Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and consulted: Andy Williams interview by Carol Welles for Photoplay, October 1971; Andy Williams interview transcript by Byron McCall for Motion Picture, April 1970; Claudine Longet interview by Carol Welles for Photoplay, October 1971; “AP Reporter Recalls Tragic Scene,” by Bob Thomas, Associated Press wire, June 6, 1998; “Breaking His Silence,” by Paul Ciotti, Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1988; “How L.A. Cops Botched the Bobby Kennedy Murder Inquiry,” by George Carpozi, Star, May 10, 1988; “The Murder of Robert Kennedy,” by Allard K. Lowenstein, Saturday Review, February 19, 1977; “Caroline Kennedy: A Little Girl in New Turmoil,” by Lester David, Good Housekeeping, January 1969; “Son Ted Phones Sad News to Parents,” by Alan H. Sheehan, Boston Globe, June 5, 1968; “The Coming of Age of Joan Kennedy,” by Christine Sadler, McCalls, February 1965.

  Senator Robert Francis Kennedy Is Dead; Bobby’s Funeral; “We Shall Carry on with Courage”; Ethel—Just a Shell

  As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral Histories, personal interviews were conducted with Coretta Scott-King, Charles Spalding, Roswell Gilpatrick, Roger Wilkins, Rosey Grier, Rafer Johnson, Frank Mankiewicz, Marva Whitford, Stewart Bodell, Samantha Wright, John Tunney, Leah Mason, George Smathers, Barbara Gibson, Lem Billings, George Smathers, and Eudora Davis.

  Volumes consulted: My Life with Martin Luther King, by Coretta Scott-King; First Ladies, by Margaret Brown Klapthor; Times to Remember, by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; Torn Lace Curtain, by Frank Saunders; The Joy of Classical Music, by Joan Kennedy; A White House Diary, by Lady Bird Johnson; Life with the Kennedys, by Marcia Chellis; The Kennedy Case, by Rita Dallas and Jeanira Ratcliffe; The Diffusion of Power, by W.W. Rostow; Letitia Baldrige’s Complete Guide to Executive Manners, by Letitia Baldrige; Front Runner, by Ralph G. Martin and Ed Plaut; No Final Victories, by Lawrence F. O’Brien; Deadline: A Memoir, by James Reston; Heroes of My Time, by Harrison Salisbury; Mob Lawyer, by Frank Ragano and Selwyn Raab; Man of the House, by Thomas O’Neill; A Very Special President, by Laura Bergquist and Stanley Tretick; The Kennedys: Dynasty and Disaster, by John Davis.

  Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and consulted: televised news accounts of Robert Kennedy’s funeral; Jack Newfield’s comments to New York Post; Claudine Longet interview by Elaine Harper, Photoplay, September 1968; Ethel Kennedy’s and Jackie Kennedy’s letters to LBJ courtesy of LBJ Library; “The Ted Kennedys Conquer Fear,” by Maxine Cheshire, Ladies Home Journal, September 1968; “The Young Kennedys,” by Julia Lawlor, USA Weekend, November 4, 1968.

  A note regarding Jackie’s spending habits: Contrary to her public image, Jackie wasn’t always a spendthrift. The popular columnist Cindy Adams, who was a neighbor of Jackie’s in New York, recalls this humorous story: “She was chintzy, that’s for sure. She would expect huge discounts on clothing, saying, ‘Everyone will see me wearing this, and it will do you a world of good as a designer.’ At one point, she was having some carpentry work done by a carpenter we both used, and when his work was done, Jackie approached him with a check in one hand and a photograph in the other. ‘Now, would you like me to pay you,’ she asked, ‘or would you prefer this lovely autographed photo of me, suitable for framing?’ He chose the check.” (Jackie may have gotten the idea from Rose, who, according to Barbara Gibson, would carry cards with Jack’s picture on one side and a passage from his inaugural address along with a scripture on the other. After signing them, she would hand them out as tips to cab drivers and bell men, saying, “Keep this. It will be worth a lot of money.”)

  Ted Negotiates Jackie’s Nuptials; Andy Williams; Ethel Pushes Jackie Too Far; “Bobby’s Little Miracle”

  As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral Histories, personal interviews were conducted with Barbara Gibson, Leah Mason, Frank Mankiewicz, Susannah Walker, Lem Billings, Carmen Bucarelli, Sierra Montez, Chuck Spalding, Stavlos Pappadia, Steven Webber, and an attorney for Ted Kennedy who asked for anonymity regarding Ted’s negotiation with Onassis for Jackie’s hand, which corresponds with the account by Willi Frischauer in his book Onassis.

  Volumes consulted: The Onassis Women, by Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos; The Kennedy Neurosis, by Nancy Gager Clinch; The $20,000,000 Honeymoon, by Fred Sparks; Aristotle Onassis, by Nicholas Fraser; Jackie and Ari, by Lester David and Jhan Robbins; Heiress: The Story of Christina Onassis, by Nigel Dempster; Ted and the Kennedy Legend, by Plimpton Stein.

  Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and consulted: Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos interview with Dateline, ABC-TV; “The Woman behind Bobby Kennedy,” by Pete Hamill, Good Housekeeping, 1968; “Battle for the Onassis Millions,” by Kim Hubbard, People, June 29, 1988.

  Chappaquiddick; Jackie Tells Ari: “I Have to Be There”; Joan Accuses: “All You Care about Is How It Looks?”; Ethel to the Rescue; Mary Jo’s Funeral; Ted Asks for Forgiveness; Joan Loses the Baby; A Final Gathering for Joseph; The End of Camelot

  As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral Histories, personal interviews were conducted with John Davis (questionnaire), Dum Gifford, Joe Gargan, Bernie Flynn, Leo Damore, Mary Ann Kopan, Joseph Kopechne, Gwen Kopechne, Walter Cronkite, Bill Bradlee, Roswell Gilpatrick, Ellen Deiner, Nicholas Stamosis, Barbara Gibson, Frank Manciewcz, Bill Masterson, Betty Newman, and Ray Springfield.

  Volumes consulted: Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Coverup, by Leo Damore; Days of Wine, Women and Wrong, by David Barron; Ted Kennedy: Triumphs and Tragedies, by Lester David; Rose, by Gail Cameron; Joan: The Reluctant Kennedy, by David Lester; The Kennedy Women, by Laurence Leamer; 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.

  Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and consulted: Maria Shriver’s comments are from her appearance on Oprah, November 1999; Gwen Kopechne’s comments from interview with Jane Adams for “Kopechnes Reveal Truth about Mary Jo,” TV Star Parade, January 1971; “Intimate Portrait of Joan Kennedy,” by Barbara Kevles, Good Housekeeping, September 1969; Rita Dallas comments from A&E’s biography of Ted Kennedy; Teddy: Keeper of the Kennedy Flame (entire magazine devoted to EMK), 1968; “Chappaquiddick: What Really Happened?” with guests Leo Damore and Leslie Leyland, Geraldo (television program); “Ted Kennedy Talks about the Past and His Future,” Look, March 4, 1969; “The Kennedys in China,” by Joan Kennedy, January 1977; “Teddy Kennedy: Will He?,” by Robert Healy, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, June 11, 1979; “Kennedy Women Say Ok,” Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, September 7, 1979; “The Kennedy Challenge,” Time, November 5, 1979; “Memories of Mary Jo: Interview with Joseph and Gwen Kopechne,” by Jane Farrell, Ladies Home Journal, July 1989; “Jackie Onassis: Her Life with an Ailing Ari,” by Liz Smith, People, October 14, 1974; “Jackie’s World,” People, April 18, 1977; “Jackie Twice Widowed,” by Liz Smith, People, March 31, 1975.

  Ted Hurts Joan Again; Ethel’s Troubled Brood; Will Teddy Run? The Joan Factor; Joan and Ted: Creating the Illusion of a Marriage; Joan in Control of Joan; The Announcement: EMK for President; Joan’s White House Fantasies; EMK’s Candidacy: Not Meant to Be; The Last Straw for Joan

  As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral Histories, personal interviews were conducted with Helen N. Smith, Richard Burke, Leo Damore, Walter Cronkite, Bill Bradlee, Roswell Gilpatrick, Betty Newman, Ellen Deiner, Nicholas Stamosis, Margaret Leaming, Barbara Gibson, Frank Manciewcz, Bill Masterson, Ed Gwirtzman, Helen Thomas, and John Davis.

  Volumes consulted: The Joy of Classical Music, by Joan Kennedy; The Last Brother, by Joe McGinniss; The Senator: My Ten Years with Ted Kennedy, by Richard E. Burke; Good Ted, Bad Ted, by Lester David; The Sins of the Father, by Ronald Kessler; The Kennedy Children, by Bill Adler; Washington Exposé, by Jack Anderson; As We Remember Her, by Carl Sferrazza Anthony; The Kennedy Women
, by Pearl S. Buck; The Onassis Women, by Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos; Cooking for Madam, by Marta Sgubin; Jackie O, by Hedda Lyons Warney; Joan: The Reluctant Kennedy, by David Lester; The Shadow President, by Burton Hersh; Kennedy Wives, Kennedy Women, by Nancy Gager; The Kennedy Courage, by Edward Hymoff and Phil Hirsch; The Kennedy Family, by Joseph Dineen; The Kennedy Years, edited by Harold Faber; The Education of Edward Kennedy: A Family Biography, by Burton Hersh; The Next Kennedy, by Margaret Laing; Ted Kennedy: Profile of a Survivor, by William H. Honan.

  Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and consulted: William Smith transcript by David Lester; “Rose Kennedy: She Wanted to Inspire Us, and She Did,” by Dotson Rader, Parade, July 22, 1990; “A Glittering Array of Kennedy Ladies Center Stage,” Life, June 11, 1971; “Ethel K. Gives Trashman a Trashing,” by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, Boston Herald, July 17, 1997; “Bobby’s Kids,” by Michael Shnayerson, Vanity Fair, August 1997; “A Life of Challenge,” by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, Inside Borders, June 1998; “We Happy Few,” by Joseph P. Kennedy II, Esquire, June 1998; “After 24 Years, Joan Kennedy Ends Marriage,” by Gail Jennes and Gioia Diliberto, People, December 20, 1982; “Joan Kennedy Surveys Her Sober Life,” by Gail Jennes, People, April 7, 1978; “Chappaquiddick Questions Remain,” UPI, July 18, 1994; “The Joan Kennedy Book and Ethics,” by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, New York Daily News, November 4, 1985; “Joan Kennedy: Book Contains Inaccuracies,” Associated Press wire, October 18, 1985; “Kennedy Linen Hung on the Line,” by Paul Taylor, Washington Post, September 29, 1985; “Marcia Chellis,” by Cheryl Lavin, Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1986; “Joan Kennedy: The Life That Put Her into Silver Hill,” by Liz Smith, People, June 24, 1971; “Richard Burke: My Ten Year Binge with Teddy,” by Frank DiGiacomo and Joanna Molloy, New York Post, July 27, 1992; “The Secrets of Joan Kennedy,” People, September 23, 1985; The Ted Kennedy Story (special tribute magazine), 1970; “Rose Kennedy at 85,” People, September 22, 1975; “The Lucky Life of Sargent Shriver,” Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1987; “An Intimate Visit: Rose Kennedy at 80,” by Sylvia Wright, Life, July 17, 1970; “La Vie en Rose,” by Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Fame, August 1990; “Farewell Rose,” by Bob Speyer and Corky Siemaszko, Daily News, January 23, 1995; “Rose Kennedy Dies at 104,” by Bryna Taubman, New York Post, January 23, 1995; “Death of a Matriarch,” by Elizabeth Gleick, Time, February 6, 1995; “How I Got Over: Interview with Joan Kennedy,” by John Stratford, Star, August 1, 1989; “Closing Scenes from a Kennedy Marriage,” by Myra MacPherson, Washington Post, January 22, 1981; “Ted and Joan: Why This Marriage Couldn’t Be Saved,” Ladies Home Journal, March 1983; “Women Stand Up for Joan Kennedy,” by Maxine Cheshire, Washington Post, October 22, 1980; “Joan Kennedy Silences Reporters,” by T.R. Reid, Washington Post, January 19, 1980; “The Other Jackie O.,” Edward Klein, Vanity Fair, August 1989; “Joan’s Journey,” by Myra MacPherson, Washington Post, December 14, 1979; “Watch Them Run: Teddy and the Kennedys,” by Dick Schaap, Look, March 5, 1979; “Is Teddy Ready?,” by Clare Crawford-Mason, People, July 2, 1979; “Into the Fray: Joan Kennedy Campaigns Down on the Farm,” by Myra MacPherson, Washington Post, December 12, 1979; “Joan Kennedy: Win or Lose, I Win,” by Myra MacPherson, McCalls, June 1980; “The Tragedy of Bobby Kennedy, Jr.,” by Susan Deutsch, People, October 3, 1983; “Ethel & David: Troubled Mother, Tormented Son,” by William Pulmmer, People, May 14, 1984; “A Working Woman,” by Gioia Diliberto, People, June 18, 1984; “The Quiet Life of Jackie O.,” by Lester David, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, October 22, 1988; “Kennedy Ladies Take to Gentleman,” by Cindy Adams, New York Post, August 8, 1994; “What Price Camelot?,” by Paul Gray, Time, May 6, 1996; “O Jackie, How Tacky,” by Jerry Adler, Newsweek, May 6, 1996; “How Much Is That Jackie in the Window?,” by Barbara Lippert, New York, April 29, 1996.

  A note regarding concerns about the Kopechnes during Ted’s 1980 campaign: When Ted telephoned the Kopechnes in 1979 prior to the announcement that he would be a candidate, Gwen Kopechne was shocked to hear the voice of the man she and her husband, Joseph, derisively referred to only as “The Senator.” She once recalled, “He just wanted to say he was running for the presidential nomination. ‘I’m calling to see how you are, and I’ll be in the area,’ he said, pleasantly. He also said Joan would be with him, and I said, ‘Well isn’t that nice?’ It was so transparent, really. If I hadn’t been in such shock getting that call, I would have said to him, ‘The next time you’re in the area be sure to visit my daughter’s grave.’ He just wanted to make sure we were on his side, as if we could ever be on his side.

  “I don’t believe anything I’ve heard so far. I want him to tell me what happened. I don’t ever remember him even saying he was sorry. I think there was a big cover-up and that everybody was paid off. The hearing, the inquest, it was all a farce. The Kennedys had the upper hand and it’s been that way ever since.”

  The mystery of what happened at Chappaquiddick, and the names associated to it, will always remain a part of our popular culture, though inaccurate perceptions remain attached to it. For instance, Monica Lewinsky’s mother, Marcia Lewis, made reference to the drowing in talking with her daughter about the potential liability should she tell the truth about her sexual relationship with President Bill Clinton (during a sworn deposition in the lawsuit filed against him by Paula Jones). In a tape-recorded conversation, Lewinsky told Linda Tripp that her mother had safety concerns: “She keeps saying Mary Jo Chappaquiddick, or whatever the fuck her name was.” Also, a recent biography of Bobby Kennedy reported that Mary Jo engaged in an affair with Bobby. “Oh, for God’s sake,” said an exasperated Frank Mankiewicz when asked about the report. “Mary Jo and Bobby? Jesus! Who’s peddling that?”

  On February 15, 1980, Joan was asked to address the Ted Kennedy for President Women’s Advisory Committee. She wrote the speech herself. In part, she said:

  “My own life experiences in the last few years have brought me to an increased awareness of the central importance of the women’s movement. Two years ago, I returned to college, and when I receive my graduate degree, I will be a professional in my chosen field…. Yet the reality is that most women who might wish to return to school are unable to afford it and that few of them have the proper counseling to direct them back into the stream of education and work.

  “In speaking of my choice to work, I fully recognize that the majority of women today are working out of necessity, not choice…. So great are the economic pressures today that six out of every ten women with children at home are working, and these mothers are contributing twenty-five to forty percent of their family’s incomes. This means that millions of women are struggling frantically each day, rising early enough to get their children ready for school, then driving off to a full day’s work, then afterward rushing out to do the shopping, to pick up their kids, to make the family meal….

  “The ERA is more than a symbol. It can become the mandate for the federal government and for every state to ensure equality in both the law and the life of the land.”

  Joan called for more child-care facilities, experimentation with different forms of neighborhood centers, more flexible work schedules, job sharing, equal pay for equal work, and the best possible health care for children.

  Postscript: Jackie, Ethel, and Joan after Camelot

  As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral Histories, personal interviews were conducted with Leo Damore, Barbara Gibson, Walter Cronkite, Bill Bradlee, Roswell Gilpatrick, Ellen Deiner, Kitty Carlyle-Hart, Steven Styles, Jim Whiting, Nicholas Stamosis, Barbara Gibson, Frank Mankiewicz, Jeanne Martin, Bill Masterson, and Betty Newman.

  Volumes consulted: A People of Compassion: The Concerns of Edward Kennedy, by Thomas P. Collins; Our Day and Generation: The Words of Edward Kennedy, edited by Henry Steele Commager; The Kennedys: The Third Generation, by Barbara Gibson; Bobby Kennedy: Off Guard, edited by Sue G. Hall; The Kennedy Encyclopedia, by Caroline Latham and Jeannie Sakol; The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Sotheby’s catalog); The Be
st of Modern Screen, by Mark Bego; The Kennedy Women, by Pearl S. Buck; Living with the Kennedys, by Marcia Chellis, Kennedy Wives, Kennedy Women, by Nancy Gager; Jack and Jackie, by Christopher Anderson; Just Jackie, by Edward Klein; A Woman Named Jackie, by C. David Heymann; Ghost of a Chance, by Peter Duchin; Good Ted, Bad Ted, by David Laster; The Shadow President, by Burton Hersh; Jackie under My Skin, by Wayne Koestenbaum; As We Remember Her, by Carl Sferrazza Anthony; Cooking for Madam, by Marta Sgubin; The Uncommon Wisdom of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, edited by Bill Adler; The Joy of Classical Music, by Joan Kennedy; Kennedys: The Next Generation, by Jonathan Slevin and Maureen Spagnolo.

  Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and consulted: numerous press accounts of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s death and funeral, including those in the New York Times, May 20, 1994 through May 24, 1994; “Jackie, 1929–1994,” Newsweek, May 30, 1994; Star special memorial issue; “Jackie, 1994”; People commemorative issue, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis tribute, Summer 1994; “A Quiet Life with M.T.” (Maurice Tempelsman), Newsweek, June 6, 1994; interview with Jacqueline Onassis in Publisher’s Weekly, April 10, 1993, by John F. Baker; “Strange Twilight of Ethel Kennedy,” Star, April 14, 1987; “A Day of Farewell to a First Lady,” by Marylou Tousignant and Malcolm Gladwell, Washington Post, May 24, 1994; “America’s First Lady,” by Peggy Noonan, Time, May 30, 1994; “Joan Kennedy: Music Is for Life,” by Mary Campbell, St. Petersburg Times, January 1, 1993; “Death of a First Lady,” by R.W. Apple, New York Times, May 24, 1994; “Remembering Jackie,” People, June 6, 1994; “Jackie Remembered,” USA Today, May 20, 1994; “The Jackie Mystique,” by Anemona Harocollis, May 22, 1994; “The Way She Was,” Life, August 1999; “Stirring Up Memories of Joan K,” by Gayle Fee, Boston Herald, January 23, 1996; “New Divorce Settlement for Joan Kennedy,” by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, Boston Herald, June 26, 1996; “Joan Kennedy Turns a Glittering 60,” by Julie Hatfield, Boston Globe, October 28, 1996; “Joan Kennedy: Born Again, Beautiful,” Star, November 17, 1992; “Portrait of a Lady,” by Elizabeth Gleick, People, February 28, 1994; “Joan Kennedy: On a Campaign Trail for the Classics,” by Roberta W. Coffey, Los Angeles Times, November 26, 1992; Larry King Live, “Remembrances of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,” with guests Oleg Cassini, Letitia Baldrige, Pierre Salinger, John Davis, and Hugh Sidey, May 19, 1999; “Ari’s Fate,” (interview with Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos), by Peter Ames Carlin and Toula Viahou, People, November 9, 1998.