Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath

Summary (from the publisher): In the summer of 1962, nineteen-year-old Mimi Beardsley arrived by train in Washington, D.C., to begin an internship in the White House press office. The Kennedy Administration had reinvigorated the capital and the country—and Mimi was eager to contribute. For a young woman from a privileged but sheltered upbringing, the job was the chance of a lifetime. Although she started as a lowly intern, Mimi made an impression on Kennedy’s inner circle and, after just three days at the White House, she was presented to the President himself.

Almost immediately, the two began an affair that would continue for the next eighteen months.

In an era when women in the workplace were still considered “girls,” Mimi was literally a girl herself—naïve, innocent, emotionally unprepared for the thrill that came when the President’s charisma and power were turned on her full-force. She was also unprepared for the feelings of isolation that would follow as she fell into the double life of a college student who was also the secret lover of the most powerful man in the world. Then, after the President’s tragic death in Dallas, she grieved in private, locked her secret away, and tried to start her life anew, only to find that her past would cast a long shadow—and ultimately destroy her relationship with the man she married.

In 2003, a Kennedy biographer mentioned “a tall, slender, beautiful nineteen-year-old college sophomore and White House intern, who worked in the press office” in reference to one of the President’s affairs. The disclosure set off a tabloid frenzy and soon exposed Mimi and the secret that she had kept for forty-one years. Because her past had been revealed in such a shocking, public way, she was forced, for the first time, to examine the choices she’d made. She came to understand that shutting down one part of her life so completely had closed her off from so much more.

No longer defined by silence or shame, Mimi Alford has finally unburdened herself with this searingly honest account of her life and her extremely private moments with a very public man. Once Upon a Secret offers a new and personal depiction of one of our most iconic leaders and a powerful, moving story of a woman coming to terms with her past and moving out of the shadows to reclaim the truth.

 

Review: This memoir was written by a former white house intern that had an eighteenth month affair with President John F. Kennedy. This could have easily been a tell-all, inside look, exploiting her intimate relationship and insider knowledge. But it's not. Instead, the author only choose to come forward after decades of silence, and only because the media exposed her; "I kept this secret with near religious discipline for more than forty years, confiding only in a handful of people, including my first husband. I never told my parents, or my children. I assumed it would stay my secret until I died" (3).

 

Mimi arrived at the White House as an innocent and naïve nineteen year old. Only days after arriving, she was invited upstairs, to the private residence of the first family, with several other staff members. President Kennedy offered her a tour. Then he took her into a bedroom and proceeded to initiate sex. "He placed both hands on my shoulders and guided me toward the edge of the bed. I landed on my elbows, frozen halfway between sitting up and lying on my back" (50).

 

Although Mimi argues that it wasn't rape, its undeniable that their was a serious imbalance of power between the two. Additionally, throughout their relationship, they maintained a distance. She only ever called him Mr. President and they never kissed. Although for the most part he was kind towards her, there were definitely moments when he abused the power dynamics, most notably when he requested that she perform oral sex on one of his White House staffers. Also, although I know it was typical of the time period to not discuss sexual matters, it's was remarkable to me that Mimi never confided her relationship while it was in progress with anyone, even her mother, sisters, friends, or even others close to her that worked at the White House.

 

I admit I was skeptical of Mimi's story going in, but I found her honesty, willingness to portray herself in a negative light, and introspective look at her whole life convincing. Disparagingly, she says, "If anything, I'm a footnote to a footnote of America's thirty-fifty president, someone so far off the radar that a diligent biographer couldn't identify me by my full name in his JFK biography" (175).  Rather than merely a recounting of the affair, the memoir is instead also an overview of her childhood and marriage.  Alford cites her affair with JFK as the undiscussed secret that ultimately started a marriage based on avoidance of any conflict. Yet she doesn't blame JFK or solely her husband's inability to deal with his wife's previous relationship, but instead also acknowledges that she didn't handle the situation as well as she might have.

 

Mimi has had decades to contemplate her relationship with JFK, including what led her to the relationship and the ripple affects it had well after the relationship, and indeed the president's life, had ended. I admired her honest, self-critical approach to telling her story. Although I'm sure the Kennedy family was less than pleased about her memoir, I can respect that she waited decades, until the death of many who would have been hurt by this story, and only came forward after the press exposed her anyway.

 

Stars: 4