12 Things You Didn't Know About JFK And Marilyn Monroe
The nation was rocked when it came out that President Clinton had been having multiple affairs in the White House. Every eye was glued to the TV for months as details of his extra-marital affairs became common knowledge. But Clinton isn't the only President who had affairs while in office. Unfortunately, this Presidential legacy goes all the way back to our founding fathers. George Washington was rumored to have mistresses. Thomas Jefferson was well known for his extra-marital activities, especially with his slaves. The list of Presidents that have been accused of cheating includes some of the most notable names in history: Wilson, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Johnson, Bush Sr., and perhaps most famously, Kennedy.
The only President whose affairs are more famous than Clinton's is John F Kennedy. Kennedy was well known as a womanizer. Many of the books and documentaries about his life and Presidency have focused on his many women, and his long-suffering wife, Jaqueline Onassis Kennedy.
Kennedy's most famous alleged affair was with actress Marilyn Monroe. To this day, it has never been conclusively proven that the two had an affair. There are very few photographs of them together and no photographs of them alone. They were never caught in the act and no credible source close to them ever went public with the details of the affair.
For decades people have speculated as to what really went on between JFK and Monroe. Though we may never know for sure if the two were lovers, accounts from people close to them have given us a few, sparse details of their relationship.
12 It was lust at first sight
Marilyn Monroe and JFK met for the first time at a private dinner party held at JFK's brother in law's house. He was a British actor who'd met Monroe previously, and he invited Monroe to the party. In typical Monroe fashion, she arrived more than an hour late and made a dramatic entrance, making sure all eyes were on her. The President's eyes definitely were.
According to other guests at the party, when she entered JFK exclaimed, “Finally! You're here.” The President was beaming. Everyone in the room knew that the two were attracted to each other as soon as they met.
According to guests, the two spent the rest of the party together and before Monroe left, JFK asked her for her number. Insiders say he definitely used the number shortly after, to set up a getaway in Florida.
11 The two were not allowed to be photographed together
Though the President was a known womanizer, he was careful about leaving little to no evidence of his affairs. The President was photographed almost constantly, especially by White House photographer, Cecil Stoughton, who loved to snap candid photos of the President inside and outside the White House. But Stoughton knew better than to snap photos of the President and his women, especially Monroe. JFK was acutely aware of the scandal that would ensue if a photograph of him and the actress emerged.
In fact, only one photo of the two together exists and it's just recently surfaced. The photo shows Monroe next to JFK's brother, Bobby Kennedy, talking to the President, whose head is turned away. It's said that he noticed the camera and tried to hide his face so that there wouldn't be photographic evidence of him and Monroe together. Unfortunately, JFK was so recognizable that it's clear it's him in the photo.
10 When they were, the Secret Service confiscated the photos
The photo of Kennedy and Monroe that's surfaced was taken at a private party after the performance of “Happy Birthday Mr. President,” that became so infamous. White House photographer Cecil Stoughton was the only photographer allowed at the event, and he took several candid photos of guests at the party, including Monroe and Kennedy.
After the party, The Secret Service demanded that Stoughton hand over all the photos from the party. It can be assumed that the President was nervous that there were photos of him and Monroe together that night and wanted to make sure the photos wouldn't leak. Stoughton dutifully handed over the photos and all his negatives, but kept one photo that was developing at the time: the photo of Monroe and the Kennedy brothers.
Stoughton kept the photo secret for years. Sources close to him believe he did so to protect Jackie Onassis Kennedy from embarrassment. Stoughton had become very close to Jackie while working as the White House photographer.
9 They tried to be careful, but everyone knew
JFK had already engaged in multiple affairs while in office before he met Monroe. He was always careful to ensure that the details of these affairs didn't leak to the press. He was particularly careful about his affair with Monroe given the fact that she was one of the most famous Hollywood figures of the time period.
But regardless of how hard they tried to keep their affair a secret, sources close to Monroe and JFK say that everyone knew. No one talked about it at the time, especially to the press, but in the past few years people have begun to come forward to talk about JFK and Monroe's torrid tryst. Monroe's publicist has said that it was common knowledge that the two were seeing each other. Friends of the Kennedy's have also told the press that the affair was well known to people inside and outside the White House.
8 Allegedly, Marilyn called Jackie to tell her about the affair
Sources close to the Kennedy's say that Jackie had resigned herself to the fact that her husband was a serial cheater and was willing to stay quiet about the affairs as long as they stayed out of the papers. But apparently Jackie was worried about the affair with Monroe. She thought Monroe was too erratic and worried that she would slip up and ruin everything by exposing the affair to the press.
A biography of Kennedy released in 2013 claimed that Jackie was confronted with Monroe's recklessness when Monroe her called up to tell her about the affair. Though the conversation has not been confirmed, the biographer claims that Monroe told Jackie that JFK had promised to marry her. It's alleged that Jackie responded like the spitfire she was and told Monroe that she would be happy to give up the burden and duties of being First Lady, but that she didn't believe Monroe was up to the task.
7 Monroe thought it was much more than it actually was
According to friends of JFK, his affair with Monroe wasn't really anything special or out of the ordinary. The President often carried out short, passionate affairs and then left the women in the dust and he had been intending to do the same with Monroe.
It's said that shortly after they met, JFK and Monroe spent a long weekend together in Florida. Sources close to Kennedy say that he wasn't planning anything more with Monroe, but that she fell hard for him. They say that she pursued the President relentlessly and that he continued to humor her, but there was no indication that Kennedy was in love with Monroe. There certainly wasn't any indication that he planned to leave Jackie for Monroe, which Monroe allegedly believed. She thought they were madly in love. He thought they were having some fun.
6 The “Happy Birthday” performance ruined everything
The performance of “Happy Birthday Mr. President” that Monroe gave at Madison Square Garden has become both iconic and infamous. No one quite knows who arranged the performance, which was given at a prominent Democratic Party event.
Some speculate that Kennedy arranged the performance himself so he had an excuse to see Monroe. Others speculate that Bobby Kennedy arranged it as a gift for JFK. Still others say that it was an elaborate publicity stunt arranged by the Democratic Party themselves. Regardless of who orchestrated the event, the performance was mired in drama as was the aftermath.
Monroe's makeup artist has since said that Monroe was a mess before the performance. 20th Century Fox had allegedly threatened to pull Monroe from a movie she was in if she performed for the President. Monroe was also nervous that she wouldn't get to see the President alone, even though she desperately wanted to.
After the overtly seductive performance, rumors began to fly that JFK and Monroe were having an affair and their relationship became an embarrassment to the President. He tried to publicly distance himself from Monroe, and insiders say that he even tried to end the relationship.
5 But Monroe refused to let it go
Those close to the Kennedy's and Monroe say that she became wild when the President tried to end their relationship. She became obsessed with him and was desperate to maintain their relationship. It's said that she repeatedly called the White House asking to speak to JFK. It may be during this time period that her alleged call to Jackie took place.
Monroe's mental and emotional instability was well documented. She had been previously institutionalized and her battle with drugs and alcoholism was constantly in the headlines. She'd had a really rough life and it had clearly taken its toll.
It became clear that Monroe was unwilling to let go of the President without a fight. Her attempts to rekindle their relationship became so disruptive that the President allegedly sent a mutual friend to tell her that it was over and to stop pursuing him.
4 Monroe was dead within months of the performance
The “Happy Birthday Mr. President” performance happened in May of 1962. Marilyn Monroe was found dead of an apparent suicide in her home in Brentwood, California. She was found by her doctor, naked in her bed, with a telephone in one hand. Prescription pills were scattered all over the room. The cause of death was an overdose of pills.
In the months before her suicide, shortly after the “Happy Birthday” performance, Monroe's behavior became increasingly erratic. Eventually, she holed up in her house and was rarely seen in public or even by her friends.
Monroe had been under psychiatric care for years. She had been diagnosed with depression years earlier and the pills that caused her death were to treat her depression. At one point, she had been institutionalized in a psychiatric facility. Monroe also had a very public problem with addiction.
Some to believe that Monroe killed herself, despite her battles with depression and addiction. Some insist that the overdose was accidental. Conspiracy theorists have long posited that she was actually killed by the Kennedy's in order to keep her quiet. Of course, no evidence has ever been produced to support this claim.
3 The details of their affair are more rumor than fact
There is virtually no evidence that JFK and Monroe actually had an affair. Only one picture of them together has ever been found, and they weren't even alone. The paparazzi never caught them rendezvousing at a secret location. No paper trail has ever been discovered. The only indication we have that these two had an affair are the accounts of people close to them.
That being said, everything we “know” about the affair between JFK and Monroe is little more than rumor. Multiple people have given accounts of the alleged details of what went on between the two, but few of these accounts have been corroborated. Obviously, none of the Kennedy's ever confirmed the alleged affair and neither did Jackie, even though she has been quoted discussing her husband's other affairs.
We may never know what actually happened or didn't happen between these two.
2 But insiders insist that the affair happened
Though there is no hard evidence to prove the affair happened, multiple people close to Monroe and Kennedy insist that the affair did happen. Monroe's publicist and makeup artist have both confirmed that Monroe told them she was having an affair with JFK.
George Smathers, a Senator who was close to Kennedy has also shared details about Monroe's relationship with JFK. Smathers has been quoted recounting conversations he had with Jackie about the affair as well, which many take as confirmation of the fact that Jackie knew about Monroe.
Multiple Kennedy biographers, who interviewed members of Kennedy's cabinet, his advisers, and his friends, say that many of these White House insiders knew about the affair and provided details. But none of them have publicly declared their knowledge of the affair.
The affair is treated as a matter of public knowledge; assumed to be true, even though the only proof we have are the stories told by those who claimed to be on the inside.
1 Though it wasn't the love story everyone wants it to be
The alleged affair between JFK and Monroe has become the stuff of legends. As is so common with legends, the story has taken on a life of its own. The common telling of the story of the affair is an epic love story. A story of a man who was swept away by a singular beauty. Of star crossed lovers whose circumstances kept them apart. Of a man who was going to leave his wife for his one true love. A story whose ending could only be speculated as Monroe died so soon after the story began.
In reality, if the affair happened at all, it was anything but an epic love story. It was more like a Greek tragedy that goes something like this. A tragic woman, who had been mistreated and taken advantage of by every man she'd ever met, fell in love with a notorious womanizer. He used her as he pleased and tried to throw her away like trash. She was driven mad by her love for him, and he saw her only as an embarrassing inconvenience.