In 1929, Billy's brother, the reclusive, never married Charles Lemp had moved back into the Lemp Mansion with his dog. 'What the hell have you been doing? (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. Sometimes Jack bitched Lem out one letter saying, "Of all the cheap shit I have. 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. [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. I'm not that kind of boy.'. He may have been the reason I never got married. [10] In 1944 he received a commission in the U.S. He was a beautiful baby," he ducked into a boiler room and wept. "[48] Billings spent the last weekend of October 1963 with the couple, the last time he saw them together. [4] The Muckers would pull pranks around the school and even planned to dump horse manure in the school gym, but that fell through after the headmaster found out. And he also played a very important role in the courtship between Jackie Bouvier and Jack Kennedy," Bayard told PEOPLE in an earlier interview about his book, which will be published by Algonquin Books in June. Williams, a handsome gay southerner, had already written seven hit plays. 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. 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. "Because of him, I was never lonely," Billings said once. Lem Billings may have been present for, but just outside the frame, of these pictures. The Story Behind the Man Who was Killed in the Famous "Saigon Execution One of their friends thought "that Jackie was trying to close Lem out. And the White House itself seems to have been welcoming to other non-heteronormative men in the Kennedy years. ', One of Jack's five sisters, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, found it hard to describe her brother's relationship with Billings, once stating, 'It was a complete liberation of the spirit' for Jack, and that her brother was a 'complete liberated man when he was with Lem. Criticisms from others in the Kennedy orbit insinuate that Jack took advantage of Lems love for him without reciprocating. To begin with, why would JFK give him a private room at the white house, to come and go at his leisure? John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings, right, who was a classmate from the Choate School and Princeton University, outside a drugstore, ca. Mid-1930s. [35] In 1962 he escorted two of the President's sisters, Eunice Shriver and Jean Kennedy Smith, around Europe for more than two weeks. After the assassination of RFK in 1968, the flamboyant Billings transferred his obsessive affection for Jack, to handsome teenager Bobby Jr. David Pitts, the author of 'Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship,' told me, 'Lem was a gay man and he had a 14-year-old, good-looking kid living in his house with him and there had been rumors because of that. An autopsy report says Billings' cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. Billings served with Sargent Shriver as a trustee for the Kennedy family trusts. When Billings died of a heart attack in 1981, Bobby Jr gave the eulogy (From left to right: Lem Billings, Bobby Kennedy Jr andEthel Kennedy), Part of the family: From childhood to adulthood, Billings stayed close to Jack Kennedy and his family. He had interests of his own that Jack didn't necessarily share. Jack and Lem's Excellent European Adventure, Summer 1937 [8] In 1942, supported by a recommendation from Joseph Kennedy Sr., his friend's father, who called him "my second son," he won admission to the American Ambulance Field Service, where his poor eyesight was not a disqualification. At one point, he is said to have remarked: "After I go, there'll be no more Kennedys.". From 1933 to 1946, Billings and JFK exchanged letters, with Jack often antagonizing Lem in the correspondence. 'Yesterday was Jack's birthday. One famous shot shows the toddler John, Jr., a man who would also die tragically young, playing peek-a-boo under the desk. 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College Amid Outrage, Thomas Orlina Shines a Light on Mental Health for Teen Mental Wellness Day. Both men are being held in . Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Could he have been the third leg of what was clearly an unconventional marriage? "In many ways, Lem thought of his life as being over after Jack died," the younger Bobby Kennedy told Pitts for his book. I have one additional comment, probably to be regarded as politically incorrect. I have no evidence one way or another, but I would discount [any sexual activity.]. Were Lem and Jack sexually intimate as well? "Raffish and yet prissy," they write of Billings "a sort of court chronicler reporting on the old days which even Bobby and Ethel didn't recall and functioning as the all-purpose cheerleader, godfather, and pallbearer who could always be counted on. [3] They became fast friends, drawn to each other by their mutual distaste for their strict school. Why should a historian care about Kennedys sex life at all? Once, Alford remembered, Kennedy suggested that she would be doing him a favor if she agreed to help his younger brother, Ted, a newly elected Senator, with his own tensions, while the President watched from across the pool. 12 pdf icon; leading cause of death data, including firearm, homicide, and drug poisoning mortality data, and infant mortality . 0 references. Jack, Lem, and Caroline enjoying the water, Hyannis Port, 1963. He wanted to be with him, to be a part of whatever he wanted to do to continue Jack's legacy." Ted Sorensen called him "an admirer almost a fawning admirer of his friend. As of 2018 Lem Billings is 65 years (age at death) years old. Gay History: John F. Kennedy Had A Gay Best Friend Who - timalderman Lem Billings and John F Kennedy were practically inseparable in prep school. Inside the intimate relationship between JFK and Lem Billings (2023) Though Billings who was working as a New York City advertising executive at the time of the assassination continued on at his firm for another decade, his life was never the same. The Kennedys tolerated his homosexuality, which was considered taboo at the time, Lawrence J. Quirk, the author of'The Kennedys in Hollywood' said Billings and JFK's relationship turned sexual at a point. Quirk had met Billings in the mid-Forties when both were volunteers in Jack Kennedy's first congressional campaign. This essay was originally published at OutHistory.orgon November 22, 2013; it has been updated and re-edited. In the summer of 1937 Billings and Kennedy took a summer trip through Europe which solidified their friendship. 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. 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 . Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want to remind everyone of that today. 228. He sent one letter to Lem's mother addressed to the American Field Service PO Box in New York. Billings had once told Bobby that. That he is believed to have been gay at a time when homosexuality was still illegal even being somewhat open about his sexuality, including within the powerful Kennedy clan sheds light on the strength of his ties to the family. His name was Lem Billings. [25]:364 According to Kennedy family members, such as Peter Lawford, and others, Billings began using drugs[25]:365 due to the influence of the Kennedy and Lawford boys. Lem felt that the physical regimen at the Kennedy vacation homes was even more exacting than that at Choate. Even worse, many such slurs aren't from men but 'I couldn't do it without you': Victoria Beckham poses with her whole family after her PFW show - as she Brooklyn Beckham puts on a loved-up display with wife Nicola Peltz as they head back to hotel after Cruz Beckham supports his mother Victoria as he carrying his very own VB handbag on the way to her show Like father, like daughter! '"[39], Most recognized that Billings and Kennedy had been friends from youth and did not question their relationship or Billings' presence. Jacqueline Bouvier would have the same problem, using every possible excuse to avoid the game, after she and Jack were married in 1953." 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. Jack and Lem A funny photo of Senator John McCain catching himself after he nearly left the stage in the wrong direction after shaking hands with Senator Barack Obama. However, gay men played another role in Kennedys history that was not overtly sexual: they were part of an avant-garde cultural world that Jackie Kennedy cultivated, as she linked the Kennedy name to national arts, letters and music for the first time. John F. Kennedy's best friend for three decades was a gay man, according to a new book titled, "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings.The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship;" the book documents the relationship between the two men from its beginnings at a New England prep school in 1933 until the gunfire in Dallas in 1963. I'm enclosing a letter to Lem, which I wish you would forward, as I haven't any idea where he is. His book Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, from which the text of this slideshow is excerpted, was one of The Advocate's five best books of 2007. ', Jacqueline Kennedy was reportedly unhappuabout her husband and Billings' three decade long relationship. (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. She needed Billings to keep the President company while she went horseback riding. 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. ", Still, he was well aware of his proximity to history. ", 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. Like millions of other young Americans, they faced an uncertain future. "[38] Another said: "Members of the president's staff thought of him as a 'handy old piece of furniture. Lem Billings - Wikidata [63], Billings served for many years along with Sargent Shriver as a trustee for the Kennedy family trusts,[65] working from an office in the Pan Am Building. The first time Kirk Lemoyne 'Lem' Billings was . As we both know, homosexual relationships in English boarding schools were put down to adolescent hijinks and men *grew out of them*. John F. Kennedy bi-sexual or gay? Copyright 20142023 The Editorial Board of Public Seminar, All Rights Reserved. "Because of him," Lem Billings once said of President Kennedy, "I was never lonely" Pitts' 2007 book helped spur renewed interest in the friendship between President Kennedy and Billings. During that time, he told researchers, "All the kids came over to see me. When Jack discovered that Billings was gay once declining an amorous overture from Billings the friendship is thought to have gone on unharmed. '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? Ben Bradlee, a Kennedy friend who worked at Newsweek during the Kennedy Administration, and no friend of Billings,[40] said "they were childhood friends and stayed loyal to each other forever." [28] One presidential aide later said that "some people saw him so much they thought he was the Secret Service. I have been studying human sexuality for 25 years and am a Stanford grad and track athlete. Soon I discovered that he glared with equal suspicion at anyone whose friendship with JFK postdated his own. [60] In 1965, Jacqueline Kennedy invited Billings to accompany her and her children to England for the unveiling of a memorial to President Kennedy at Runnymede. Deadline reported in 2018 that it was to be the basis for a forthcoming boipic as well. 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. A different side of JFK: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings met atChoate Rosemary Hall and became lifelong friends. Billings took leave from his business career to work on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. Jack Kennedy and Lem Billings met at Choate and remained friends until the Dallas gunfire that ended Kennedy's life thirty years later. Poor guy. Criticisms from others in the Kennedy orbit insinuate that Jack took advantage of Lem's love for him without reciprocating. July 24, 2015. Published: 16:57 GMT, 9 June 2017 | Updated: 19:00 GMT, 9 June 2017. . When they arrived at the cemetery, it was already in place to be lowered. 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. [68] He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[69]. John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings - Internet Archive Stats of the State of Montana - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "[52] One historian wrote that after the 1963 assassination Billings was: "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows'. (Page 276). "He was in a very deep depression; sometimes didn't want to live," Pitts told the New Haven Register in 2007. "Because of him," Billings once said. JFKs sex life, and his attachments to men, also needs to be better understood for what it reveals about his inner life, and for a moment in United States political history when sex itself was undergoing seismic changes. [63][25]:505 He maintained close ties to the Kennedys and their children for the rest of his life, frequently socializing with Bobby Kennedy Jr., to whom he became almost a surrogate father, and Christopher Lawford. Access Restriction Status: Open. I don't know how we will carry on without him. [30], The press frequently reported on his presence at Kennedy family events, such as the arrival of the Kennedy children in Washington in February 1961. Knowing that, like many men who lived double lives, he could have had a wife and family, Billings regarded his friendship with Jack as a gift. Lem Chesmore is a 34-year-old Billings native who grew up on the sport. For Jack and Lem, the carefree period of their lives -- their school and college years -- were now behind them. It would be the last Christmas in which the United States would be at peace for more than four years. Part One Looking Out of the Frame: Camelot's Gay - OutHistory Lem's team was attempting to take down a number of South Vietnamese officials. 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. "[27] Billings never had a White House pass and said: "Jack and Jackie were so nice about this that I didn't even have to tell them whether I was coming or going. 'Dear Mrs. Billings. In reference to this relationship, I came across another interview in which JFKs sexuality was discussed and that interviewer defended JFKs relationship with Lem? Have you heard from him?' In its final year, Lennen & Newell had domestic billings of $140 million, and Mr. Toigo had said that the agency was worth between $12 million and $15 million and that he owned about 95 percent of the stock. This is fascinating, Claire. As one source told me, 'Young Bobby replaced Jack in Lem's heart of hearts.'. 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. "[41] Gore Vidal, who was banned from the White House after a run-in with Billings,[42] was critical of Billings,[43] but also thought Billings played an important role as an aide to Kennedy, who was often ill or in pain. Although JFK embarked on affairs with women as a very young man, affairs that continued into his married life, Billings remained focused on an erotic life with men and never had a life partner. Published online July 6, 2017. "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. Jfk and his longtime roommate Lem Billings. (Billings was gay) COVID-19 became the No. President John F. Kennedy has become infamous for his vivid, and some might say almost compulsive, heterosexual affairs. Indeed, it often seems that Kennedy did treat people who loved him for granted. The young Kennedys took the casket and carried it around the gravesite before returning it to the burial plot. Needless to say, JFK may have had, in a sense, two widows. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive selections from new issues of Public Seminar. The book "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship," details the extraordinary relationship between two unlikely friends. "[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. 'I borrowed the other half from an inheritance I was about to receive from my grandmother after I graduated from college,' remembered Lem. Lem Billings (left) with John F Kennedy (right) Kennedy and Billings had a sexual relationship including 'oral sex, with Jack always on the receiving end.' Kennedys in Hollywood by Lawrence J. Quirk / The Dark Side Of The Dream Jerry Oppenheimer is a New York Times bestselling author who has written two books about the Kennedys. Kirk LeMoyne " Lem " Billings (April 15, 1916 - May 28, 1981) was an American businessman known for his close and long-time friendship with John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. I have no doubt the same was true in American upper-crust boarding schools in the single-sex days. "Jack was anxious to reach Lem and to find out how he was doing. According to author Christopher Bram (2012), Vidal told the playwright he shouldnt cruise our next president, then repeated the remark to Kennedy. He remained in the closet until his death in. Later Years. Lem's sister, Lucretia, who knew Jack as well, said, 'I think he had to do something because Jack was doing so much.' JFK's Best Friend Lem: Transcript. Those who knew Charles described him as a sour, angry man. 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. Click to browse the Lem Billings Personal Papers KLBPP-001-003-p0015. In addition, gay and lesbian people often have reasons for not coming out, or not seeking the liberation of living in queer communities, lives that are worth exploring for what we might learn about queer milieus that do not fit a conventional liberationist narrative. The affair was socially isolating for a very young and sexually un-liberated woman, causing her to deceive friends, boyfriends and ultimately her husband and children for most of her adult life. 7 Gay Presidential Rumors You Won't Believe (But Maybe Should) "The agency, which was the 13th largest in the United States in 1971, went bankrupt the following year, listing almost $11 million in liabilities. [4] Billings' first visit with the Kennedy family was for Christmas in Palm Beach in 1933, after that, he joined them for holidays, participated in family events, and was treated like a member of the family. Historian Lois Banner has also provided details about Marilyn Monroes affair with JFK, one of numerous women procured for the President by Peter Lawford, who himself staged sexual orgies in Los Angeles that the President attended. and yet you still think JFK was alive in December 1963! Bobby Kennedy Jr. read the eulogy. 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. He reportedly never entertained or enjoyed social outings. It remains the worst such failure in the history of advertising agencies. And all the while, Lem Billings was there: waiting, serving, comforting and helping the Kennedy family adjust to the public glare. Prince Andrew has 'offered to manage prestigious Royal estates including Balmoral but King Charles has told PLATELL'S PEOPLE: Yes, Madonna toyboys are fun but not if you value your dignity. 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. [54] Billings had his own room in the White House. Billings was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 15, 1916, the third child of Frederic Tremaine Billings (18731933) and Romaine LeMoyne (18821970). Ironically, Motlow, who had sustained a stroke in 1940, died that same year . Lem Billings Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Yesterday was Jack's birthday. Felicia Farr m. 19622001 Cynthia Stone m. 19501956 Jack Lemmon / Wife He was 76. Ethel's alcoholic, philandering brother, George Skakel Jr., actually booted Billings in the a** at the church, knocking him into the aisle. Claire Potter is professor of history at The New School, and Executive Editor of Public Seminar.
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