After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family--1968 to the Present
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Of additional interest: I interviewed Mary Jo Kopechne’s parents, Gwen and Joseph Kopechne, on April 1, 2000, for the paperback edition of Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot. I didn’t quote them in After Camelot but did use their commentary for background purposes. Interestingly, they told me that they believed Mary Jo was asleep unnoticed in the backseat of the car when it plunged into the river. They believed that Ted Kennedy was in the car with another woman in the front seat at the time of the accident because, they explained, a purse belonging to a guest was found in that seat—and it was not Mary Jo’s. (The police theorized that the purse had been left in the car earlier in the day.) They also said that they rejected the idea of an autopsy on Mary Jo because they believed that the primary reason for it would have been to determine if she was pregnant. That said, they did not believe it themselves, and in fact said that she was engaged to marry a man who worked in the Foreign Service, “and she would not have cheated on him with the senator, not ever,” said Mrs. Kopechne. “We don’t call him Ted Kennedy when we refer to him around the house,” Mr. Kopechne told me. “We call him the senator.” They didn’t sue Kennedy, they said, because they felt “it would be perceived as blood money.”
In the end, the Kopechnes told me they received about $150,000 from Kennedy and $50,000 from his insurance carrier. “We should have sued,” they said. “It was damn little money for what we went through.” They also said they had two meetings with Kennedy after the death of their daughter, “but he had nothing to say,” Mrs. Kopechne told me. “He acted as if he didn’t know what happened. We just wanted straight answers but we never got them. Then he would call from time to time if he was doing something important like when he was thinking of running for president,” she said bitterly, “but we felt that the only reason he stayed in touch was to figure out how angry or hurt we still were and whether or not we planned to say something in the press that would ruin things for him.” In the end, Mr. Kopechne told me, “The only thing that we can say is good is that this whole thing kept Ted Kennedy from becoming president. That, to us, was good and right.”
PART FIVE. ETHEL
I referred to my interviews with Barbara Gibson, Leah Mason, Thomas Langford, Noelle Bombardier, and John Glenn.
Cathy Griffin interviewed Andy Williams in August 1998, May 2002, and January 2011, and we utilized his memories in this and other sections of this book.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s comments are from an interview with Lisa Miller in Newsweek, March 2009.
My researcher Monica Pastelle interviewed Christopher Kennedy in December 1997. Also, here and in other parts of this book I drew from Mr. Kennedy’s comments in the article “The Kennedy Clan Decides to Cash In on Its Last Big Business,” Wall Street Journal, January 26, 1998.
Volumes referred to: The Kennedy Women, by Laurence Leamer; The Other Mrs. Kennedy, by Jerry Oppenheimer; The Kennedys, by David Horowitz; John F. Kennedy: As We Remember Him, by Rose Kennedy et al.; The Kennedys: A Time Remembered, by Jacques Lowe; John F. Kennedy: The Presidential Portfolio, by Charles Kenney; Uncommon Grace, by J. C. Suares and J. Spencer Beck; Designing Camelot, by James A. Abbott and Elaine M. Rice; A Thousand Days of Magic, by Oleg Cassini; Life in Camelot: The Kennedy Years, edited by Philip B. Kunhardt Jr.; The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy, by Dan E. Moldea; When I Think of Bobby, by Warren Rogers; An Honorable Profession, edited by Pierre Salinger et al.; Jackie, Bobby, and Manchester, by Arnold Bennett; Ethel, by Lester David; Robert Kennedy and His Times, by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
I referred to “The Kennedy of Hickory Hill,” by Hays Gory, Time, August 25, 1969. (Note: This is Ethel Kennedy’s only cover story in Time.)
PART SIX. JACKIE, ARI, AND THE LAWFORDS
I referred to my interviews with Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Ted Sorensen, Sancy Newman, Noelle Bombardier, and Enrique Fonteyn.
I also utilized Cathy Griffin’s interviews with Secret Service agents who worked the Kennedy and Onassis detail, including: Clint Hill (January 4, 1998; March 5, 2010; June 4, 2010; April 3, 2011); Jack Walsh (March 9, 1998); Joseph Paolella (September 11, 1998; September 17, 1998); Anthony Sherman (September 29, 1998); and Larry Newman (September 29, 1998; September 30, 1998; October 7, 1998).
I also drew from a transcript of Clint Hill’s interview with Mike Wallace on The Larry King Show, March 22, 2006.
As well as Cathy Griffin’s interviews with Clint Hill, I had several confidential sources in the Secret Service whom I depended on for material in the chapter “Jackie and the Secret Service.” Moreover, the correspondence between Jackie and James J. Rowley, director of the Secret Service, referred to in this section was found in the files of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.
I interviewed Secret Service agent Robert Foster in August 1999.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s letters to Roswell Gilpatrick were made public in February 1970 when they were acquired for auction.
I interviewed Edward Larrabee Barnes on March 2, 1998, and April 7, 1999. The conversations between Barnes, Rose Kennedy, and Jackie Kennedy Onassis were reconstructed based on Barnes’s memory of them.
Greta Nilsen’s comments are culled from my researcher Maxene Rogers’s interview with her, which first appeared in Photoplay magazine in September 1970.
I referred to my interviews with Greta Nilsen and Jacques Lowe (December 15, 1998; July 11, 1999; November 7, 1999; October 12, 2000).
I also referred to my interview with Tony Oppedisamo, which I conducted on May 23, 2010.
I referred to my interview with Peter Lawford, which I conducted in 1981. I also utilized my interviews with Milt Ebbins, which I conducted for my book Sinatra: Behind the Legend in 1996. I also referred to Cathy Griffin’s interviews with Jeanne Martin conducted for Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot.
I also referred to Cathy’s interview with John Davis, September 13, 1998, and her follow-up questions by fax on September 14, 1998.
Cathy Griffin also interviewed Liz Carpenter, executive assistant to President Lyndon Johnson and later press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson, on August 31, 1996 for Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot, and we used her memories as background in this and other sections of After Camelot. Ms. Griffin also interviewed George Christian, White House press secretary from 1966 to 1969, on September 23, 1998, and we used this interview for background.
I also interviewed White House reporter Helen Thomas for Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot on September 25, 1998, and we used that interview for background purposes here as well.
I referred to “For President Kennedy: An Epilogue,” by Theodore White, Life, December 1963.
Also, my researcher Elizabeth Reeves accessed the papers of Theodore White and we utilized some of his notes in this section.
Articles referred to: “My Twelve Years with Kennedy,” by Evelyn Lincoln, Post, August 14, 1965; “Bright Light of His Day,” by Jackie Kennedy Onassis, McCall’s, November 1973; “The Dark Side of Camelot,” by Kitty Kelley, People, February 29, 1988; “Camelot After Dark,” by Paula Chin, Joe Treen, and Karen S. Schneider, People, May 27, 1991; “Carly Talks Hot About Sex—and Friendship with Jackie O,” by Lou Lumenick, New York Post, July 5, 1995; “The Exner Files,” by Liz Smith, Vanity Fair, January 1997; “Book: Camelot a Sex Playpen,” by Paul Schwartzman, New York Daily News, November 9, 1997; “Smashing Camelot,” by Richard Lacayo, Time, November 17, 1997; “My Kingdom for a Whore,” by Jacob Weisberg, Manchester Guardian Weekly, February 8, 1998; “It’s Fact! It’s Fiction! No Basis for Salacious Tales in ‘Jackie After Jack’ Many Say,” by Paul Schwartzman, New York Daily News, February 22, 1998; “The Birth of Cool Politics,” by Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2000; “Jackie’s Private World,” by Deirdre Donahue, USA Today, October 16, 2000; “Bobby at the Brink,” by Evan Thomas (excerpted from Robert Kennedy: His Life), Newsweek, August 14, 2000; “A Clash of Camelots,” by Sam Kashner, Vanity Fair, October 2009.
Volumes referred to: The Kennedy Women, by Pearl S. Buck; The
Kennedy Case, by Rita Dallas with Jeanira Ratcliffe; Among Those Present, by Nancy Dickerson; My Twelve Years with John F. Kennedy, by Evelyn Lincoln; The Cape Cod Years of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, by Leo Damore; Not in Your Lifetime, by Anthony Summers; The Kennedys: A Chronological History, by Harvey Rachlin; Nemesis, by Peter Evans; Ari: The Life and Times of Aristotle Onassis, by Peter Evans; Rose, by Charles Higham; In the Kennedy Style, by Letitia Baldrige; Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration, by James A. Abbott and Elaine M. Rice; The Kennedy White House Parties, by Anne H. Lincoln; Uncommon Grace, by J. C. Suarez and J. Spencer Back; A Woman Named Jackie, by C. David Heymann; My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy, by Mary Barelli Gallagher; The Other Mrs. Kennedy, by Jess Oppenheimer; The Last of the Giants, by Cyrus Leo Sulzberger; Joan: The Reluctant Kennedy, by Lester David; A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy, by Perry Wolf; JFK: The Memories, by Hugh Sidey, Chester Clifton, and Cecil Stoughton; John F. Kennedy, President, by Hugh Sidey; Office Hours: Day and Night, by Janet Travell; Upstairs at the White House, by J. B. West; The White House Chef Cookbook, by René Verdon; Symptoms of Withdrawal, by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets, by James Spada; The Peter Lawford Story, by Patricia Seaton Lawford.
I referred to a transcript of President Kennedy’s Yale University commencement address, given on June 11, 1962.
Carly Simon’s comment about the way Jackie Kennedy Onassis dealt with the unfaithful JFK was published in the article about Simon, “I Never Sang for My Mother,” by Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair, August 1995.
In writing about Pat Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, I also relied on research conducted for my book The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, including my interviews with Patricia Brennan and Bernie Abramson, both of which were conducted in 2008.
I referred to my own extensive research for “Sex, Power, Obsession,” a three-part series about Jackie Kennedy Onassis for the Sunday Mirror, October 3, 1993.
Of additional interest: I also referred to “JFK Revisited,” by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Cigar Aficionado, November 1998. “Let us first dispose of Camelot,” Schlesinger wrote. “JFK had gone to prep school and college with Alan Jay Lerner, and liked the songs Lerner and Frederick Loewe wrote for the popular 1960 musical. But no one when JFK was alive ever spoke of Washington as Camelot—and if anyone had done so, no one would have been more derisive than JFK. Nor did those of us around him see ourselves for a moment, heaven help us, as knights of the Round Table. Camelot was Jacqueline Kennedy’s grieving thought a week after her husband was killed. Later she told John Kenneth Galbraith that she feared the idea had been overdone. For that matter, King Arthur’s Camelot was hardy noted for its marital constancy, and the Arthurian saga concluded in betrayal and death.”
I interviewed Ben Bradlee in 1995 during his promotional tour for his book A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures. One of his comments to me bears repeating here: “I know that it is now common knowledge, supposed historical fact even, that President Kennedy was unfaithful in his marriage. I can tell you that during his administration when I was head of the Newsweek bureau on Washington, this wasn’t the case. I knew nothing about any of this kind of fooling around, and I think it would have been difficult to keep it a secret if his activities were as consistent and as blatant as reported after his death. Exaggeration is not only possible in this case, I think it is more than likely.”
PART SEVEN. SARGENT TRIES YET AGAIN
I referred to my interviews with George Smathers, Pierre Salinger, Hugh Sidey, and Donald Dell (conducted in 1998 for Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot). I also had several confidential sources regarding the material found in this section of the book on Sargent Shriver.
Articles referred to: “A Last, Loving Remembrance of JFK,” by Jim Bishop, Good Housekeeping, March 1964; “Jacqueline Kennedy: The Future of a Noble Lady,” by William V. Shannon, Good Housekeeping, April 1964; “In Step with Ethel Kennedy,” by James Brady, Parade, April 3, 1988; “The Dark Side of Camelot,” by Kitty Kelley, People, February 29, 1988; “Havanas in Camelot,” by William Styron, Vanity Fair, July 1996; “A Visit to Camelot,” by Diana Trilling, New Yorker, June 2, 1997; “Smashing Camelot,” by Richard Lacayo, Time, November 17, 1997; “The Exner Files,” by Liz Smith, Vanity Fair, January 1997.
I also referred to Say Good-bye to the President, 1985 BBC documentary.
PART EIGHT. THE THIRD GENERATION IN TROUBLE
I referred to my interview with Richard Burke, August 23, 1999, as well as my interview with Senator John Tunney in 1998, both for Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot.
I referred to Cathy Griffin’s interviews with Barbara Gibson on October 1, October 10, November 10, and December 15, 1998. I followed up with Ms. Gibson on March 10, 1999, April 15, 1999, and January 4, 2000.
I referred to Cathy Griffin’s interviews with Noelle Bombardier (April 2010) and my interviews with Jacques Lowe (1999).
I interviewed Chuck Spalding in 1996 for my Sinatra biography and used his comments in this and other sections of the book as background.
I used Cathy Griffin’s many conversations with Pam Kelley in the spring of 2010 for background purposes only. I also referred to her interview with the Boston Herald in 2005.
Volumes referred to: America’s First Families, by Carl Sferrazza Anthony; As We Remember Her, by Carl Sferrazza Anthony; Happy Times, by Lee Radziwill; Remembering Jackie: A Life in Pictures, by the editors of Life; Sons of Camelot, by Laurence Leamer; Torn Lace Curtain, by Frank Saunders; The Founding Father, by Richard Whalen; The Kennedy Case, by Rita Dallas and Jeanira Ratcliffe; Living with the Kennedys, by Marcia Chellis; Kennedy, by Jacques Lowe; Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets, by James Spada; The Peter Lawford Story, by Patricia Seaton Lawford; The Kennedy Women, by Laurence Learner; Times to Remember, by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; The Sins of the Father, by Ronald Kessler; Seeds of Destruction, by Ralph G. Martin; Rose, by Gail Cameron; Life with Rose Kennedy, by Barbara Gibson and Caroline Latham; Jackie After Jack, by Christopher Andersen; Among Those Present, by Nancy Dickerson; My Twelve Years with John F. Kennedy, by Evelyn Lincoln.
Articles referred to: “The Ted Kennedys Conquer Fear,” by Maxine Cheshire, Ladies’ Home Journal, September 1968; “Why Ted Kennedy Can Never Live by the Rules,” by Frances Spatz Leighton, Coronet, May 1971; “The Ordeal of Teddy Kennedy, Jr.,” by Eleanor Roberts, Boston Sunday Herald Advertiser, December 2, 1973; “How Caroline Kennedy Plans to Break Out of Her Mother’s Jet Set Prison,” by Sharon Willson, Silver Screen, August 1974; “Teddy Kennedy Jr. Faces a New Test of Faith,” by George Carpozi Jr., Motion Picture, May 1974; “Two Worlds of a Kennedy,” by Susan Deutsch, People, October 3, 1983; “Kennedy Linen Hung on the Line,” by Paul Taylor, Washington Post, September 29, 1985.
I also utilized my research for “Caroline Kennedy,” an Entertainment Tonight report, by J. Randy Taraborrelli, November 22, 2000.
PART NINE. POOR ARI
I referred to my interview with Stelios Papadimitriou conducted on January 4, 1998, for Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot.
I relied on my interview with Tony Oppedisamo on May 23, 2011.
Cathy Griffin interviewed Dr. Isadore Rosenfield on August 11, 1998, for Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot. I also relied on my interview with Edward Larrabee Barnes and Ms. Griffin’s with John Davis.
Volumes referred to: My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy, by Mary Barelli Gallagher; The Other Mrs. Kennedy, by Jerry Oppenheimer; Bobby Kennedy, by Lester David and Irene David; John F. Kennedy Handbook, by Gareth Jenkins; Conversations with Kennedy, by Benjamin Bradlee; Quotable Kennedys, edited by Bill Adler; My Story, by Judith Exner; White House Nanny, by Maud Shaw; Onassis, by Will Frischauer; The Fabulous Onassis, by Christian Cafarakis; The Onassis Women, by Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos; Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life, by Donald Spoto; Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-up, by Leo Damore; Days of Wine, Women and Wrong, by David Barron; Ted Kennedy: Triumph
s and Tragedies, by Lester David; Rose, by Gail Cameron; Joan: The Reluctant Kennedy, by David Lester; The Kennedy Women, by Laurence Learner; Living with the Kennedys, by Marcia Chellis; Rose, by Charles Higham; Iron Rose, by Cindy Adams and Susan Crim; Rose Kennedy, by Barbara Gibson and Ted Schwartz; The Kennedy Neurosis, by Nancy Gager Clinch; An American Melodrama, by Godfrey Hodgson and Bruce Page; Ted and the Kennedy Legend, by Max Lerner.
Articles referred to: “The Magic and the Myth,” by Dr. Joyce Brothers, Good Housekeeping, March 1967; “Jackie’s Life with Him,” by Anna Stravisky, Motion Picture, September 1968; “Caroline Kennedy,” by Lester David, Good Housekeeping, January 1969; “Jackie and Ari,” by Greta Nilsen, Screenland, October 1970; “The Enemy Within…,” by William Honan, Pageant, September 1972; “Jackie & Ari Split Rumors,” by Liz Smith, People, October 14, 1974; “Ethel Kennedy: A Surprisingly Happy Woman,” by Stephen Birmingham, McCall’s, June 1974; “Jackie: Twice Widowed…,” by Liz Smith, People, March 31, 1975; “Maria Was a Weapon…,” by Arianna Stassinopoulos, People, March 23, 1981; “Breaking His Silence,” by Paul Ciotti, Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1988; “Ari’s Fate,” by Peter Ames Carlin, November 9, 1998; “Callas in Love,” by Stelios Galatopoulos, Vanity Fair, March 1999.