No.Nonsense.

I just finished reading a book by writer Maureen Callahan titled “Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed”. We have heard for decades about the philandering Kennedy men, but this book does a deep dive on the women who were the collateral damage of the men’s proclivities.

We know of President John Kennedy and his extramarital affairs. What we have heard little of is that he and Bobby periodically slept with the same women, Marilyn Monroe included. Bobby even had a sexual relationship with Jackie after Jack was assassinated. Jack, while in the White House, would have lunch time swims when Jackie was away where the “guests” were several of the young secretaries with whom he had ongoing sexual encounters. These encounters occurred in the Lincoln Bedroom and even in the bed he shared with Jackie. Furthermore, it has been posited that the multiple miscarriages, one stillbirth, and one baby who died just days after birth were potentially from Jack’s sexually transmitted diseases.

Bobby had multiple affairs while married to Ethel. Joe Kennedy, the elder, cheated multiple times and even had multiple allegations of rape. When his eldest daughter, Rosemary, had a difficult birth that left her with cognitive delays, he had her lobotomized in her 20s and dumped in an institution without telling any of her siblings what happened to her or where she was. And because he was the patriarch, no one asked.

Teddy left a woman to die a horrible death in an upside down car in three feet of water because of the potential impact to his political career. When his wife became an alcoholic due to the way he treated her, he blamed her rather than looking in the mirror. She also experienced multiple miscarriages, just like Jackie. Ted, like his father, had multiple rape allegations against him.

Michael Kennedy was accused of molesting his kids’ 14 year old babysitter. William Kennedy Smith was tried and acquitted of rape despite the evidence. Michael Skakel, Kennedy cousin, was convicted- ultimately overturned- for murdering Martha Moxeley.

Bobby Jr tried to institutionalize his second wife, Mary, when she became depressed due to his multiple affairs. During their divorce proceedings, he violated the court order and financially cut her off, leaving her penniless. When she hung herself out of despair, he had her buried in the family plot only to later have her exhumed in the middle of the night and moved to an unmarked grave.

In 1973, Joe Kennedy II was driving recklessly and flipped his Jeep, resulting in a young woman being paralyzed when she was thrown from the vehicle. He was only fined $100 and never gave her anything for devastating her life. Even John Jr recklessly endangered multiple girlfriends while engaging in dangerous acts and pressuring them to go with him. The night he was killed along with his wife, Carolyn, and her sister Lauren, he took a flight he was not qualified to pilot in the conditions. He flew his plane nose first into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Kennedys have been a political dynasty. An ambassador, a president, an attorney general, a senator, and a cabinet secretary. They have been idolized for their accomplishments. And all of them were misogynistic men who treated women like property.

All of these stories highlight a major issue in the halls of powerful men- how we tend to excuse men at the top of the pyramid in how they treat the women in their lives. If they are wealthy, if they are influential, if they put money in our pockets, we don’t seem to be concerned with their reputations. They show a level of misogyny in their personal lives and we say, “okay, so what will you do for me?”

Let me share some examples:

Donald Trump brags that he has more women in his cabinet than any prior president but he has had three wives and cheated on all of them. All three wives were beautiful women who made good props and he used them as such.

Bill Clinton got a blowjob from an intern in the Oval Office. He had multiple accusations of sexual harassment and rape. He’s reportedly had extramarital affairs throughout his marriage to Hillary. Their marriage is one of political power where both have benefited.

Elon Musk has 14 children from four different women.

Jeff Bezos cheated on his first wife with his current wife.

Bill Gates was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein and engaged in all of the perversion associated with that friendship. Melinda Gates reportedly filed for divorce when she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from him.

I am not normally into public shaming but I could make an exception for men like these, men who believe they can treat the women in their lives with no more consideration than one of the suits in their closet designed to make them look good. We need to stop making them pillars of the historical record and spotlight their failures. As long as bad behavior is excused with no repercussions, these men will continue to see women as just props in their own power play.