Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot (84 page)

As well as having utilized the previously cited Oral His- tories, 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: Dy- nasty and Disaster,
by John Davis.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: televised news accounts of Robert Kennedy’s fu- neral; Jack Newfield’s comments to
New York Post;
Claudine Longet interview by Elaine Harper,
Photoplay,
September 1968; Ethel Kennedy’s and Jackie Kennedy’s let- ters 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 popu- lar 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 cloth- ing, 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 His- tories, 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 corre- sponds 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;
Aris- totle 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 con- sulted: 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 His- tories, 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 Gib- son, Frank Manciewcz, Bill Masterson, Betty Newman, and Ray Springfield.

Volumes consulted:
Senatorial Privilege: The Chap- paquiddick 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 Hodg- son and Bruce Page;
Ted and the Kennedy Legend,
by Max Lerner.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: 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; “Inti- mate 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 Fu- ture,”
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 Chal- lenge,”
Time,
November 5, 1979; “Memories of Mary Jo: Interview with Joseph and Gwen Kopechne,” by Jane Far- rell,
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 His- tories, 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 Mout- satsos;
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 Sur- vivor,
by William H. Honan.

Videos, articles, and other material reviewed and con- sulted: William Smith transcript by David Lester; “Rose Kennedy: She Wanted to Inspire Us, and She Did,” by Dot- son 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,
Es- quire,
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; “Chap-

paquiddick 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 Tri- bune,
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,
Septem- ber 23, 1985;
The Ted Kennedy Story
(special tribute mag- azine), 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; “Clos- ing Scenes from a Kennedy Marriage,” by Myra MacPher- son,
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,
De- cember 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 candi- date, 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, pleas- antly. 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 daugh- ter’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 say- ing 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 at- tached to it. For instance, Monica Lewinsky’s mother, Mar- cia Lewis, made reference to the drowning in talking with her daughter about the potential liability should she tell the truth about her sexual relationship with President Bill Clin- ton (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 con- cerns: “She keeps saying Mary Jo Chappaquiddick, or what- ever 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
?”