How The Kennedy Family Reportedly Handled JFK's Numerous Affairs

Among Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and Donald Trump's hush money case, thirty-fifth President John F. Kennedy's numerous marital affairs continue to be some of the most sensationalized in American history. In addition to Marilyn Monroe, JFK is both rumored and confirmed to have had many mistresses throughout his marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

"In the hypercompetitive, testosterone‐infused Kennedy family, unbridled womanizing seemed as much about keeping score as it did the thrill of the conquest," Mark K. Updegrove wrote in the "Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency" (per People). During his lifetime, the scope of JFK's infidelity was not initially known to the public, as such matters weren't typically reported on by the press.

Even so, that didn't mean that the idolized, but tragic Kennedy family didn't make efforts to conceal the chief of state's extramarital affairs. Not only did the Secret Service get involved in JFK's philandering ways, but Jackie O. was reportedly offered a tidy sum of money to overlook her husband's liaisons, despite how she really felt about her husband's infidelity.

It's reported that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was aware of John F. Kennedy's rakish ways before she married him. However, that doesn't mean that the infidelity didn't take an emotional toll on the fashion icon, as author J. Randy Taraborelli reported that she considered divorce at least twice. The New York native was first disillusioned with her marriage after she gave birth to a stillborn daughter, known as Arabella, in 1957.

"Jack happened to be on a cruise off the coast of Italy having fun with his friends, among them a few women," Taraborelli wrote in the book "Jackie: Public, Private, Secret" (via the Daily Mail). "When he decided not to return after Jackie's miscarriage everyone was appalled. While it's reported that Jackie's family dissuaded her from pursuing a divorce, it's also been alleged JFK's father, Joe Kennedy, offered his doubtful daughter-in-law some financial motivation.

Authors Danforth Prince and Darwin Porter wrote in "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Life Beyond Her Wildest Dreams" that the senior Kennedy offered Jackie $1 million to stay in the marriage, as he knew "that a divorce would destroy Jack's political future" (per Express). Meanwhile, Taraborelli alleged that Joe offered the amount for every living child that Jackie O gave birth to (per the Daily Mail). Whatever her motivation, Jackie Kennedy stayed by her husband's side until the very end. 

While it's alleged that Joe Kennedy used money to smooth over his son's marriage, journalist Marvin Kalb recalled that the Secret Service also played a role in protecting John F. Kennedy's infidelity from the press. In the publication "One Scandalous Story: Clinton, Lewinsky, and Thirteen Days That Tarnished American Journalism," the CBS reporter recounted his experience with the pushy protection service in 1963.

Working as a diplomatic correspondent, Kalb explained he made a late-night visit to the Carlyle Hotel, where the president was staying in New York, to catch up with other journalists. While his press badge afforded him entry into the building, he seemingly stumbled in on a situation he wasn't supposed to see. "U.S. Secret Service agents, normally detailed to protect the president, had escorted an attractive woman into the Carlyle, presumably for a rendezvous with Kennedy," Kalb wrote. "And then, to protect their embarrassing secret, one of the agents had for a moment panicked and pushed [me] to the floor only to apologize later for his inexcusable behavior" (per The Library of Congress).

While Kalb was disgruntled by the agent's unexpected use of force at the time, he reflected in his book that he hadn't considered further investigating or reporting on the president's late-night visitor. "In those days, the possibility of a presidential affair, while titillating, was not considered 'news' by the mainstream press," he wrote. The media's disinterest in the sex lives of presidents no doubt contributed to the quiet around JFK's unfaithfulness, but the truth eventually came to light.