JFK: The Nastiest President of the Twentieth Century?

Who was the most reprehensible US President in the twentieth century? That’s a tough question, though not one related to policy, political preferences or job performances. I mean instead: who was the nastiest piece of work to occupy the White House at any point during the last century. There are, I think, five contenders: Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, John F Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Mimi Alford’s new memoir, relating how she had an affair with JFK while working in a junior role at “Camelot” offers more form proving that the drug-wracked, priapic Kennedy is a leading contender in this grim contest. Among the gruesome stories she tells:

Dave Powers [Kennedy’s Special Assistant and the man in the next car behind the President that day in Dallas] was sitting poolside while the President and I swam lazy circles around each other, splashing playfully. Dave had removed his jacket and loosened his tie in the warm air of the pool, but he was otherwise fully clothed.