JFK's Intern
Mimi Beardsley, now Mimi Alford, was a 19 year old intern for JFK. In 2003, JFK's former assistant Dave Powers, wrote a book in which he mentioned a young intern as one of JFK's paramours. She would not discuss it.
Now 69, she has written a book about it. The New York Post has excerpts. The affair lasted 18 months. She was interviewed on the Today Show this morning.
Her reason for coming forward now? She says living with this kind of secret is debilitating. [More...]
Why keep a secret? Why keep silent about something? You do something because you think it’s keeping you safe, but in fact it’s deadly.'
As a 19 year old, she had quite a front row seat for watching history unfold.
On one visit, Kennedy was embroiled in one of the most defining moments of his presidency, the Cuban Missile Crisis. For 13 days in October 1962, the United States and the Soviets were at a nuclear standoff. Although historians have dissected Kennedy’s actions, none was privy to what he confided to Mimi.
“I’d rather my children red than dead,” he told her.
After 18 months, she left for college. She didn't see him much after that and then got engaged. She last saw him 7 days before his trip to Dallas.
In addition to the earlier book, An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek, the affair was confirmed by former Kennedy press aide, Barbara Gamarekian, in a 1964 oral history.
The book is titled, "Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath."
Will her book affect how people view JFK? I doubt it, but it's sure to be a best-seller.
| < Madonna Time | U.S. Embassy Closed in Syria, All Employees Leave > |
