Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  The people who were invited to say good-bye at St. Ignatius Loyola were a varied crowd. As well as friends not in the public eye, there were also those present who were famous enough to be instantly recognized—such as a feeble Lady Bird Johnson, using a cane and barely seeming able to walk with the help of an assistant, and the present First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton—as well as close family, such as her sister Lee Radziwill (married to stage and screen director Herbert Ross since 1988). Except for the Kennedy matriarch, Rose, who was almost 104 years old and in failing health (and was never even told of Jackie’s death), the Kennedy family was all there—those who were born Kennedys and those, like Joan and Ethel, who became Kennedys by the sacrament of marriage. Even though Jackie had remarried, she was still considered a Kennedy, evidenced by the fact that she would be laid to rest next to Jack in the immaculately tended velvet lawns of Arlington National Cemetery. The name of the late Aristotle Onassis was never mentioned by any speaker during the service. Though Ethel was a widow and Joan divorced, as far as the public was concerned they were indelibly and permanently part of the Kennedy family as well.

  Jackie and Joan had drifted apart after Joan’s divorce simply because their experiences had taken different paths, a natural order of events in the lives of busy women whose own children have children upon whom they begin to focus. In the last couple of years, though, Jackie and Joan became close once again.

  In 1992, Joan parlayed her talent and interest in classical music into a book, The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family, which was published by Doubleday and edited by Jackie. Joan frequently found herself in New York for meetings with her editor about the work, and over a two-year period Joan had many visits with Jackie in her New York office and over lunch. “We talked not only about the book, but about everything,” Joan would later recall to First Lady historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony. “We congratulated ourselves on how well our children turned out—and said we hoped we had something to do with it. Here we were, things were so different, but through all the changes, we were still sisters-in-law.”

  “May you always have your beautiful family around you,” Jackie had told Joan one day before they parted company. “That’s everything, you know.”

  Outside the church, after the Mass, Joan walked over to Ethel, who was speaking to someone else. As soon as Ethel saw her, she reached out and took both of her sister-in-law’s hands into her own. The two spoke privately for a few moments before finally embracing. “Now, you be sure to call me,” Ethel was heard to say as Joan walked away. “Oh, I will,” Joan said, with a weak smile. “And we’ll have lunch.” Ethel smiled, seeming eager to see Joan once again, soon.

  As a result of Jackie’s death, Ethel probably couldn’t help but reminisce about the good times as well as the bad that she and her sisters-in-law had shared over a nearly forty-year-long relationship. Friends and relatives say that she was truly distraught by what had happened to Jackie. Just five weeks earlier, Jackie had called Ethel to acknowledge her sixty-sixth birthday. According to what Ethel later recalled, the two shared a laugh when Ethel complained, “I feel more like ninety-six.” Jackie responded by saying, “Well, if you ask me, you don’t look a day over fifty-six.”

  “If Ethel had only been able to discuss it with her, she would have been surprised to know that Jackie had actually loved her all of those years without reservation,” said Joan Braden, who had been a close friend of both women since the early sixties. “Jackie once told me, ‘There are certain people you love despite everything else, just because you know they’re being so completely true to who they really are. In my life, Ethel Kennedy is one of those people.’ The tragedy is that, like most of us, I think Jackie and Ethel always thought they had more time to reach an understanding. But, as it always does, time just slipped away.”

  One of Ethel’s sons, who asked not to be identified, says that his mother took solace in the fact that she had attempted to set matters straight with Jackie. “When she visited Aunt Jackie the day she died, she told her how much she loved her,” he says, “and how much she had always meant to her, no matter their differences. However, she said that she wasn’t sure that Aunt Jackie understood what she was saying, or if she was even awake. My mother was devastated when she died. I don’t think she ever thought it possible that Aunt Jackie would not be here.”

  “Oh, I’m sure that Ethel was bereft,” says Barbara Gibson. “As contentious as their relationship was from time to time, I still think Jackie meant a lot to her and for many reasons, not the least of which is that Jackie was one of the last links to mythical Camelot. They also both experienced the nightmare of witnessing their husbands—brothers—murdered in very much the same truly horrible way. That’s bond they would share, no matter what happened between them.”

  Leah Mason says that she heard through her connections to the Kennedy family that Ethel was on the verge of collapsing after hearing of Jackie’s death. While she wasn’t present to witness Ethel’s grief, she says, “One of Ethel’s friends called me to ask if I still had contact with Ethel. I don’t. I haven’t seen her in many years. They wanted to know if I was close enough to the Kennedys to go to the reception at Hickory Hill for Jackie, and said that Ethel was much too distraught that day to extend invitations. As she gets older, these Kennedy tragedies are harder for her to take. I didn’t feel it appropriate for me to attend any gathering since it had ended so badly between Ethel and me. But I wasn’t surprised that she was grieving so terribly. I always felt that losing Jackie would be extremely difficult for Ethel.”

  At the reception hosted by the family at Hickory Hill after Jackie’s burial, Ethel began to cry when speaking of Jackie to Ted in front of a few startled friends. Some observers were surprised at Ethel’s emotional display because, as it has been said by those presumptuous enough to think they would know such things, Ethel Kennedy ordinarily never cried. Or, as her husband, Bobby, once decreed, “Kennedys don’t cry.” It’s true that, more often than not, Ethel’s eyes showed only the merest flicker of emotion in times of extreme sadness. However, on that afternoon, tears came to Ethel’s eyes, perhaps for all that had existed between her and her sister-in-law Jackie.

  “I wonder if she knew how much I…” Ethel began. She left her sentence hanging. When Ted embraced his deceased brother’s wife, she buried her face in his shoulder. After a few moments she forced a smile and, dabbing tears from her eyes, she quipped, “Oh, my! How Jackie would love this!”

  Acknowledgments and Source Notes

  My mother, Rose Marie Magistro Taraborrelli, passed away in August 1996, so she is not here to see the realization of this idea, which she and I had spent so much time discussing over the years. On some level, I know that she is vitally aware of this book, happy about its completion, and pleased with the way Jackie, Ethel, and Joan come to life on these pages. So, as I do with all of my work, I dedicate this book to my mom.

  Of course, Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot would not have been possible without the assistance of many people and institutions. As mentioned earlier, Maureen Mahon Egen, president of Warner Books, was also my editor on this project. Working with Maureen has been an honor and a pleasure; she set the tone for this work, and she shared my determination that the women be presented in a way that was fair and honest. I so appreciate her encouragement and her thoughtful, insightful viewpoints.

  After so many years of developing this project, I was grateful to finally find the right agent to represent it, Mitch Douglas at International Creative Management (ICM). Mitch has taught me much in a short time. He is a true gentleman, and he has remained one in a business that, sadly, sometimes seems short on manners.

  Paula Agronick Reuben has been an important ally of mine for so many years now, I am beginning to lose count. However, I do know that this is our fourth book together, and I would like to pay homage to her sense of professionalism and keen editorial eye. Paula also spent untold hours of library time researching the early lives and back
ground history of the Kennedy family, saving me valuable time to concentrate on my immediate subject matter.

  A new addition to my team is Charles Casillo, a fine journalist in his own right, who spent seemingly countless hours working with me on this manuscript, fine-tuning the ideas behind it, thinking about the women involved and how to present them fairly and objectively, and adding so very much to this work. I am so indebted to Charles for his time and his great attention to detail. I thank him for not only his professionalism but also his friendship.

  John Drayman worked with me as an editor and fact-checker on my previous book, Sinatra: A Complete Life, and now again on Jackie, Ethel, Joan. Without John, this would be a very different work. I thank him for setting me straight on so many points along the way. He’s a fine editor—who came up with the subtitle of this book—but, more important, a good and trusted friend. Great job, Johnny!

  This is my fourth book with Cathy Griffin, who is, in my opinion, the best investigative journalist in the business and also an author in her own right. Cathy conducted scores of interviews for this work, locating sources who had lost contact with those in the Kennedy circle. Because there have been so many Kennedy-related books, it would have been easy for her to focus on those who have told their stories many times over. However, it was Cathy’s task to find the sources who had not recited their memories so often that they’d become routine. With this work, I believe she has done just that, and I thank her for her perseverance, tenacity, and uncanny ability to not accept no for an answer. Ms. Griffin also provided hundreds of pages of interview transcripts culled from many hours of interviews spent with Sydney Guillaroff regarding Marilyn Monroe’s relationships with Jack and Bobby Kennedy.

  I must acknowledge Dorie Simmonds for all of her wonderful work for me abroad. She’s a delight, always one to keep her head when everyone else’s is long gone. We’ve had many victories along the way.

  I can also always count on my extremely capable fact checker and personal copy editor, James Pinkston, to swoop in at the last minute and find that one small yet important error that had somehow managed to evade everyone else’s attention. Jim’s knowledge of the political landscape of the sixties was invaluable to me during the many editing phases of this book, and I am so fortunate to have him in my corner. He’s one of a kind, and most appreciated.

  I am so proud to have this book published by Warner Books, and I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of individuals who have contributed to this work. Editorially, I am grateful to Bob Castillo, Gill Kent, Torrey Oberfest, and Frances Jalet-Miller, all of whom did such a wonderful and conscientious job. The wonderful production of this book was the brainchild of Jackie Merri Meyer, Ana Crespo, and Thomas Whatley. My thanks to Emi Battaglia, Jimmy Franco, and Jonathan Hahn for their work in publicity. And I am indebted to Erika Johnsen, Rebecca Oliver, and Nancy Wiese in the Rights department. Also, I was happy to once again work with deputy general counsel Heather Kilpatrick, who always does such a wonderful and thorough job. Finally, I am so appreciative to the two women who assisted me in many different and important ways, Jackie Joiner and Doris Bonair: None of this would have worked without their facilitation of so many of the annoying details. Thank you, ladies.

  Thanks also to lake Eissinmann for his excellent photography.

  I owe a debt of gratitude to Wayne Brasler of the University of Chicago, who read this book in early manuscript form, in order to correct any inaccuracies. In fact, Mr. Brasler has read all eight of my books in advance in order to render a much-valued opinion, and I have appreciated his assistance over the years.

  Without a loyal team of representatives, an author usually finds himself sitting at home writing books no one ever reads. I thank mine: James Jiminez, Esq., of Gilchrist & Rutter; Ken Deakins, Rae Goldreich, and Terina Hanuscin of Duitch, Franklin and Company. Also, Bart Andrews was a trusted adviser.

  Thanks to John Carlino for so many hours of dedication to this project. It would seem that he now understands the Kennedys and Johnsons about as well as anyone I’ve ever known. Good work, John!

  My thanks to James Spada, author of Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets, for sharing contacts, telephone numbers, and ideas with me. Thanks also to James Haspiel for tips and advice. Haspiel, once a teenage fan of Marilyn Monroe, is today the foremost authority on her life and career.

  For years, Kennedy historian Lester David and I were with the same publisher, Carol Publishing. I had the opportunity to meet with him on several occasions; he provided a wealth of information, and I am indebted to him. I thank the late Mr. David for transcripts of his interviews with the late Kirk LeMoyne Billings and Stephen Smith.

  I must thank Barbara Gibson, Rose Kennedy’s former secretary, for her cooperation. Ms. Gibson gave much of her time and shared many memories of Jackie, Ethel, Joan, and the other Kennedys. I so appreciate the many interviews.

  Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s first cousin, John Davis, is the consummate Kennedy scholar, whose books have provided a wealth of information to historians and biographers along the way. I am so grateful to him for his assistance.

  Thanks also to Ethel Kennedy’s former assistant Leah Mason, who—reluctantly at first out of loyalty to Mrs. Kennedy—gave of her time. Ms. Mason eventually granted me a dozen interviews from Europe, where she now makes her home, and I do appreciate her time.

  Thanks to Dale Manesis for all of his help with Kennedy memorabilia that I would never have had access to otherwise; to Linda Robb for support and insight; to Dum Gifford for his advice and encouragement; to Lucianne Goldberg for certain telephone numbers and other assistance; to Jacques Lowe for his encouragement and for the use of his wonderful pictures of the Kennedy family through the years, particularly that used on the jacket of this book.

  Thanks to Camille Sartiano-Glowitz for all of the travel accommodations. You’ve been so helpful, and are appreciated.

  My appreciation, as always, to Stephen Gregory, who encouraged me in this project in its early days with Warner. He is, and will always be, a dearly valued friend on whose care and judgment I can truly depend.

  And thanks also to all of those who assisted me in a number of tangible and intangible ways, including Richard Tyler Jordan, Dan Sterchele, Ray Trim, Jeff Hare, Al Kramer, RuPaul, David Bruner, George Solomon, Tony O’Dell, Sven Paardekooper, Billy Barnes, Hillel Black, Tony and Marilyn Caruselle, Roby Gayle, Kathryn Christy, Louise Schillaci, Barbara Cowan, Sonja Kravchuk, David Spiro, Barbara Ormsby, Rick Starr, Geordie MacMinn, John Passantino, Linda DeStefano, Ken Bostic, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Tumolo, Daniel Tumolo, Reed Sparling, Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Steinlen, David and Frances Snyder, Abby and Maddy Snyder, Maribeth and Don Rothell, Mary Alvarez, Mark Bringelson, Hope Levy, Tom Lavagnino, Iake and Alex Eissinmann, Michael Bonnabel, and Anne McVey.

  All of my thanks and gratitude is also extended to Andy Steinlen. He is an important person not only in my life, but also in the lives of so many others he has touched, inspired, motivated, and—sometimes even more important—made laugh. He gives of himself so unselfishly, and always with love.

  Thanks to my wonderfully supportive family, Roz and Bill Barnett, Zachary and Jessica Barnett, Rock and Rosemarie Taraborrelli, Rocky and Vincent Taraborrelli, Arnold Taraborrelli, and of course, Rydell and Dylan. Special thanks to my father, Rocco, who has always been my inspiration. He has taught me more than he knows just by shining example.

  And to those readers of my work who have followed my career over the years, who have sent me so many letters of support and encouragement (and who have also doled out harsh criticism when necessary), I thank you for taking my books to bed with you. If reading this one keeps you up for just a fraction of the number of nights it kept me awake while writing it, then I’ve done my job.

  A note about the Secret Service agents interviewed for this work: Cathy Griffin and I interviewed a number of Secret Service agents while doing research for this book. They provided great insight into the private lives of the Kennedy wives and how th
e women dealt with their husbands.

  On October 10, 1998, in Louisville, Kentucky, the Association of Former Agents of the U.S. Secret Service Inc. chastised several colleagues at its annual meeting for speaking to reporters such as myself about their work during the Kennedy administration. The group passed a resolution expressing disapproval of the agents’ actions, and—according to George Lardner, Jr., of the Washington Post—P. Hamilton Brown, the association’s secretary and one of the leading advocates of the resolution, went so far as to say in a speech that it would have been better if a contract had been put out on the agents who spoke to Seymour Hersh for his 1997 book, The Dark Side of Camelot. James E. LeGette, the president of the association, declined to discuss the resolution, saying, “It was a private business meeting, a private affair. I wouldn’t say we censured anyone. There’s no physical action or anything coming out of this.” Brown, who also worked on the Kennedy detail, added, “We got a lot of heat from our members. A lot of people thought they [the agents] were talking out of school.”

  A copy of the resolution was sent to Secret Service Director Lew Merletti who, in turn, sent a memo to agents that sternly cautioned them to never disclose any aspect of the personal lives of their protectees.

  Afterward, several of the agents who had been interviewed for the first time about Jacqueline Kennedy, specifically regarding her feelings about her husband’s relationship with Marilyn Monroe, asked that their names not be used in this work. Also, though the participation of certain other agents may be clear in the text, they asked to not be formally acknowledged in the source notes. Others asked for quote approval, meaning that they wanted to review in advance quotes of theirs that would appear in this book. In all fairness to these brave men who took such pride in their work for the Kennedy administration, the author honored each of their wishes. I so appreciate their input and cooperation.