Jackie O: MLK a 'Phony'

National Archives release recording of conversations day JFK was killed

(NEWSER) - A heart-wrenching call from Lyndon Johnson placed to Rose Kennedy from Air Force One has finally been released more than 48 years after her son was assassinated. "I wish to God there was something I could do," says Johnson the day John F. Kennedy was killed. "I wanted to tell you that we are grieving with you." Rose responds: "Thank you very much. I know you loved Jack. And he loved you." Johnson's wife adds: "We just want to ... we feel like we've lost ..." "Thank you," says Kennedy. More»

More gossip from 1964 interviews revealed

(NEWSER) - More details—and more barbs —are trickling out from the new book of 47-year-old interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, which hits shelves Wednesday. From the New York Times :

• On French president Charles DeGaulle: "That egomaniac."
• On future Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi: "A real prune—bitter, kind of pushy, horrible woman."
• JFK’s thoughts on Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Charlatan is an unfair word," but "he did an awful lot for effect."
• On former Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson: "Violently liberal women in politics" liked him more than JFK because they "were scared of sex," Jackie theorized.

You'll have to wait for the network special

(NEWSER) - ABC officials are saying that their Jackie O tapes are not nearly as "sordid" as claimed in press reports—but aren't saying what's on them. The Daily Mail has reported that Jackie Kennedy told historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in a lengthy interview that she believed Lyndon Johnson was behind the assassination of her husband , that she knew about JFK's affairs, and that she had flings of her own. The "tabloid reports about the content are totally erroneous," said an ABC statement, which added that no details of the tapes will be released until they're featured in a network program next month. More»

TMZ photo shows John F. Kennedy on a boat with nude women

(NEWSER) - John F. Kennedy was always rumored to be a playboy—now the world apparently has proof. TMZ has an exclusive photo from the mid-1950s that appears to show JFK sunning himself on a boat deck, surrounded by naked women. Don’t believe the gossip site? Well, numerous photo experts—as well as Kennedy biographers—say the photo looks like the real deal. More»

Schlesinger diaries depict liberal flight as prez sought heroism

(NEWSER) - President Johnson’s motives for escalating the Vietnam War were “psychological and political rather than military,” wrote insider Arthur Schlesinger Jr. The former Kennedy hand documented the flight of top liberals from LBJ, even as he psychoanalyzed the president’s 1966-1967 decision to play “the war to the hilt”—entries relived in the latest New York Review of Books. More»