And now the extraordinary extent of John F Kennedy's 'nearly uncontrollable' sexual appetite has been laid bare in a new book detailing his thousands of alleged conquests and affairs.
asserted
extent → lay → conquests
From losing his virginity in a Harlem brothel at 17 to a revolving door of young women at his disposal, Kennedy pursued what his friend, the late Senator George Smathers, described as a sexual appetite that spiraled 'out of control.'
Veteran Kennedy biographer Laurence Leamer chronicles the 35th president's exploits in eye-popping detail in Ladies' Man: The Careless Heart of John F Kennedy, to be released October 20.
By Leamer's estimate, Kennedy bedded thousands of women in a 'never-ending stream of lovers' that included aristocrats, models, secretaries and even White House interns.
asserted
that → lose → aristocrats
While in the White House, Kennedy liked to have three 'teenagers' lined up at any given time, according to the book, and even instructed one intern to give oral sex to a top White House official.
uncertain
teenagers → like → official
'It was like the Rolling Stones on tour,' one former Kennedy official recalled.
asserted
official → recall → tour
Leamer argues that 'one cannot come close to understanding Kennedy without coming to terms with [his] sexuality.
asserted
one → argue → sexuality
John F Kennedy's insatiable sexual appetite saw him bed thousands of women throughout his lifetime, including during his marriage to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and his presidency
According to biographer Laurence Leamer, Kennedy's compulsive pursuit of women is central to understanding the man behind the presidency
'Through them we can trace Jack's compulsive sexual behavior from his early years until his time in the White House where it became nearly uncontrollable,' he writes.
uncertain
he → see → House
Kennedy learned early on that infidelity was tolerated if you were a Kennedy man: His father, Joseph P Kennedy, was a serial adulterer whose affairs are said to have included Hollywood stars Gloria Swanson and Marlene Dietrich.
asserted
affairs → learn → stars
But Leamer suggests the source of JFK's own insatiable sexual appetite was his battle with chronic illness, which gave him a carpe diem spirit on steroids.
uncertain
which → suggest → steroids
The future president was diagnosed with Addison's disease, a rare and debilitating condition where the adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol.
asserted
glands → diagnose → cortisol
His sexual exploits began while attending Choate, the prestigious Connecticut boarding school where, as a teenager, he christened his penis 'JJ Maher' after a strict housemaster.
asserted
he → begin → housemaster
At the age of 17, he took his classmate Kirk LeMoyne Billings, who would go on to become a lifelong friend, to a brothel in Harlem to 'rid themselves of the affliction known as virginity.'
asserted
who → take → virginity
Billings was gay and, according to Leamer, was 'possibly in love' with Kennedy.
uncertain
Billings → accord → Kennedy
But Kennedy had once rebuffed an earlier proposition, telling him: 'I'm not that kind of boy.'
asserted
I → rebuff → boy
At the New York City brothel, Kennedy insisted they have sex with the same prostitute, paying $3 a piece.
asserted
they → insist → 3
But while he went through with the encounter, Billings just masturbated and closed his eyes, the author writes.
asserted
author → go → eyes
Kennedy was just 17 when he visited a Harlem brothel with his schoolmate and lifelong best friend Kirk LeMoyne Billings and reportedly lost his virginity.
uncertain
he → visit → virginity
Pictured with Billings (right) outside a drugstore in the mid 1930s
The new biography, Ladies' Man: The Careless Heart of John F Kennedy, will hit shelves October 20
asserted
biography → picture → shelves
Ever the reckless lover, Kennedy did not use a protection, a habit which led to him catching several bouts of venereal disease including gonorrhea, according to the book.
uncertain
him → use → book
In a remarkably candid letter to Billings in 1936, written after a visit to another brothel in Mexico, Kennedy joked about the establishment's reputation for spreading gonorrhea.
asserted
Kennedy → write → gonorrhea
'I ended up in a 2-bit hoarhouse [sic] and they said that one guy in 5 years had gotten away without just the biggest juiciest load of claps,' he wrote, referring to gonorrhea.
asserted
he → end → gonorrhea
'Always get your piece of arse in the most unhealthy place that can be found,' Kennedy added.
asserted
Kennedy → get → place
His womanizing and partying continued at Harvard University, where his father's aide Eddie Moore set up dates with 'young women open to adventure' for him at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
asserted
aide → continue → Port
In another letter to Billings, Kennedy boasted about a weekend of sexual encounters, writing: 'One guy got f***** 3 times, another guy 3 times (*the girl a virgin! + myself twice.'
asserted
guy → boast → encounters
'One guy is up at the doctor's to see if he has the clap.
asserted
he → see → clap
Not to be deterred, he added: 'We are going down next week for a return performance, I think.
asserted
I → deter → performance
JFK's sexual exploits began in his teenage years and continued through college and into the White House.
asserted
exploits → begin → House
He is pictured as a Naval Lieutenant aboard a torpedo boat
The notorious womanizer is pictured in his swimming trunks and surrounded by some bikini-clad admirers while taking a dip at the Santa Monica, California home of his brother-in-law Peter Lawford
Kennedy enrolled for a time at Stanford Business School in California, which was, much to his delight, co-ed.
According to fellow Stanford student Henry James, the future president had little time for sentimentality with the opposite sex.
uncertain
president → picture → sex
'His (Kennedy's) favorite phrase was: 'Slam, Bam, Thank You, Ma'am,' James said.
asserted
James → slam → You
'I'm not interested once I get a woman.
asserted
I → get → woman
I like the conquest.
asserted
I → like → conquest
It's the chase I like - not the kill,' Kennedy reportedly told him.
uncertain
Kennedy → like → him
Those early escapades set the stage for a lifetime of sexual adventures, even as he climbed the political ladder and went on to marry Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953.
asserted
he → set → 1953
Among those who he had flings with was Inga Arvad, a twice-married Danish journalist, who once wrote a flattering profile of Hitler.
asserted
who → have → Hitler
According to Leamer, Kennedy became 'terribly dependent' on Arvad because she was so motherly to him, all while the FBI listened in covertly because they suspected she was a spy.
Kennedy later fell hard for Gunilla von Post, a Swedish aristocrat he met on a last jaunt before his marriage to Jackie.
Swedish aristocrat Gunilla von Post captured Kennedy's heart shortly before his marriage to Jackie.
uncertain
Post → accord → Jackie
She is pictured at a party in the 1950s
asserted
She → picture → 1950s
According to the book, Kennedy also became 'terribly dependent' on Danish journalist Inga Arvad, whose relationship with the future president attracted FBI scrutiny
uncertain
relationship → accord → scrutiny
According to Leamer, Kennedy was so smitten with von Post he offered to set her up with an apartment in New York's famed Carlyle Hotel and get her work as a model, but she declined.
uncertain
she → accord → model
In an interview for the book, von Post described how Kennedy, who flew to Sweden to have sex with her, made love 'with his hands, with his marvelous, healthy Irish skin, with his mouth, with everything.'
Kennedy later met the stunning brunette Diana de Vegh, then a junior at Radcliffe College, at the Statler Hilton Ballroom in Boston in 1958 while serving as a first-term Senator.
He was so brazen that he asked de Vegh's date, James Alley, to give up his seat so he could sit next to the 'pretty girl.
uncertain
he → describe → girl
So began a months-long affair where Kennedy would pick her up for sex whenever he was in Boston.
asserted
he → begin → Boston
De Vegh initially thought he was seriously courting her, but soon came to realize it was all about sex – and she went along with it.
asserted
she → think → it
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
