, and endlessly deride men for wanting sex with young women.
American women should 'grow up' regarding sex like women in Europe or even Canada. But that is unlikely to happen as long as Americans of both sexes prefer violence, money, and pornography over healthy, i.e. normal sex. Maybe it will change when someone figures out how to monetize, socially meaningful, healthy sex? Oh we Americans are so superior to the pitiful rest of the world.
Does "grow[n] up" sex include having the President ask a teenager to service a White House aide, and then watching the show?
I have a couple of questions? Did she tell her fiancee how she "lost" her virginity before she became engaged? And, what kind of man asks his "mistress" (nah, she was no mistress, but ...) to "do" a friend? And even Catholic though he was, why did he not use a condom? Just a few questions. Any answers?
I remember when the definition of a "good Catholic" was one who wouldn't get a divorce. People used to write to Dear Abby or Ann Landers, "my boyfriend and I are expecting a baby, but he won't divorce his wife because he's a good Catholic. What do I do now?"
I watched the interview and listened intently to the interview. The President asking her to take care of his "friend" defines the relationship and his true opinion of this young woman. I have been a JFK fan for years - a fan of his Presidency and his brilliance. I have never deluded myself that the man as is true of many of our Presidents great and not so great was perfect or free from flaws. I understand perfectly how this young woman came under his spell and was charmed. His actions were no different from many men of power and position. We need to face reality and realize we are all human and have parts of ourselves we are not proud of. I think this woman has romanticized this period of her life but alas in unveiling her secret she will face the scrutiny of the world and have to face the fact that she was just another "sexual consort," a woman of no true consequence to the President.
Everyone but the "mistress" is dead...there's no one left to answer your questions. :(
I'd like some responses to my paragraph above.
Condoms were not used so freely in those days. Watch "American Grafiti". Condoms were kept BEHIND the counter, not in front of your face at the check out. Think about it, AIDS was not heard about until the 80's (except for Ronald Reagan - he wouldn't even allow mention of it then) and that is when the real push for condoms came alive.
I'm sorry to tell you, but the person you are asking most of the questions of has been dead for 60 years. And this story should have died at the same time. As for this woman's story, it's just her story against a dead man's story. I suppose if I had to explain away my loss of virginity, the (now dead and can't defend himself) president is just as good as any to have taken it--whether he was the picker or not.
2012 - 1963 = 49, which is not even really that close to 60, as you completely bypassed 50 in the leap.
He died 49 years ago this summer. Do the math before you spout statistics.
Just another attempt to slander the last "real" President we had. JFK issued Executive Order 11110 and was going to end the Federal Reserve Bank fraud that is going on world wide. They murdered him you sheep. Wake the hell up. LBJ recinded that Executive Order on the plane ride back to Washington from Dallas. They then killed his brother and later his son as well. Teddy sold his soul to them so they let him alone as he murdered Mary Joe Kopechne. WAKE THE HECK UP AMERICA! TURN YOUR TV OFF!
I don't see how writing this salacious account of her affair with JFK is going to do anything to help her feel better about keeping this secret for decades. It wasn't a secret...she had already told her husband about it. I wish she had kept it to herself where most shared intimacies belong. She has no respect for herself or for the dead president or his survivng daughter and grandchildren or those of us who continue to believe that had he lived he would have been one of the "greats". I also have lowered my opinion of NBC and Meredith Viera...I guess they will do anything for ratings...and I only listened to the last 15 minutes of this awful interview.
I hope NBC reads these comments ..mostly negative. Now Ann Curry will interview her this morning as only she can and ask her usual inane questions. Give her over to Savannah or Matt or Lester.
I am so disgusted about the kiss & tell revelations 50 years later because “it was important.” Yes, it was important for me to make money – it’s always about the money. What a bunch of CRAP! No-one is alive to prove or disprove this affair. Stop – just stop and go away.
Surely this woman is mentally troubled. But, not in a redeeming way. She shows no remorse, no shame, no compassion for the president's family, and no concern for her own children and family. She appears catatonic. Our sympathy to the families for the pain she inflects on her victims.
Thank GOD the Trash called the Kennedy family is slowly disappearing. Bootleggers, Adulterers, Drug addicts, Alcoholics. Stop drinking the media "Kool-Aid" about their so-called "Camelot." More like Drank a lot and then Came a lot and then DIED.
Who really cares who a (now) dead man had sex with? Like they said, it's been 60 years ago. Kennedy is dead, his wife is dead, some of his kids are dead, most of his family is dead. The only one not dead (or near to it) is this woman who claims she had sex with the president. If this is your claim to fame, get in the line on the left and wait your turn.
She must be pushing 80 years old. I'm sure her husband, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren must be so proud of her for great example. I hope she really enjoys her 15 minutes.
MSNBC please publish some news worth reading. I have no interest in others' bedroom legend stories.
As I already said to someone else, please do the math. She was 19 in 1962, which was 50 years ago, not 60. She is 69 years old, not 80.
Geeeesh.
Half a century, is that okay? Still--who cares at this late date? I don't think someone pushing 70 is still picking up John's as frequently as she used to.
Do you have any idea how many people you are embarrassing by enabling this sick woman to relive her moment of GLORY!!??
"People are going to judge me. There’s nothing I can do about that."
Sure, you could have done something about it. You could have remained in the shadows, instead of going on national TV to hawk a book. What a pathetic woman.
So she lost her cherry to a president and then continues the horizontal bop for 18 months, who cares
Who cares is right...if you got all the protitutes and madams in this country together and did a story on who they all knew were unfaithfull there would really be a Story!!!so why is this chicks story so important especially after the fact its behond me
WoW some peoples typing/spelling ability suck, maybe try using spell check.
The righteous "I would never" or the skeptical "she must be lying" should take a moment before they judge her or her story. As much as I can now say "I would never"....I am looking at this thru much older eyes. What would I have done at 19, in the 60"s, a much differernt time, so very innocent...when the President of the United States approaches you...of course you trust the President, what is more flattering than this quite handsome and very powerful man finding you attractive? I would imagine I too would have gotten swept up in the mystic, the fun, the swirl of the White House thrill.
Then is lying? No. I find her crediable, and authentic. She was not the first to tell of her story, someone else actually exposed the affair in 2003. She is just now telling it with the proper perspective it derserves. She doesn't slame the President, she doesn't accuse him of any vicious wrong doing, she is just telling you what happened and what it was like to be her back then. Its a simple story, if she hadn't revealed what occured, then one day someone else would tell this story with all sorts of sordid untrue details. I respect her courage to speak up.
My respect for JFK has not altered either. He was a great politcal leader. He was President at a time when the press didn't dare reveal such things about "Camelot", if he had been President in the last 15+years....this would have been a scandal, and Mimi would have been harassed by the papparizzi...in her 20's.