Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was not a fan of Martin Luther King Jr, once describing him as “tricky” and a “phony,” after hearing FBI tapes of him with a woman other than his wife in a hotel room. That’s just one of the revelations contained in a new book, Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy, which details, and even includes audio recordings of, a series of interviews Jackie gave shortly after JFK’s assassination. The AP got an early copy of the book and its accompanying eight audio CDs, and reveals these tidbits:
- John hated Lyndon Johnson. “Jack said it to me sometimes. He said, ‘Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon were president?'” Onassis recalls, adding that he even discussed backing another candidate in the Democratic primaries in 1968.
- Kennedy appointed Republican Henry Cabot Lodge ambassador to Vietnam because he doubted the war was winnable. “I think he probably did it … rather thinking it might be such a brilliant thing to do because Vietnam was rather hopeless anyway, and put a Republican there.”
- More MLK hate: She says he mocked the cardinal who oversaw her husband’s funeral, saying the cardinal “was drunk at it. And things about they almost dropped the coffin. I just can’t see a picture of Martin Luther King without thinking, you know, that man’s terrible.”
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