The hearing, lasting less than a half-hour, was held in private. Lem was John F Kennedy's best friend. He truly loved the Kennedy's and as Jack's best friend. Ethel's alcoholic, philandering brother, George Skakel Jr., actually booted Billings in the a** at the church, knocking him into the aisle. Like the rest of the free world, Billings was devastated when President Kennedy was assassinated. 'I can't say that I saw him put a needle in his arm,' he stated, 'but he talked like he was and he bragged about it. Since she considered young Bobby the most difficult and troublesome of her seven sons and three daughters (with another child the daughter Rory -- due at any moment), she decided to hand him off to Lem Billings, and moreover, sent him far away to boarding school, in the rural Hudson Valley of New York State. None of it came as a surprise to his roommate, Fanning. Billings said. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Among the faculty there may have been a collective sigh of reliefbecause things with Bobby would have only escalated and the attitude was, okay, he's now the next school's problem.'. While Billings' missive is long gone, a startled Kennedy responded, "Please don't write to me on toilet paper anymore. 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. Gore Vidal, the writer who claimed he viewed homosexuality as normal as heterosexuality, disparaged the JFK-Billings relationship during the Kennedy administration. I am sure the good Lord knows that heaven is Jesus and Lem and Jack and Bobby loving one another.'. Try again later. All the Kennedys were very much aware of Billings's sexual preference, or suspected it, accepted it, and welcomed him into their exclusive inner circle - practically adopted him - although the patriarch Joe Kennedy found him annoying at times. In the spring of 1971, Bobby was sacked once again. Their lifelong relationship caused some of the presidents advisers to fear Russian agents may use the information as blackmail. And it's a kind of interesting love triangle between these three fascinating people.". This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Then, when Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, his wife Ethel Skakel had Billings act as the surrogate father to her son Bobby Jr. ', Rose Kennedy, however, had a different, more positive view of Billings. 'Haggard, tired' Ethel was ready for some calm. Genealogy profile for Lem Billings Kirk LeMoyne Billings (1916 - 1981) - Genealogy Genealogy for Kirk LeMoyne Billings (1916 - 1981) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. As he acknowledged some years later: 'Soon after my father's death I made a series of choices involving drugs that started me down a road from which I had to struggle to return.'. After Kennedys assassination, Billings was devastated. 'But we never saw Ethel. 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. University until Kennedy withdrew for medical reasons. Quirk immediately pegged Billings as gay, noting his "high, screechy laugh," and "high nasal whine of a voice.". Jackie Kennedy, who liked Billings for The Cold War was still raging, and there was fear Russian agents might use the friendship against Kennedy. A Princeton friend and former business partner confided to Pitts about Billings that after Jack's death: "He didn't want to live anymore," and other friends claimed that he never recovered from the loss. The president was famously believed to have affairs during their marriage. When Bobby Kennedy, And George Terrian, the alcoholic husband of Ethel Kennedy's alcoholic, pill-popping sister, Georgeann, told me in interviews for my book 'The Other Mrs. Kennedy' that, 'Everyone in the family knew Lem was q***r the Kennedys, the Skakels, everyone.'. While Billings' missive is long gone, a startled Kennedy responded, 'Please don't write to me on toilet paper anymore. He possessed a 'high, screechy laugh' and a 'high, nasal whine of a voice' that, according to Quirk, 'instantly tabbed him as gay.'. 'And there he was hunting rats out of that pile of dead sheep and cow carcasses. Copyright 2023 Irish Studio LLC All rights reserved. Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want me to remind everyone of that today. His behavior, particularly his drug use, had the administration concerned that if something happened to the young Kennedy, such as an overdose or worse, all hell would come down on the school and tarnish its reputation. I'm sure there were moments where they drew aside together and talked about this problem called Jack Kennedy because he was a problem for a young woman that was looking for love and attachment.". He has really been part of "our family" since that first time he showed up at our house as one of "Jack's surprises". 'We couched it in terms of what was best for Bobby. Initially, Bobby's dorm room with his first roommate had become a veritable shrine to Bobby's father. JFK's oldest and best friend was Kirk LeMoyne Billings, known as "Lem." The two became fast friends in prep school and, after graduation, they traveled to Europe together. 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. Sixteen days after RFK was buried, Ethel and her brood were aboard a yacht destined for Hyannis Port and the Kennedy compound. From Algonquin Books. Bobby, who would become one of the nation's leading - and often controversial - environmental activists and lawyers, was a member of the falconry group at Millbrook, but his behavior was considered bizarre. They shared an insatiable intellectual curiosity, a robust sense of humor, and a disdain for petty rules. Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on May 28, 1981, at the age of 65. Ambassador to France under JFK, were hauled into juvenile court in the town of Barnstable on Cape Cod on charges of marijuana possession. Please consult your doctor before taking any action. Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him my sec Oppenheimer wrote in the Daily Mail that their intimate relationship would last from their school years to the day of Kennedys assassination. 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. However, the sixth-season premiere showed in fact that the heroin fiasco was . They continued to Princeton Jerry Oppenheimer For Dailymail.com. ', About the odd KennedyBillings relationship, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, one of JFK's five sisters, once remarked: 'It's hard to describe it as just friendship; it was a complete liberation of the spirit. 'Everybody was at least smoking pot - everybody - and a lot of people were doing LSD and other recreational stuff,' recalled classmate John Seibel, who became an attorney. Credit: JFK Presidential Library and Museum. The young JFK, messing around with Lem Billings during their Choate years. Bobby was an edgy, edgy guy. "He also reveals that there was this crucial moment," says Bayard. After it was all over, Bobby left home with $600, and traveled to California, sometimes riding the rails, and ended up in Berkeley where he bought drugs with money he panhandled. their summer trip through Europe prior to World War II. JFKPP-001-012-p0005. Given that Billings was a heavy-drinking She contacted the headmaster on several occasions to ask about the boy's well- being. 16. he's stoned." He's taken over."'. It's when we're crossing back over Chain Bridge that she rouses herself to ask: "Jack, what color is your car?". ", 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. John F. Kennedy and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billingsmet in 1933 as sophomoresat Choate Rosemary Hall, a Connecticut prep school where they worked on their class yearbook together. Sam Gillette is a books Writer/Reporter for People.com and People Magazine. While on the road, the only person he touched base with was Lem Billings. Nothing for it, then, but to watch Miss Bouvier's headunder the weight of her impending introduction to the Kennedy clanloll ever so gradually to the right. ", But Billings was embarrassed about his effeminate mannerisms - he'd remain publicly closeted for his lifetime. Jack Johns. Still, the Kennedy clan accepted even welcomed Lem Billings into their exclusive inner-circle, practically adopting him, and he became a part of the family. They both kept diaries documenting, in words and pictures, their adventures, mishaps, and observations along the way. They met in 1933 in their sophomore year at Choate Rosemary Hall, the exclusive Connecticut prep school, when both were teenagers, working together on their class's yearbook, and Billings instantly became attracted sexually and otherwise to the handsome scion of America's self-styled royal family. After Kennedy was elected president, Billings was a constant presence at the White House, and advisers were concerned about possible political repercussions. 2023 Meadowrockalpacas. . While he told Bobby that he should find a woman like his aunt Jackie, none of Bobby's three wives would be anything like her. 228. If we had made that very different choice, we would've gone down a completely different road. Son of Frederick Tremaine Billings and Romaine Elizabeth (LeMoyne) Billings. Lem Billings would play many roles in Bobby's life, as adventurer accompanying him on expeditions in the wild, as fellow druggie, and as his Dear Abby, advising him on who to date and who not to. I know he had all that baggage with his father, but being in that pit that was the kind of thing he would do. October 14, 2015. Her general lilt, as best I can tell, is interrogative, but why should that be a surprise? I was told by Billings, "Nothing ever goes directly to Ethel." A telephone conversation between President Kennedy and Lem Billings. " Bayard says of Billings. In what was later viewed as a twisted relationship, Billings was pumping up Bobby for a high political future at the same time he was sharing drugs with him, from marijuana to heroin through their years together. Introduction: My name is Rubie Ullrich, I am a enthusiastic, perfect, tender, vivacious, talented, famous, delightful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you. Lem had extremely poor eye sight and a high-pitched voice. 'Bobby wasn't just a pothead. Still, the Kennedy clan accepted - even welcomed - Lem Billings into their exclusive inner-circle, practically adopting him, and he became a part of the family. 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. Mark Bontecou, a scion of the wealthy Bontecou family of Millbrook, which had once owned a good part of the land on which Millbrook School resided, also recalled how Billings was a constant companion of Bobby's during the school year. . By clicking on a service below, you can view the obituary and service details, leave a condolence, send flowers, and if requested by the family attend a service live with remote attendance or view the service at a later time. In school JFK and Lem were close. Quirk alleged thatBilling and Kennedys relationship included oral sex with JFK always being on the receiving end. Miss Bouvier is a destination. Supposedly. However, Kennedy's feelings soon changed and he became more amenable to his friend's advances, according to Lawrence J. Quirk, author of The Kennedys in Hollywood, who first met Billings in the mid-forties when both were volunteers in Jack Kennedy's first congressional campaign. While the Kennedy family had accepted Billings into their inner circle because of his tight friendship with JFK, Ethel Kennedy's family, the scandalous Republican Skakels of Greenwich, Connecticut, weren't so accepting. Try our online preplanning tool. Lem married Rolla Jean Auer on September 17, 1950. I understand he's not worth it.". Reviews: 95% of readers found this page helpful, Address: 743 Stoltenberg Center, Genovevaville, NJ 59925-3119, Hobby: Surfing, Sailing, Listening to music, Web surfing, Kitesurfing, Geocaching, Backpacking. When a Harvard classmate asked Bobby whether such talk had any reality, whether he seriously thought he could win a presidential election and be the second Kennedy to rule the country, Bobby's response was: 'I feel that is my destiny.'. John F. Kennedy and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings met in 1933 as sophomores at Choate Rosemary Hall, a Connecticut prep school where they worked on their class yearbook together. education of free black Americans after the Confederate States of America was 'I had written a report on Bobby, and Billings answered it and didn't agree with me, and that's when I thought, "Uh-oh, he's in charge here. While JFK is legendarily known as a master womanizer who frequently cheated on his first lady, his curious three-decades long intimate friendship with Billings suggests more than a simple bromance. ', 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. Bayard's novel takes place primarily in the months leading up to Jack and Jackie's wedding on Sept. 12, 1953. , In office January 20, 1961 November 22, 1963. He once called Billings the "chief f****t at Camelot." According to one of the school's leading administrators and teachers, Hagop Merjian, Bobby was doing, as he put it, 'Really bad, s**t drugs heavy s**t'. All Rights Reserved. Billings had even begun calling Bobby 'Jack' by mistake, and Billings had instructed one of Bobby's close cousins, Christopher Kennedy Lawford, also a drug abuser at the time, to be to Bobby what RFK had been to JFK. Goat's eyes, that's my first churlish thought, or a madwoman's, but maybe that's to forestall the sense that I'm being seen through a wider lens. "I loved the idea of Lem being the go-between for the two lovers and being broker for Jack but also a confidante for Jackie," he says. "And I think he might have been, honestly. The President never failed to introduce Lem formally to visiting heads of state, dignitaries, and celebrities, but the introduction was never simply a matter of "I would like you to meet my friend, LeMoyne Billings." "He'd introduce me as Congressman Billings or Senator Billings, and even General Billings," Lem would later recall . 'He almost did things to shock you on purposeIt was a pretty dark, grim time; he was miserable and he was angry. 'There was no gnashing of teeth and sobbing in the context of his leaving. In his will he left his Manhattan home to Bobby. Bobby's uncle, Ted, who had just faced the Chappaquiddick scandal, flew in from his senate office in Washington to stand up for his nephew. 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. the two men was friendship. I let him down.'. He was 65 years old. His classmates were worried that he was going to kill himself, that we were going to find him dead.'. The walls were covered with black sheets with framed photographs of RFK attached to them. 'He was a man that seemed to obviously be of independent means and have a lot of time on his hands, like a supporting cast kind of person, one those people who traded on the Kennedy name and reputation. After Jack Kennedy's election to the presidency, Billings was a constant presence and overnight guest at the White House. Brother of Frederic Billings Jr. [spouse (s) unknown] [children unknown] Died 28 May 1981 at age 65 in New York City, New York, United States. The two had been friends since meeting as teenagers in prep school, and Billings even had his own room in the White House, but were they merely friends? Jack was in love with Lem being in love with him and considered him the ideal follower adorer.. Lem Billings was called and, according to Donn Wright, who became the new headmaster, 'he didn't try to change anybody's minds. The content produced by YourTango is for informational and educational purposes only. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" In his second year at Millbrook, Bobby began boasting that he was doing certain drugs intravenously - shooting up, like any street junkie. ', By The enthusiastic pre-adolescent regaled Billings - a New York advertising executive, one of John F. Kennedy's closest confidantes and a closeted homosexual - with stories about his pet collection. Advocate Contributors November 22 2013 4:00 AM EST In photos. ', Their arrangement, Quirk asserted, 'enabled Jack to sustain his self-delusion that straight men who received oral sex from other males were really only straights looking for sexual release,' and he further observed, 'Jack was in love with Lem being in love with him and considered him the ideal follower adorer. Lem Billings and John F Kennedy were practically inseparable in prep school. 'But Lem,' he clearly recalled, 'was around a lot, and we as faculty were told who he was and that he was Bobby's caretaker, as it were, in a loco parentis kind of role. To virtually attend a service live Lem also worked for JFK in the West Virginia and Wisconsin primaries One of the leaders of the group, Rob O. In the early spring of 1971, Bobby was being carefully watched by the administration because of drugs. Remembering JFK's Bond with His Boyhood Best Friend, Who Never Got Over the Assassination, Robert McNamara's Son Craig Remembers Playing with JFK Jr. and Caroline Kennedy After JFK's Death, PEOPLE Picks the Best New Books of the Week, Jackie Kennedy Knew JFK Relationship Would Involve 'Heartbreak' & More Details from New Book, How Lady Bird Johnson and a Pregnant Jackie Kennedy Worked Together: 'The Wren Protected the Dove', Santana Talks New Album 'Africa Speaks', 20th Anniversary of 'Smooth' and Return to Woodstock, The Truth About Jackie Kennedy's Turbulent, Loving and Dramatic Bond with Sister Lee Radziwill, Happily Ever After: See All of the Celebrity Weddings of 2021. He escorted Mrs. Stephen Smith, sister of the late President, to . Brode had liberal views, didn't mind that Bobby smoked pot with Lem Billings in Bobby's room. The only ties he now had to his family while in school was Lem Billings. While the 35th president has been legendarily known as a womanizer who frequently cheated on his wife, Oppenheimer alleges that JFK's three-decades-long relationship with his former prep school. RFK's assassination had naturally devastated his 40-year-old wife, Ethel, who was pregnant with her eleventh child. Beyond love, Jackie & Me is also about how decisions can define us. Forests of redbud and magnolia are thickening around us, and somehow they're all in on the secret, and Kay Starr sings "Wheel of Fortune" on the radio, and, during the second chorus, I sneeze, and Jack says, "Perfectly in tune, Lem," and then the song is over, and we're pulling up in front of . She told him, 'I don't really care if you have a girl sleep here, but I want it to be the same person all the time because I want my kids to grow to understating that love is good with one person.'. I thought, anything goes with this guy. Sydney Taylor is a writer who focuses on News and Entertainment topics. for inventing '50s fad drink Fizzies for the Emerson Drug Company. In 1942, Lem joined the Ambulance Corps, an organization that descendant of John LeMoyne, a French physician and Dr. Francis LeMoyne, an abolitionist He thought The Kennedys were a liberal family and one that tolerated a lot of heterosexual promiscuity as well., In her memoir, Times To Remember, published eleven years after JFKs assassination in Dallas in 1963, matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy 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., Lem Billings and John F. Kennedy pictured at the Kennedy familys Palm Beach estate. 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. Terrien had been RFK's roommate at Harvard and later at the University of Virginia Law School, and he was particularly upset about what he saw clearly as Billings's growing infatuation with young Bobby. "The book posits the idea that there are these given points in our lives where we're making a really important choice," says Bayard. Two months after Bobby was expelled, he along with a cousin, Bobby Sargent Shriver III, son of the former U.S. Jackie, I imagine, is now asking the name of Bobby's daughter or wondering if Eunice will be there and which one is Pat? Bayard says it was a "gas" creating fictional narratives for these historical figures. Among the snapshots is one that shows a handsome pre-presidential Kennedy sunning himself, sprawled on a chaise at Patriarch Joe Kennedy's Palm Beach estate. a commission in the U.S. The first time Kirk Lemoyne 'Lem' Billings was introduced to Bobby Kennedy Jr. the two spent several hours alone in the boy's room at fabled Hickory Hill, Robert and Ethel Kennedy's historic,. He noted that everywhere Jack went, Billings was sure to follow, like a puppy dog. No, I wished he was only a pothead. If pressed, she'll fall back on the weather. 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. 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. LeMoyne Billings and Ethel Kennedy attend Liza Minnelli Concert on May 23, 1970 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. On school breaks, Jack often brought Billings home with him, sparking Joe Kennedy to complain to his wife, Rose, 'Do we have to have that q***r around all summer?'. "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 . See the article in its original context from. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings, was a prep school roommate and then lifelong close friend of President John F. Kennedy. Love Irish history? She never visited.'. Years later, when Bobby was an undergraduate at Harvard, it would be Billings the boy's Svengali-like surrogate father who took control of his life after RFK's assassination who would convince Bobby that one day he could become the next Kennedy president of the United States. Ethel Kennedy "booted" Bobby, Jr. out of the Hickory Hill home at age 14 and basically fed him to Billings. Suddenly she became angry at Bobby, ordered him below deck, literally beat him with a hairbrush, and once again ordered him to get out of her life. Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want to remind everyone of that today. 2023byTango Publishing Corporation All Rights Reserved. Ethel Kennedy issued the requisite concerned parent statement, calling Bobby a 'fine boy, and we have always been proud of him. From all accounts, they became fast friends, drawn to each other by their 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. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Then she leans toward Jack and, in a whisper stagy enough for me to hear, says, "I like your friend.". * Originally published in June 2017, updated in 2022. By the middle of Bobby's second year at Millbrook, around January 1970, he was placed on a secret short list of students considered too difficult to remain enrolled.
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