On June 10th and June 11th 1963, JFK gave what I believe were his 2 greatest speeches: his Peace Speech at American University, and his Civil Rights Speech the following day. These two speeches encapsulate his leadership and policies on the international and domestic issues for which the right hated so vehemently hated and maligned him and for which he died. He stood for civil rights for ALL, and treated ALL with respect dignity and equality, not just African-Americans. He also met with LULA the Latino group at Rice University the day before he was assassinated - a first for an President. And, though the subject was never broached publically, 2 of his and Jackies very dearest friends were Gay men, who were out to them, decades before Stonewall: Lem Billings and William Bill Walton. Lem was JFKs roommate and best friend at Choate in the 30s and remained so until JFKs death. He was a frequent guest at the Whitehouse - being invited to their first Thanksgiving dinner, had his own bedroom in the White House where he spent most weekends and accompanied JFK on many European tours. Jack even offered him a position in his administration as director of the Peace Corps but Lem turned him down and kept his job as a NYC ad executive, and the role was subsequently filled by Sargent Shriver. None of this was publically known at the time and only came out in recent years in the excellent book Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship,” (2008) by David Pitts: Pitts worked for two years to persuade Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to grant him research access to documents that have been locked away for decades. Letters between the two friends, recorded phone calls, and even an 800+ page transcription of an oral history that Lem Billings gave after the death of the president. Pitts also combed through hundreds of photographs never seen by the public, many of which he was allowed to publish in the book, and interviewed anyone and everyone he could who knew Jack and Lem so he could tell, as accurately as possible, the story of a president and his gay best friend. Bill Walton was a WWII TIME/LIFE war correspondent and the sole civilian that parachuted (with a typewriter strapped to his back) behind enemy lines with troops in France on D-day and was there for the Liberation of Paris with Hemmingway. Jack (and later Jackie) met him in the late 40s when they all lived in Georgetown and they became best friends. He played a key role in JFKs Presidential campaign and was one of the few people allowed to watch election returns with Kennedy and his family on election night and was one of the intimate circle that joined in the celebration dinner. And Kennedys transition headquarters were moved into Waltons Georgetown home. After taking office JFK appointed Walton as Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts. Jackie and Bill were also best friends and he frequently accompanied her to events when JFK was not available. And according to Talbot in Brothers, Walton, Gore Vidal, and Jackie - incognito in a silk scarf, capris and jacket - took a trip to Provincetown, a Gay mecca, where they went to the theater and bar hopping including to bar with an upstairs Gay bar. It was Walton whom Jackie called from the Bethesda Tower to entrust with organizing, designing, and carrying out the funeral arrangements. He was responsible for everything, A to Zed, from researching the Lincoln funeral, to finding and helping assemble the catafalque, to choosing the flowers and decorations and draping the East Room chandeliers, windows and front door with black crepe, and finally helping to pick out the gravesite at Arlington. Afterward he was in charge of shepherding its completion in 64. And following JFKs burial, it was William Bill Walton whom RFK & Jackie entrusted with the critically sensitive mission of delivering their secret letter to Khrushchev in which they reassured the Soviets the assassination was a right wing domestic coup thus averting misunderstanding and nuclear war which the plotters had hoped to ignite. I point all this out to demonstrate what an extraordinarily good and progressive people both JFK and Jackie were. They were an ultra modern couple - far, FAR ahead of their time - straight allies at a time when none existed. The fact that JFK and Jackie had these close Gay friends DECADES before Stonewall - a dark time when the rest of the nation reviled, shunned, disowned, fired and arrested Gay people, at will, just for being.....at a time when the federal government routinely conducted anti-gay witch hunts and firings (it was federal law!), well, its absolutely stunning. It shows the true character and greatness of JFK and the First Lady. I have no doubt if they were alive today theyd be leading the charge for full equality. Extraordinary greatness. Deep, deep respect... https://youtube/watch?v=7BEhKgoA86U
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 10:23:16 +0000
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