And, say those close to him, Billings never, ever got over how his friend was assassinated one sunny day in Dallas exactly 58 years ago. Smith, 433-4; see also: Smith, 113: "The only counterbalance to the [Kennedy] family's philistinism had been Lem Billings, whose passion for art and antiques had begun with his Princeton theses on Tintoretto, a precociously sophisticated study. After the assassination of Robert Kennedy, a distraught Ethel turned over her son, Bobby Jr., to Billings to act as his surrogate father, sparking her brother-in-law, Terrien RFK's roommate at the University of Virginia law school to wonder why she would allow 'Lem to have such an intimate relationship' with her troubled third born, who would go on to have a a bizarre relationship with Billings, including the taking of drugs. Their lifelong relationship caused some of the presidents advisers to fear Russian agents may use the information as blackmail. Lem felt that the physical regimen at the Kennedy vacation homes was even more exacting than that at Choate. 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. Sometimes Jack bitched Lem out one letter saying, "Of all the cheap shit I have. Lem was a virtual fixture in the Kennedy family who even had his own room at the White House. He once called Billings the 'chief f****t at Camelot.' Between 1933 and 1935, The bond between Jack and Lem grew so tight, journalist David Pitts wrote in Jack and Lem (2008), that they really had no need for friendships with other boys.. He didn't want to share his friendship with Jack. "I'm sure he's already organizing everything in heaven so it will be completely ready for us with just the right Early American furniture, the right curtains, the right rugs, the right paintings," Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the president's sister, said in a eulogy. "I was never lonely.". [28] One presidential aide later said that "some people saw him so much they thought he was the Secret Service. The 51-year-old daughter of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died Sept. 16 while working out at her Washington, D.C., gym. 0 references. Wikipedia (3 entries) edit. But straight men can have a gay side, and JFKs life was filled with prominent gay men, friendships which open the door to other histories. 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. 228. His mother was a Mayflower descendant and his great-grandfather Francis Julius LeMoyne was a prominent abolitionist linked to the underground railroad who helped establish what is today known as LeMoyne-Owen College. Pamela Long Wiggins, who was convicted of accessory to murder after the fact in connection with the Billings murders, died Thursday in state prison. 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. The Kennedys were a liberal family and one that tolerated a lot of heterosexual promiscuity as well. Lem Billings is a member of famous Celebrity list. [48] Billings saw the President for the last time when they dined at the White House with Greta Garbo on November 13, 1963, nine days before the President's assassination in Dallas. Inside Matt Hancock's 41-hour battle to save his career when photo of 'a snog and heavy petting' with aide Will Vladimir Putin's empress pay the ultimate price for his war on the West? The young Kennedys took the casket and carried it around the gravesite before returning it to the burial plot. Gore Vidal, the writer who claimed he viewed homosexuality as normal as heterosexuality, disparaged the JFK-Billings relationship during the Kennedy administration. "He never really came out of it. Jackie and Vidal werent cousins. "Early on in their friendship, Lem sent Jack such a note and Jack replied in their usual jocular way, adding in parentheses, 'Please don't write to me on toilet paper any more. It was Bobby Kennedy Jr. who gave the eulogy. Billings then prepared responses and read them aloud to her. To order a copy, click here. 'I'm sure he's already organizing everything in heaven so it will be completely ready for us with just the right Early American furniture, the right curtains, the right rugs, the right paintings, and everything ready for a big, big party. His father was a prominent physician and a graduate of the U.S. Article. And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. 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? "Because of him," Billings once said. Born in 1916, he was the son of a Pittsburgh doctor. Those who knew Charles described him as a sour, angry man. 384 pages, $26.95 THE OLD black-and-white photograph shows two good-looking young men sitting close together on the back bumper of a car, their fingers touching gently as they fondle a dachshund pup. May I come inside?" Language: English Words: 1,469 . Lem and Jack were insulated by money, and by the reticence of journalists to open closet doors that powerful men, gay and straight, preferred to leave closed. His latest book, The Kardashians: An American Drama, will be published in September. And did he personally lend a hand from time to time? 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!' As they became close, Billings confided that his relationship with Kennedy was, in fact, sexual, to a point. [35] In 1962 he escorted two of the President's sisters, Eunice Shriver and Jean Kennedy Smith, around Europe for more than two weeks. Anyone who wants to know more about JFKs actual sex life can email me at tim.a.nicholson@gmail.com Here is my sons grandfather with JFK in Dec 1963. From there we would helicopter right to his father's front lawn. He helped handle even some of Jack's most personal affairs, Pitts writes in his book: "Jack's dates would be managed by Lem. Lem Billings Is JFK's 'Go-Between' During Courtship with Jackie as Imagined in New Novel PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at Louis Bayard's upcoming Jackie & Me By Sam Gillette Published on. Billings was a prep school roommate of Kennedy, an usher at his wedding and a campaigner for his successful 1960 presidential bid. Access Restriction Status: Open. (Page 276). He never lost this.". As for Kennedy himself, Vidal asserted that the president 'felt quite comfortable in the company of homosexuals as long as they were smart enough to hold his interest. Another shows older daughter Caroline, who became the American Ambassador to Japan under Barack Obama, learning to ride her pony. It is important to understand what is meant by the cause of death and the risk factor associated with a premature death:. ', But Billings was embarrassed about his effeminate mannerisms he'd remain publicly closeted for his lifetime. But there is also an important story about race, and social class, to be told here. 'Yesterday was Jack's birthday. Lem's team was attempting to take down a number of South Vietnamese officials. You can follow her on Twitter . This essay was originally published at OutHistory.orgon November 22, 2013; it has been updated and re-edited. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was an American businessman known for his close and long-time friendship with John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. They were especially fanatical about football. JFK also shared women with male friends and relatives, a homoerotic impulse often seen in fraternities or other male organizations where men reinforce intimacy by having sex with the same woman. A crew jock, he met Jack at Choate, a boys boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut (it is now co-ed). [56] Charles L. Bartlett, a journalist who introduced Kennedy to Jacqueline Bouvier[57] and friend of both Billings and Kennedy, described their relationship: "Lem was a stable presence for Jack. 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. I was pleased to note that things picked up after your arrival,' referring to Montgomery's battle with Rommel at El Alamein. Jack's best friend was Lem and he would want me to remind everyone of that today." Billings worked on the 1960 campaign, and then lived at the White House for long stretches of time, a room permanently set aside for his visits. Lem Billings may have been present for, but just outside the frame, of these pictures. Lem Billings andBobby Kennedy Jr became close after JFK's death and allegedly took drugs together. Lem Billings had a remarkable friendship with JFK that lasted from 1932, when the two met as classmates in prep school, until JFK's assassination in 1963. The Depression had hurt the Billings family financially, and Lem Billings was at Choate on scholarship. [11], After working on Kennedy's successful campaign for Congress in 1946, Billings toured seven Latin American countries with Robert F. Lem was born on April 15, 1916 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.. Lem is one of the famous and trending celeb who is popular for being a Celebrity. How Prince Harry's chat with guru who compared Hamas terrorists to Jews who battled the Nazis has appalled JAN MOIR: Goodbye Ken, the world always seemed safer with you on the airwaves, Abstaining from masturbating RAISES risk of anxiety, depression and erectile dysfunction, study warns. 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. The first lady, Jackie, had something of a love-hate relationship with Billings. In a third, the President is walking on the beach with the late Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, as they grieved the death of their premature son Patrick. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. (Page 80), Lem examines a damaged ambulance door following the Messerschmitt attack, Sirte, Libya, 1943. He noted that everywhere Jack went, Billings was sure to follow, like a puppy dog. Billings reportedly wrote the future president a love note on a piece of toilet paper (pictured at the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate), JFK was famous for his womanizing habits, but one of his closest relationships was withLem Billings. Billings was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 15, 1916, the third child of Frederic Tremaine Billings (18731933) and Romaine LeMoyne (18821970). I have also studied the forensics of the assassination for 21 years. 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). Later Years. Billings was a prep school roommate of Kennedy, an usher at his wedding and a campaigner for his successful 1960 presidential bid. The one iconic photo of President John F. Kennedy up close and personal with a woman other than Jackie shows him and his attorney general brother, Robert, coming on to curvaceous Marilyn Monroe at a party. John F. Kennedy, whose 100th birthday is being celebrated this year with a Kennedy Centennial postage stamp, TV memorials, a slew of books, and much media coverage, was revered as the 35th president of the United States. A different side of JFK: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings met atChoate Rosemary Hall and became lifelong friends. According to Quirk, Billings revealed that his friendship with the future president of the United States 'included oral sex, with Jack always on the receiving end. Claire Potteris professor of history at The New School, and Executive Editor of Public Seminar. David Pitts quotes Vidal cruelly calling Billings "a lifelong slave," "the principal fag at court," and a "nurse" who helped Jack deal with the pain caused by Addison's disease. With that out of the way, their relationship continued essentially unchanged until JFK's assassination thirty years later.". Billings, he said, "had a natural jealousy. Now thats very exciting! said Kennedy with a grin.. 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. Co-executive Editor, Public Seminar and Professor of History, The New School for Social Research, Photo credit: Cecil Stoughton/Wikimedia Commons. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use. Billings once admitted that he made a pass at Jack early on. It contained scores of photographs of himself and Jack in Europe, as well as a handwritten narrative. 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). Though his name isn't as well-known as that of his boyhood best friend, Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was an important confidante for one of America's presidents and lived a life no less full of its own twists and turns. "[27] Arthur Schlesinger thought Billings "used to glare at me when we occasionally encountered each other in the company of JFK, and for a time I took this rather personally. [68] His dying wish was for the young Kennedy men to carry his casket to its final resting place. Their mothers just married the same man. Lem Billings also buffered JFK from the toll that infidelity took on the Kennedy marriage. Lem Chesmore is a 34-year-old Billings native who grew up on the sport. Billings would later spend nights in the White House where he had his own room, Schoolboy crush? 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He became Jackies confidant and the trusted recipient of her views about the other women who flitted in and out of her husbands life. She was expected to be constantly available for him, he was inconsiderate and unloving, and she was permitted to tell no one. [50] In 2006, looking back to the Kennedy Administration, Ben Bradlee said: "I suppose it's known that Lem was gay.It impressed me that Jack had gay friends. 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. In her memoir, Times To Remember, published eleven years after Jack's assassination in Dallas in 1963, she wrote that Billings had 'remained Jack's lifelong close friend, confidant, sharer in old memories and new experiencesHe has really been part of 'our family' since that first time he showed up at our house as one of 'Jack's surprises. ", Billings' family could chafe at his adoration: "My uncle was not someone you could have a reasonable conversation with about what was going on with the Kennedys," his nephew said in Princeton's alumni magazine. Release of Secret JFK Assassination Records Delayed by Biden, Angering Some of the Kennedys. She needed Billings to keep the President company while she went horseback riding. [24], Billings visited the White House for most weekends during the Kennedy Administration. . 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. 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 . He might have been the reason I never got married. When Jack discovered that Billings was gay once declining an amorous overture from Billings the friendship is thought to have gone on unharmed. [51] Red Fay, a friend of the President from his World War II service, said of Billings: "I didn't see anything overtly gay about him; I think he was neutral. Oscar Cainer tells all. "Jack was anxious to reach Lem and to find out how he was doing. JFKs numerous affairs (before, during and after his marriage to Jackie) and his friendships with gay men suddenly had a social and cultural context that was neither gay or straight, but a harbinger of the sexual freedom and experimentation that would soon be championed in the counterculture and the mainstream. Billings, Lem (Kirk LeMoyne), 1916-1981. Who was Jack Lemmon's wife? The pair matriculated at Princeton together in the fall of 1935, although Jack had to withdraw for health reasons, probably early signs of the Addisons disease that would plague him the rest of his life. When their brother Bobby married Ethel Skakel in a royal-like wedding in Greenwich, Connecticut, the staunchly conservative republican and seemingly homophobic Skakels let their feelings about Billings' gayness be known. A telephone conversation between President Kennedy and Lem Billings. But above all, Bobby was very important to Lem personally. were sexual animals, and its hard for me to believe that a guy like Lem who loved JFK, would stand by and let himself be used and be rebuffed by JFK! I'd read a bit about Lem Billings in various Kennedy bios . [64], Billings' behavior changed drastically in the late 1960s. Elisa Lam was a 21-year-old woman on an adventure when she died at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles' skid row. When Billings learned that the love of his life was dead on November 22, 1963, Pitts writes: It was as if he had been struck by lightning; he was consumed by grief. Lem was the second person Jacks sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, called after reaching her sister, Pat Lawford. '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? He escorted Mrs. Stephen Smith, sister of the late President, to . Billings had once told Bobby that. The bond between Billings and John F. Kennedy continues to be of interest to many, with a new wave of attention cresting on social media apps like TikTok, where users have pored back over candid photos of the young men together. William Lemp III died an untimely death of a heart attack at the age of 42. 'I borrowed the other half from an inheritance I was about to receive from my grandmother after I graduated from college,' remembered Lem. On some weekends, Jack and Lem would go up there. Get that ass! he said to Vidal. Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son," and he sometimes acted as escort for several of the Kennedy women. As the previous article mentions more has to be explored regarding the relationship between Lem and JFK! Featuring interviews with Ben Bradlee, Gore Vidal, Ted Sorenson, friends, family, and many others, award -- winning journalist David Pitts begins the story with the early friendship between the men. LeMoyne Billings and Ethel Kennedy attend Liza Minnelli Concert on May 23, 1970 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. David Pitts quotes Vidal cruelly calling Billings a lifelong slave, the principal fag at court, and a nurse who helped Jack deal with the pain caused by Addisons disease. 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. But Kennedy's reaction to Billings gay come-on soon changed and he became more amenable to his friend's advances, according to the writer Lawrence J. Quirk, author of 'The Kennedys in Hollywood.' 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. Kirk LeMoyne Billings and John F. Kennedy. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up. Lem outlived his friend by eighteen years; he died in 1981, and left his papers to the JFK Presidential library in Boston, MA. Like the rest of the free world, Billings was devastated when President Kennedy was assassinated. He claimed he had no idea who the Kennedys were, but they wanted to meet Williams, and Vidal produced him. ', White House visitor: Billings often spent the night at the White House, which upset Jackie Kennedy. ', The Kennedy patriarch, Joe, a noted philanderer himself, was suspicious of Billings' sexual preference from the start of his son's close friendship with him. Vessey paid Masters with meth and a vehicle in exchange for the death of Billings. "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. 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 . [66], In 1987, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin described how Billings structured her interviews with him. [47], Billings spent less time with the President in the fall of 1963. Published: 16:57 GMT, 9 June 2017 | Updated: 19:00 GMT, 9 June 2017. (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. Were Lem and Jack sexually intimate as well? Williams, a handsome gay southerner, had already written seven hit plays. If you want to discuss this further my e-mail:pscheck2@gmail.com). One famous shot shows the toddler John, Jr., a man who would also die tragically young, playing peek-a-boo under the desk. The parents who fear their 11-year-olds will be scarred for life by the graphic sex education lessons that Two Insulate Britain protesters are jailed for contempt of court after they defied a judge's orders not to 'Derek fights on, it makes me fall in love with him all over again:' Kate Garraway reveals there are days French authorities fear 'narco-tourists' could flock to Normandy beaches after 'more than two tonnes of Hopes for cervical cancer vaccine after trials in mice showed it reduced tumours 80 per cent of the time. And seated close to Kennedy is his shirtless, tanned and oiled best friend forever, his very gay chum, Kirk LeMoyne 'Lem' Billings. Quirk immediately pegged Billings as gay, noting his 'high, screechy laugh,' and 'high nasal whine of a voice.' EXCLUSIVE: Head teacher of leading grammar school is sacked for sending parents a list of striking teachers. Like many gay men of his generation, Lem may have been very comfortable with his own sexuality and the privacy of his relationship to Jack. This may have been true of his wife, although perhaps she understood from the beginning that their marriage would be non-monogamous. "[59], In 1964, Billings was named to select a memorial to Kennedy to be placed in the Kennedy Center. Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on May 28, 1981, at the age of 65. About Lem Billings A long time best friend and alleged secret Gay lover of President JFK and later a surrogate father for Robert Kennedy Jr. after the murder of his father. [59], He escorted Jean Kennedy Smith, sister of the President, to a gala ballet performance in 1966[61] and Ethel Kennedy, the president's sister-in-law, to the 1971 opening of the Kennedy Center. While the photo of Kennedy cozying up to Monroe is the best known of him with one of his purported lovers, other far less public snapshots show the flip side of Kennedy's intimate relationships. "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship" Kennedy knew Billings was in love with him (Billings declared his love and was rejected by Kennedy) and Kennedy liked that, the attention and knowing the power he has over billings also his wife Jackie Kennedy hated Billings and hated that he and . He had interests of his own that Jack didn't necessarily share. July 24, 2015. 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. (Page 4), "When Jack wasn't trying to get Lem to sing on family occasions, he was cajoling him into playing sports -- usually touch football, a game Lem came to loathe. Billings remarked (at the end of the story) that had he married and settled down, he would not have been happier than he was as . As the then-Senator stepped up for his turn, Williams admired his body. [13] He later had several jobs, including selling Coca-Cola dispensers to drugstores and working at a General Shoe store. As Billings told researchers for an oral history interview for the John F. Kennedy Library, the two met as teenagers at Choate Preparatory School for boys in Wallingford, Connecticut, in 1933, while working on the student yearbook. Kirk Lem Lemoyne Billings (15 Apr 1916 - 28 May 1981) 0 references . "[52] One historian wrote that after the 1963 assassination Billings was: "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows'. JFK's Best Friend Lem: Transcript. Jack Kennedy and Lem Billings met at Choate and remained friends until the Dallas gunfire that ended Kennedy's life thirty years later. The president was famously believed to have affairs during their marriage. They werent even related. 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. The two became friends, then roommates. Here is a look at their friendship. '"[39], Most recognized that Billings and Kennedy had been friends from youth and did not question their relationship or Billings' presence. 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. "I just became fascinated with Lem because he was a closeted but as they used to say 'practicing homosexual,' and he was very much part of the inner Kennedy circle from very early in his life," Bayard said. The elder Kennedys began to discourage the boys from associating with Billings because of his excessive recreational drug use (including alcohol). According to author Christopher Bram (2012), Vidal told the playwright he shouldnt cruise our next president, then repeated the remark to Kennedy. Public Seminar is a journal of ideas, politics, and culture published by the Public Seminar Publishing Initiative at The New School.