Collegiate Times

The release of Mimi Alford’s book, “Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath,” has caused another president’s legacy to tarnish due to a publicized alleged affair with an 

intern. But Kennedy’s reputation has seemingly remained unchanged, rather than sour like President Bill Clinton’s standing after his comparable affair. Actually, the two president’s affairs are uncannily similar.

The obvious similarity is both women were young interns during their flings with the presidents. Both presidents seemed to be emotionally invested in their affairs — Clinton exchanged gifts with Monica Lewinsky, and Kennedy apparently taught Alford to scramble eggs just how he liked them. Alford saw this as an intimate connection, but Kennedy may have had other, more appetitive, intentions.

It may, however, be more suitable to label Alford’s encounters with Kennedy as a tryst — she even confessed she loved him. But the memoir’s contents imply that Kennedy didn’t romantically reciprocate. 

However, the relationship didn’t seem solely sexual either. Alford recalls several tender moments between her and Kennedy — including his mourning over the death of his 2-day-old son.

No moments during Clinton’s affair, however, showed any signs remotely comparable to love. I think the president addressing Lewinsky as “that woman” sufficiently dispelled any chance of labeling their encounter as a tryst.

The dissimilarities between Kennedy and Clinton’s post-affair reputations cannot be easily explained. While Clinton’s infamous violation of the First Lady’s tobacco-free White House policy (though in a smokeless fashion) seems as vulgar as it gets, Kennedy’s days in the White House pool can certainly compete. 

In her novel, Alford exposes Kennedy’s dark side, which peaked when he allegedly had her perform a sex act on his special assistant, Dave Powers, in his therapy pool.

People’s (and specifically, conservatives’) ability to mock Clinton while revering Kennedy must be because Kennedy didn’t see the end of his presidency. And, society didn’t learn of Kennedy’s affairs until well after his assassination. 

Clinton’s affair, however, was discovered during his second term and even gained him an embarrassing (but irrelevant) impeachment. While it is certainly fun to insult a healthy, active president, even the most partisan cringe when an assassinated president is derided.

But that’s not to say Kennedy got away with his extramarital activities solely because he was assassinated. After reading Alford’s account of her affair along with several books on President Kennedy (but not considering the many awful portrayals of him in cinema), I’m convinced that if the affair was revealed before his assassination, Kennedy would have reacted in a profoundly different manner than Clinton.

President Kennedy was politically savvy and probably would have denied the affair, but he would have contained, rather than antagonized, his intern. The man could be domineering, sinister, mischievous and cocky. But he was also brilliant, loving and aware of other people’s concerns.

The only way he prevented his two personalities from conflicting was to compartmentalize his relationships. He did so effectively by exposing his less desirable attributes to his mistresses, trusted friends and cabinet members. This way, his wife, children, fellow politicians and the public only saw characteristics that made him so special.

Kennedy’s women, like Alford, however, saw both sides of the iconic president. And she portrays their lengthy affair fairly well. The over-written book almost becomes a biography (personally, I don’t care about her marriages after the affair). 

But she makes the relatively short reading time worth it by selecting the key moments of the tryst, narrating them well and providing exceptional insight into the president’s life. 

Alford will enjoy good book sales, a number of nationally broadcasted interviews and a small place in history. But, in time, her name will be forgotten along with the rest of the presidential mistresses. Kennedy will remain an icon — and in a few years even fewer people will know he even had an affair (and I think the number of people in the know now is very few). For now, however, people get to read Alford’s book and gain an intimate understanding of a complicated
man.

A version of this article appeared in the Feb 21 issue of the Collegiate Times.