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

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

3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 · rating details · 3,890 ratings · 509 reviews

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 start...more 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.(less)

Hardcover, 198 pages

Published February 8th 2012 by Random House (first published October 19th 2010)

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Mar 13, 2013 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars

There is a difference between reviewing a book and psycho-analyzing an author. But this book provokes me to blur that distinction.

Characters in books are allowed to be three-dimensional and textured, as multi-layered as lasagna. But when a narrator's approach to a character is unclear, and the two approaches are opposites, then the book may have problems. Is this the story of the mutual, tender love affair between the charming young President and the woman he was drawn to in a passionate, if il...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars

I listened to this on CD commuting to a weekly class and part of my problem admittedly was the affectation and drama that the narrator (who was not the author) added to almost every sentence.

With regard to the content, I gather from some of the reviews that there are readers who are irritated that this book was written and consider it an unnecessary taint on JFK's legacy. Others seem to think it is positive that this story was told as an example of a powerful man using his power to take advanta...more I listened to this on CD commuting to a weekly class and part of my problem admittedly was the affectation and drama that the narrator (who was not the author) added to almost every sentence.

With regard to the content, I gather from some of the reviews that there are readers who are irritated that this book was written and consider it an unnecessary taint on JFK's legacy. Others seem to think it is positive that this story was told as an example of a powerful man using his power to take advantage of a 19 year old girl.
I don't really have an opinion as to whether the book should or shouldn't have been written. I certainly think its the author's right to tell her story. But while this would have made an interesting extended magazine article, there just wasn't enough to sustain an entire book. It's a memoir of a woman's entire life in some respects but which hinges almost entirely on an 18 month affair with JFK when she was a teenager. While I expected that to be the focus, I did not expect everything that happened to her after to be so tied to that event - her failed marriage is essentially blamed on this; meeting her second husband comes about because of the press coverage of this affair.

As a friend who reviewed this said, in the telling of the affair, you felt as if the story was being recounted by the 19 year old version of herself. And while you wished she made different choices, you came back to the fact that she was 19 after all. Neither she nor JFK come across well or likable. Despite her protestations to the contrary throughout, I saw zero appeal of this man even as she tried to describe him flatteringly. I couldn't understand it before and now I really don't get it. And how in the world could he have found time to have so many affairs simultaneously while being President? He had time to swim with the pretty girls at lunch every day and seemingly had a different girl every night.

But following the description of the affair, I literally found myself yelling out to the author in the car in frustration. She just never seemed to move on from this. Why oh why did she not see a therapist and work some of this out? And she seemingly kept breaking promises made and justifying them. It just seemed like she could not get over this whole experience as the defining moment of her life and it was hard and frustrating to witness. I had a difficult time finishing it because I was so irritated with her before it was over.(less)

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Jan 30, 2013 Erin Lenihan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was quite surprised by some of the low review ratings of this book. I really found it interesting and I believed every single word of the story. I also learned a lot from the book in terms of a presidency that took place before my time. Many reviewers were turned off by the lack of juicy sexual details however I don't think the author wrote the book to divulge those details but moreso to give herself some sort of healing from hiding a secret for so long and to really paint a picture of how tha...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Christie Bane rated it 5 of 5 stars

I totally, completely loved this book, much to my surprise. I picked it up looking for a tawdry thrill and haven't stopped thinking about it since.

Why? Here's why.

First of all, the author came off as someone who has done a ton of self-analysis and has really thought about what she did from every possible angle. She's a well-educated and thoughtful person and the way she can honestly report her motivation for doing everything that she did, whether they put her in a good light or not, was impress...more I totally, completely loved this book, much to my surprise. I picked it up looking for a tawdry thrill and haven't stopped thinking about it since.

Why? Here's why.

First of all, the author came off as someone who has done a ton of self-analysis and has really thought about what she did from every possible angle. She's a well-educated and thoughtful person and the way she can honestly report her motivation for doing everything that she did, whether they put her in a good light or not, was impressive. I don't think there are that many people who really analyze their own actions and thoughts in any kind of objective way like she did.

Second, everything she said about their relationship was totally and completely believable. I can picture her perfectly as a naive but smart and willing young intern in the white house. I believe everything she said -- she loved JFK, but she never had any false illusions about the outcome of their affair. Both she and he handled the affair with class and propriety. I have read my share of JFK books and trust me, this book gives a perspective on him that you will not find anywhere else.

Third, she did not write this for attention. She kept this secret for a long time. I think 40-something years. And when she did finally tell it, it was because the press dug it up and she was forced to deal with it again.

Fourth, the most interesting part of this book was NOT the details of what she did with JFK, although that was certainly interesting. It was the way it affected her relationship with her husband. She told him about the affair when they were engaged and JFK was assassinated. He was appalled and told her he would still marry her but she could never speak of it again. That secret was at the center of their married life and it ate at it like a cancer until the marriage fell apart. That led me to think about the nature of secrets and how destructive they can be. I realized when I was 18 that when there is something that can't be talked about between two people in a relationship that that relationship is essentially over. Oh, it might take a while for the house to fall down but I truly believe it will eventually. For her it took 20-something years.

Secrets can be very destructive, but they can also be the catalysts for major personal growth.(less)

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Dec 13, 2012 Agnes Fontana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Chacun de nous a un secret qui à la fois illumine et empoisonne sa vie. Mimi Alford a été stagiaire au service de presse de la maison blanche à partir de 1962, Kennedy a eu avec elle une liaison qui était à la fois très brusque dans son engagement et non dépourvue de chaleur et d'attention, dans son déroulement. Elle raconte le cloisonnement par lequel JFK menait son existence, la manière dont ce secret l'a isolée du reste du monde et comment finalement il l'a empêchée d'avoir une relation norma...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Trish rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very short book; quick read. It's not incredibly Meaningful, and a lot of it is written as a confessional, with a cliche (although obviously deeply felt, and completely legitimate) motif of I've Grown Up Now and Taken My Power as a Woman in revealing the affair with Kennedy.

Much more interesting was the description of backstage life as an intern in the White House and how she was treated as a pretty young secretary chosen for Kennedy's amusement and comfort. Kennedy does not come off as obviousl...more Very short book; quick read. It's not incredibly Meaningful, and a lot of it is written as a confessional, with a cliche (although obviously deeply felt, and completely legitimate) motif of I've Grown Up Now and Taken My Power as a Woman in revealing the affair with Kennedy.

Much more interesting was the description of backstage life as an intern in the White House and how she was treated as a pretty young secretary chosen for Kennedy's amusement and comfort. Kennedy does not come off as obviously callous, but certainly the way he treated women his wife and his lovers marks him as at least deeply oblivious (even in the 60's), and it remains mysterious about his motives in having such a clearly systematic way to gain his sexual partners.

The power imbalance is awfully disturbing throughout, and it's a clear portrait of a girl enthralled with the power of the man who has taken her; he can command her at will, and she remains entirely flattered, in a very innocent sort of way, which to me appears all too familiar in too many real stories. I didn't mind the philandering Marilyn affair-type stories I've always heard, at least they were on more equal footing, but to see that Kennedy preferred vulnerable, emotionally underdeveloped women who needed him to fill some kind of void in themselves (you can't tell me that isn't Marilyn in a nutshell and it certainly was this girl too) makes me really disgusted with him and the complicity with which the media covered it up and the White House staff aided and abetted him in it.

I'm not of the mind that character flaws or even deep moral failings in some areas automatically makes someone a bad politician or head of state. Yes, basically he raped her at their first encounter. Yes, she called him Mr. President throughout their time together. And yes, he led the country through the Bay of Pigs. Hero truly has feet of clay.

Ms. Alford also felt she had to keep this secret until now, when the press basically smoked her out. This stupid man and the culture of power and secrecy he set up controlled her then and continues to do so now. Hope it was worth it, Jack.

(less)

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Jul 31, 2012 Sally Wessely added it

Mimi Alford and I grew up during the same era, so I could relate to much of what she said about the times. She had the advantage of being a member of the social register that got her into the best schools and gave her access to jobs such as the one she had as a White House intern.

I guess my thoughts about what I felt about the story she has to tell about her time as President Kennedy's mistress could be summed up by my reaction to a photo of President Kennedy in today's paper. The article that...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Patrice rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked the book - it was definitely entertaining and a page-turner. What I did not particularly enjoy was the author delving into her current dating situation with her husband at the end of the book. To me, it turned the story into more of a personal journal or diary - like a diary entry that I would have written if I suspected someone were to read it. The author seemed like she was justifying or overexplaining what had happened to her and President Kennedy and how that relates to her current s...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Marcy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Everyone old enough remembers where they were when President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot. I was twelve. When I was eleven, I remember sewing my Halloween costume on the Commonwealth Avenue mall when J.F.K. rode by in a convertible. The light was shining on his auburn hair. His smile was wide, his teeth so white. I remember thinking that he was the one of the most handsome men I had ever seen. Since then, I have been fascinated with "Camelot," and the stories that have been revealed about th...more Everyone old enough remembers where they were when President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot. I was twelve. When I was eleven, I remember sewing my Halloween costume on the Commonwealth Avenue mall when J.F.K. rode by in a convertible. The light was shining on his auburn hair. His smile was wide, his teeth so white. I remember thinking that he was the one of the most handsome men I had ever seen. Since then, I have been fascinated with "Camelot," and the stories that have been revealed about the president when it comes to infidelity.

I was drawn to reading this book to learn just how a working president of the United States could easily get any woman he wanted. Mimi's story tells all the facts the reader wants to know. Mimi was an innocent 19 year old intern, a virgin, who worked for Pierre Salinger at the White House. After working there less than a week, she became part of J.F.K's "inner circle," having been invited to the White House pool where J.F.K. went for daily swims to ease his back pain, meet his women, and for a year and a half, he and Mimi had a steady affair, at least twice a week. Most of the time they spent in J.F.K.'s bedroom, but then Mimi was invited to tour the country on weekends to be at the president's beck and call. For their entire affair, Mimi called him Mr. President. Their time together was playful. Mimi also saw a side of the president that was not so kind...

Their affair ended slowly, two weeks before J.F.K.'s death in Dallas, Texas. When Mimi learned of his death, she was in the car with her fiancee. Before they married, Mimi let go of her secret. This secret deeply affected her marriage to her first husband, to the negative. Her marriage ended over 25 years later...

When Mimi was forced by a news article to give up her secret, she did so with relief. The events that followed allowed Mimi to have a voice and use her voice. This book must have been very cathartic for her to write. Mimi was an innocent who was taken in by a handsome, charismatic world leader.

"Friends never hesitate to ask if I was in love with President Kennedy. My guarded answer has always been "I don't think so." But the truth is, "Of course I was." This was one part hero worship, one part school girl crush, one part the thrill of being so close to power - and it was a potent, heady mix. Then there was the spike in my self-esteem that I felt whenever I was with him; I simply felt more alive - more special - in his company. But I want to be clear: I knew the situation. I knew that ours wasn't a partnership of equals, and that my love would go unrequited. He was the leader of the free world, after all. The married leader of the free world. And I wasn't even old enough to vote."

This is an honest memoir, written by a woman in her sixties, who remembers her youth with utmost clarity.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love to read nonfiction and especially those books about famous people. It is not a surprise that JFK was a serial philanderer but it is a bit of a surprise that his assistant pimped for him and got a 19 year old intern, the author of this book, to become involved in a secret relationship. The book is a quick read at 150+ pages. I think there could have been much more detail about working in the White House during the short Kennedy administration. It was a very Mad Men world in the early '60s...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Robbin rated it 2 of 5 stars

A blurb detailing how JFK had the author, a 19-year-old White House intern, perform oral sex on his right-hand man while he watched is what prompted me to grab this book. If you're looking for more titillating sexual accountings between Ms. Alford and JFK, read no further. There aren't anymore juicy snippets. Sadly, the bulk of this autobio delves into the connections and relationships of the East Coast jet setters and the numerous trips Ms. Alford made with JFK to various locations. The final t...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Antoinette Perez rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd read a review of this book a month or two ago, so when a copy called to me from the library shelf, I answered. And I'm glad I did.

Don't think there's much to spoil here. The subtitle kind of gives it all away. This book is pretty much everything I like a memoir to be: emotional but not overly sentimental; generous with detail that provides context but not gratuitously long; provoking but not salacious. And it's mighty conversational. I am impressed at the ease the author has in her own voic...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: autiobiography

I have to research more about "Mimi Alford". Right now I'm feeling such conflicting emotions.
* I'm sorry as a young adult being manipulated into being a mistress.
* It's clear she needed to find a voice, but not sure it needed to be writing a book.
* Even with her caring a secret so long, why didn't she just seek a therapist! Give me a break...
* Ok, you had a sexual relationship with a President, but he's gone "Mimi". If you felt it was important to give your side, I agree you are just a footno...more

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May 21, 2012 Joy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an amazingly good book. I hope it moves me along on my quest for becoming more compassionate. I was totally surprised by my ability to see how a young, innocent girl from a wealthy family could become a mistress of JFK. When she arrived in Washington for an internship as a nineteen-year-old, she was totally unprepared for the moral vacuum (my term) around the JFK White House and was seduced by him on their second meeting. She was in awe of his power (as president) and chrisma (as a man)...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Skyring rated it 4 of 5 stars

America was in love with JFK. Even those who hadn't voted for him in 1960, many of whom selectively edited their memories after his death to say that they had. For 19 year old Mimi Beardsley, recruited as a summer intern following a fleeting meeting with the President, there was no chance.

He literally tested the waters with her, inviting her to his regular lunchtime swim session and later giving her a private tour of the private areas of the White House, where she lost her virginity to JFK and b...more America was in love with JFK. Even those who hadn't voted for him in 1960, many of whom selectively edited their memories after his death to say that they had. For 19 year old Mimi Beardsley, recruited as a summer intern following a fleeting meeting with the President, there was no chance.

He literally tested the waters with her, inviting her to his regular lunchtime swim session and later giving her a private tour of the private areas of the White House, where she lost her virginity to JFK and began a two year affair with him.

Mimi, now Alford rather than Beardsley after two marriages, thinks of herself as a footnote to a footnote of history, but I see her as more than this. She is, very literally, a paragraph in at least two biographies of those Camelot years, and with historians breathing down her neck until she was finally outed, forty five years later, she decided to go public with her own story.

There are two intimate glimpses here in this book. Mimi looking back at her nineteen year old self, and her memories of the dashing young President. We see the innocent college student, excited to be invited to work in the White House press office, where merely changing the rolls on Pierre Salinger's teletype machines was exciting. She worries about clothing, she dreams of interviewing Jackie, she makes friends with the staff.

And she is seduced by the President. We see JFK as a charming predator, looking on 1960s Washington as a sexual smorgasbord, Mimi just one of many conquests. He's a thoughtful lover, sometimes a little over-confident, sometimes distracted by events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

His womenising is an open secret, particularly with Jackie, who loses count of her husband's lovers. Her absence from the White House is a signal for Jack to replace her, for a few minutes or a night, and we gasp at his brazen behaviour as he recruits his staff and his brothers to move women around, sometimes in secret, sometimes under the noses of the press corps.

Now, this is not the salacious behind the bedroom door book it could have been. The woman in her sixties telling the story reveals little about body parts and techniques. Instead she tells the story of the relationship, before and after Kennedy's assassination, which is a turning point in her life and the beginning of a long and ultimately miserable marriage.

She keeps her secret for decades, though it poisons her life,band when she finally tells a few close friends and family and then later shares it with the world, we share her sense of relief and catharsis. For one thing, she wants to set the record straight, correcting a few minor details, and she also wants to let the world know the devastating impact the affair had on her life.

I find myself, rather than shocked or salacilised, cheering Mimi on whenever she stands up for herself. Poor woman, she's gone through so much, she deserves a little love and understanding.

Besides, I've always been more than a little in love with the charismatic young President myself, seduced by the legend. (less)

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Feb 11, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, memoir

I expected this to be a little more salacious. Mimi Beardsley was the original White House intern, in the Kennedy administration, and was basically outed a few years ago by the press. What most struck me about this memoir is, though she wrote it in her late 60s, it reads every bit the naïve 19 year old she was. I completely understood how and why things unfolded even if I was cringing on her behalf. Her nineteen year old self shines through in a most realistic way. It’s crazy how long she kept t...more

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Feb 10, 2012 Bev rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, kindle

I saw a brief news report from Scarborough Country about this book today. This is not a program I regularly watch, so I don't know who the women is on it, but while Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews talked about the book, this woman looked like she had just swallowed something disgusting and kept making dismissive gestures as if the whole topic was so distasteful she didn't want to be involved with it.

Well...I ordered Alford's book about her youthful affair with JFK and I understand why she wro...more

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May 25, 2012 Fergie rated it 3 of 5 stars

A quick book club read. This book was well written and gave a compelling insight into the philandering ways of JFK. I've read enough "serious" commentaries on JFK's personal flaws as they pertained to his White House years not to be surprised by anything I read here. In fact, with everything that's been written on the subject through the years, I don't see how anyone would be surprised by what the author has to offer but the way Ms. Alford wrote was compelling enough to keep my attention. The pa...more A quick book club read. This book was well written and gave a compelling insight into the philandering ways of JFK. I've read enough "serious" commentaries on JFK's personal flaws as they pertained to his White House years not to be surprised by anything I read here. In fact, with everything that's been written on the subject through the years, I don't see how anyone would be surprised by what the author has to offer but the way Ms. Alford wrote was compelling enough to keep my attention. The pace of the book moved along to keep my interest despite the fact that I was learning very little about the President beyond what I had already read or imagined. The major weakness of the book, in my eyes, was my belief that Ms. Alford's character seemed more one dimensional in her own description of herself. At times, she painted herself as shallow without, I believe, her intention to do so. I've always believed that our political figures, despite their personal character flaws (and President Kennedy had many),can be compelling as a result of their of complex natures. JFK was complex. He was as far from a one dimensional character as ever there was one in history. This read would have potentially gained a four star rating from me had Ms. Alford not written in great depth about her life after JFK's assassination. Had I felt a greater connection to her "character", I may have been interested in reading more but, unfortunately, her life after JFK held little interest for me. Ms. Alford should be commended for keeping her secret for as long as she did. With the way media is today, anything salacious gains huge amount of attention -- even and perhaps especially concerning JFK (even after all these years). Instead, the author needed to be dragged into the limelight. For this, in some ways, she can be commended. My suggestion to any reader of this review -- I suggest you go out and read "Sex With Kings" by Eleanor Herman to find further examples of the kind of lascivious behaviors displayed here. Readers will find that JFK was certainly not the first to display these behaviors and attitudes -- the connection between sex and power is as old as time when it comes to politics.(less)

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May 11, 2012 Alyssa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This memoir is well-written and offers a few shocking turns to wonder at (mostly the speed with which JFK completed his "seduction," the extent of the author's willing participation in a relationship that was by turns exploitative and demeaning, and the troubling timing and aftermath of her confession to her then-fiancé). Ultimately, however, Once Upon a Secret proves more irritating than moving because Mimi Alford's eventual self-actualization ends up being so--well, irritating. She seems to ha...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Abdul Musa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Wow, what a story. This lady wittingly served as a sex kitten to the most powerful man in the world at the time.

Quick read, not very salacious, she describes the affair in a dreamy naive manner that makes you wonder whether she was a victim or willing paramour.

In all honesty, I am not sure what to feel about this book. I get the sense that she was caught up in the moment and made poor decisions that she is now trying to atone for. She says that she could have easily said no at any point and be...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: via-lexpub, non-fiction, memoir

Ms. Alford's memoir seems more of cathartic final therapy visit than some scandalous tell-all which was a relief. Still it is fascinating. Those of us with any modern, feminist perspective will not be able to help seeing the inequality, coersion, usury and degradation she endured as a sort of presidential sex worker with deep lingering Stockholm syndrome. Being plied with alcohol, never kissed on the mouth, hidden away in hotel rooms, having no social life and even being asked to perform sexual...more Ms. Alford's memoir seems more of cathartic final therapy visit than some scandalous tell-all which was a relief. Still it is fascinating. Those of us with any modern, feminist perspective will not be able to help seeing the inequality, coersion, usury and degradation she endured as a sort of presidential sex worker with deep lingering Stockholm syndrome. Being plied with alcohol, never kissed on the mouth, hidden away in hotel rooms, having no social life and even being asked to perform sexual favors on JFK's closest associates sounds very depressing. It is understandable how Mimi Alford came to be in the situation as she gives a good telling of the values of her upbringing and the social milieu she was from. I've never been interested in tales of Camelot and this story is exactly why.

This memoir is a study in the way women were and still are in too many cases - used by men,told how to behave, not having a voice in their own life. It is also an account of a woman learning to eventually turn her life decisions into her own ones and not those of her family's values, her sex partner's needs, her husband's prideful insistence.

Throughout the majority of the book Ms. Alford continues along to say she did this all willingly (if you are the least bit keen you will not be able to agree there) and that she loved JFK however this is countered several times with her description of feeling not ever in control (he was her boss!) and fearing losing the privilege of any contact with the the president if she did chose to ever say no. She enjoyed her secret time with Kennedy, that is until it came to an abrupt and permanent end and the toxic truth started to ruin her post-White House life. She immediately commits to her husband never to speak of it because she loves him and unknowingly sets off the next imbalance that eventually ruins that relationship.

In the end, we see Ms. Alford learn that living a certain way because the man in your life insists it must be such-and-such a way is very unhealthy and that she was unprepared to ever have thought it could and should be otherwise. Bravo to this brave woman for her courageous story of becoming whole through seeking equality. (less)

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Feb 15, 2012 Jaime Boler rated it 2 of 5 stars

Once upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath by Mimi Alford (Random House; 208 pages; $25).

Mimi Alford's story is almost too unbelievable to be true. If her account had not been part of the historical record, I would discount it as fiction; yet, what Ms. Alford claimed happened did happen. Sometimes truth is wilder than fiction.

Ms. Alford had a secret affair with President John F. Kennedy.

But, in 2003, the jig was up. In that year, the famed historian Robert...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Cyndee Gero-moore rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a quick read, only took a few hours, and I think you will find worth your time. This is, at its essense, the story of a woman taking nearly a lifetime to claim her power. It is also a story about a man's egregious abuse of power toward a innocent 19 year old girl.

She could have said no,you say. I challenge any woman who has ever been 19 years old, love and attention starved, and naiive of the ways of the world, to say Mimi Alford could have said no to the President of the United States...more

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May 16, 2013 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ick, ick, ick. If you don't want to be disgusted by JFK, then don't read this book. ICK!

The book is an easy read, but everything about it is disturbing: JFK's behavior, the behavior of his aides, but most of all, the disturbing retrospective account of this 70-year old woman who, even with 50 years' distance, thinks that JFK did nothing wrong. She's pretty delusional, not only excusing and justifying what is essentially multiple episodes of rape, but in believing that she and JFK shared an "inti...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Ivy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-biography-memoirs-nonfictio

In 1962, 19 year-old Mimi Beardsley landed a summer job as intern in the White House. Her job in the press room was to sit at a desk, file things away, and cut press tape before it landed on the ground. It was an easy job just fit for a teen to do...except eventually part of her responsibilities included sleeping with President JFK. So begins Mimi's memoir of how a 19 year-old virgin began a sexual affair with the most powerful man in the United States.

Ms. Alford's honest account of that year in...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

While I enjoyed this book, and I do believe that the writer DID have an affair with JFK, there were a few things in her story I do question.
Let me mention first what I do like about the book, and/or believe. She really takes us back to the 1960's, to the White House of that time. We get a sense of how it was back then,how different.
While she keeps the 'sex' pretty much at a PG level, there were still some details that caught me off guard. Even after JFK is killed, she keeps your attention, as t...more While I enjoyed this book, and I do believe that the writer DID have an affair with JFK, there were a few things in her story I do question.
Let me mention first what I do like about the book, and/or believe. She really takes us back to the 1960's, to the White House of that time. We get a sense of how it was back then,how different.
While she keeps the 'sex' pretty much at a PG level, there were still some details that caught me off guard. Even after JFK is killed, she keeps your attention, as the affair hangs over her personal life for many years.
Now, about some parts I may not believe....(Ok, I'll just talk about ONE)
There is no question that in 2003, Mimi was "found out" in the Bio "An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963" by Robert Dallek. Also, Kennedy press aide Barbara Gamarekian mentioned "Mimi" by name in her oral memoir transcribed by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in 1964, and unsealed in 2003. Ok. So she DID have the affair. I just wonder if she 'added' some details to her story. Case in point: She mentions that she and JFK took baths togther, and that he had some rubber ducks. She says they popped up after Vaugh Meader's comedy album The First Family came out. She says that in one skit, Meader (as the President)lists which toys are Caroline's or John's and then insists that "The rubber duck is mine!" So she says a friend of the President sent him the rubber ducks, because of that skit and famous line.
Well, you can listen to that skit on YOUTUBE. It's the 2nd skit on the album. The problem is, that it's a rubber SWAN, and not a duck. The line is "the rubber schwan [swan] is mine." Now, did he have rubber ducks in his tub? Maybe. Did she make the connection to the record, and just get it wrong? Maybe. But it made me wonder how much (if any-to be fair-she may be 100% telling the truth) that she 'added'....
Even if some parts were added to pad this quick read, it IS a good read. Fan of JFK, or not, I think it is worth your time...(less)

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Oct 09, 2012 Linda Appelbaum rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was so disturbing on so many levels, yet fascinating! Mimi was only 19 and on the job for a couple of days when she was completely seduced by JKF. It was shattering to see that he seduced so young and naieve a young girl. What was more shocking was that he offered her to other men to "take care of them". She was really almost a prostitute and the men around JFK were like his pimps! This girl was so innocent, but we all were then. Her story made me feel uncomfortable and reminded me of...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 0-audiobook, 2013_read_list, biography, history, nonfiction

It’s hard to put an exact label on this book, but there was an emotional honesty to the writing that really moved me. It is impossible not to interpret this story through the lens of now and one’s personal opinions. It is unusual for me to read a book that makes me really confront those preconceptions and opinions and I really enjoyed this work for that reason.

As a young (young, young, young) girl in Washington, the author finds herself having an affair with President Kennedy. “Finds herself” is...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Janelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I kind of liked this more than I thought I would. It wasn't ground breaking, I had already watched her interview with Meredith Viera so nothing was too surprising in the book. She was a woman with a secret that she kept after it was demanded by her then fiance.

Times were different then. You held things in, you didn't dredge up bad emotions. She explained that keeping the secret from the beginning is what ultimately killed her marriage. Keeping it confined from the beginning meant they could nev...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Britney Shinall rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 50-book-challenge

I loved this book! I seen an interview on tv last year with Mimi Alford and that is when I knew I needed to read the book she wrote. The Kennedy family has always been a topic of interest for me. I can say after finishing this book I admire Mimi Alford a lot. She may not have been right in doing what she did but to be a part of the history of JFK is a fascinating thing no matter what your role was. I love that even in the troubling parts of her marriage she still had good thing to say about her...more

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