High life
Broad-
Taki
HNew York ours after John F. Kennedy thrilled the world with his rousing inaugural speech (written by Ted Sorensen), 'Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Ameri- cans. . . ', he attended a party at Joe Alsop's Georgetown house. As the 35th
President of the United States walked in, his first words to the columnist were, 'Where are the broads?'
Although no Democrat, I happened to be down in Washington staying with a friend, Liz Guest, now Liz Stevens. The whole town was buzzing with stories of the Kennedys and their entourage having non- stop orgies with tens of Hollywood starlets flown in by Peter Lawford. In fact, I some- how got caught up in the crush and got lucky with an actress who was dumb enough to think I was a Kennedy.
What I remember very well was a Euro- pean ambassador literally offering his niece to the randy President. But what I remem- ber even better was how all the hacks and columnists turned a blind eye to the reck- less womanising. The most egregious was that old poseur Ben Bradlee, who not only was an intimate of Kennedy's but had the audacity years later to confess how sur- prised he was to discover that there was hanky-panky going on. But what should one expect from the man who gave us Janet Cooke and Deep Throat?
It is now clear that what the Kennedys did in the White House with the fairer sex denigrated the office of the Presidency and bred cynicism among serious people in gov- ernment. Bobby Kennedy was no better. As Attorney General he broke more laws than he upheld, and his final cynical move against a desperate Marilyn Monroe was worthy of a rock star.
Still the press protected the gang and in return the Irish Mafia gave access and power to future blow-dried stars such as Dan Rather, Mike Wallace and the afore- mentioned Bradlee. It was hardly the Fourth Estate's finest hour.
Now we have the reverse. The whole country is full of TV producers and pub- lishers offering hundreds of thousands of dollars to any bimbo, aspiring hooker, would-be actress or hat-check girl turned model who thinks she can make the right career move by alleging she hit the hay with a major candidate. It is getting so bad one almost wishes Gary Hart was around.
Needless to say, the blow-dried ones are in a frenzy. Bill Clinton seems a decent man whose alleged past conquests were a Miss USA and a Miss Arkansas. As an old Italian friend of mine insists, the only way to judge a man is by the women he runs around with. The Kennedys had high-class hookers posing as actresses. At least Clin- ton has beauty contest winners, which is an improvement. (Gary Hart comes in last. His were mostly plain hookers.) My position is ambivalent. Although I think of nothing else but women, I do not respect a man who aspires to the highest office in the land who thinks like Taki. Nor, however, do I like eunuchs. And that is what we will soon be getting to run for President if the trend continues. Maybe it's time for a woman President, but an English-born one, whose father was a gro- cer.
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