Chapter 6 - Ethical Culture Fieldston School

“Mr. Sinatra Gets Rejected”
was running for president, he had visited, and Sinatra had installed a plaque on
the door of the guest room: “John Fitzgerald Kennedy Slept Here.” 2 In the
months that followed, Sinatra had been one of Kennedy’s most visible and
effective supporters. Using his extensive contacts in entertainment, he had
organized Kennedy’s spectacular Inaugural Gala, and had served as Jacqueline
Kennedy’s escort at the event. Perhaps more importantly, he had served as a
conduit for JFK’s mistresses, notably Judith Campbell [later Exner], whom
Kennedy shared with Sam Giancana, the notorious organized crime chieftain. 3
Now, in the winter of 1962, Kennedy is well into the first of what he hopes
will be a two‐term presidency. Sinatra, for his part, expects their friendship to
continue. To that end – but without any formal request that he do so – he’s made
extensive renovations in his home: separate cottages for the president and the
Secret Service; a dining room for about 40 guests; 25 extra phone lines; enough
cable to support teletype services; a switchboard to handle the incoming
communications traffic; a heliport to serve air traffic. He’s even installed a
flagpole like the one in Hyannisport so that he can fly the presidential flag when
Kennedy arrives for a weekend visit in March and a vacation in June.
But Kennedy never does. He defers to his brother Robert, who insists that
he cannot go. The reason, in a word, is Giancana. In late February of 1962,
Attorney General Kennedy receives information from FBI director J. Edgar
Hoover showing Judith Campbell has not only been calling the White House, but
also Giancana and fellow mobster Johnny Roselli. (In Hoover’s mode of
operations, this intelligence is as likely to be a covert threat – I’ve got dirt on you
2 Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: My Father, p. 155.
3 Though shrouded in controversy and misinformation – Judith Campbell Exner herself disavowed her
1977 memoir My Story, claiming fear of retribution – a basic Giancana-Campbell-Sinatra-Kennedy
connection has now been largely accepted by those who have studied both Sinatra and Kennedy
extensively. For a good brief overview of the matter, see Taraborelli, pp. 221-223.
American History for Cynical Beginners
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