Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The White House intern with the permanent wave (a JFK intern feel left out)
IHT ^ | 05/20/03 | Nora Ephron

Posted on 05/20/2003 5:00:24 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

Meanwhile: The White House intern with the permanent wave

Nora Ephron NYT

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

NEW YORK I too was an intern in the JFK White House. I was. This is not one of those humor pieces where the writer pretends to some experience related to the news to make an "amusing" point. It was 1961, and I was hired by Pierre Salinger to work in the White House press office, the very same place where Mimi Beardsley, later Fahnestock, was to work the next year. And now that Mimi Fahnestock has been forced to come forward to admit that she had an affair with Kennedy, I might as well tell my story.

I notice that all the articles about poor Mimi (whom I never met) quote another woman in the press office, Barbara Gamarekian, who cattily pointed out, according to the newspapers, that Mimi "couldn't type." Well, all I can say to that is: Ha. In fact, Double Ha. There were, when I worked there, six women in Pierre Salinger's office. Typing was not a skill that anyone seemed to need, and it certainly wasn't necessary for interns like me (and Mimi, dare I say), because THERE WAS NO DESK FOR AN INTERN TO SIT AT AND THEREFORE NO TYPEWRITER TO TYPE ON.

Yes, I am still bitter about it!

Because there I was, not just the only young woman in the White House who was unable to afford an endless series of A-line sleeveless linen dresses just like Jackie's, but also the only person in the press office with nowhere to sit. And then, as now, I could type 100 words a minute. Every eight-hour day there were theoretically 48,000 words that weren't being typed because I didn't have a desk.

Also, I had a really bad permanent wave. This is an important fact for later in the story, when things heat up.

I met the president within minutes of going to "work" in the White House. My first morning there, he flew to Annapolis to give the commencement address at the Naval Academy, and Pierre invited me to come along with the press pool in the press helicopter. When I got back to the White House, Pierre took me in to meet the president. He was the handsomest man I had ever seen. I don't remember the details of our conversation, but perhaps they are included in Pierre's reminiscences in the Kennedy Library. Some day I will look them up. What I do remember is that the meeting was short, perhaps 10 or 15 seconds. After it, I went back to the press office and discovered what you, reader, already know: There was no place for me to sit.

So I spent my summer internship lurking in the hall near the file cabinet. From time to time I went into the Oval Office and watched the president be photographed with foreign leaders. Sometimes, I am pretty sure, he noticed me watching him.

Which brings me to my crucial encounter with JFK, the one that no one at the Kennedy Library has come to ask me about. It was a Friday afternoon, and because I had nowhere to sit (see above) and nothing to do (ditto) I decided to go out and watch the president leave by helicopter for a weekend in Hyannisport. It was a beautiful day, and I stood out under the portico overlooking the Rose Garden, just outside the Oval Office. The helicopter landed. The noise was deafening. The wind from the chopper blades was blowing hard (although my permanent wave kept my hair stuck tight to my head). And then suddenly, instead of coming out of the living quarters, the president emerged from his office and walked right past me to get to the helicopter. He turned. He saw me. He recognized me. The noise was deafening but he spoke to me. I couldn't hear a thing, but I read his lips, and I'm pretty sure what he said was, "How are you coming along?" But I wasn't positive. So I replied as best I could. "What?" I said.

And that was it. He turned and went off to the helicopter and I went back to standing around the White House until the summer was over.

Now that I have read the articles about Mimi Fahnestock, it has become horribly clear to me that I am probably the only young woman who ever worked in the Kennedy White House whom the president did not make a pass at. Perhaps it was my permanent wave, which was a truly unfortunate mistake. Perhaps it was my wardrobe, which mostly consisted of multicolored dynel dresses that looked like distilled Velveeta cheese. Perhaps it's because I'm Jewish - don't laugh, think about it, think about that long, long list of women JFK slept with. Were any Jewish? I don't think so.

On the other hand, perhaps it's simply because JFK sensed that discretion was not my middle name. I mean, I assure you if anything had gone on between the two of us, you would not have had to wait this long to find it out.

Anyway, that's my story. I might as well go public with it, although I have told it to pretty much everyone I have ever met in the last 42 years. And now, like Mimi Fahnestock, I will have no further comment on this subject. I would request that the news media respect my family's privacy.

Nora Ephron is a writer and director.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: intern; jfk; jfkennedy; mimi; noraephron
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last
Too bad that JFK is not around to tell her why he ignored her.:) This is getting ridiculous.
1 posted on 05/20/2003 5:00:24 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
Actually a pretty funny piece. : )
2 posted on 05/20/2003 5:05:33 AM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (When you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
Yep. This is funny.
3 posted on 05/20/2003 5:07:19 AM PDT by petitfour
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
Now that I have read the articles about Mimi Fahnestock, it has become horribly clear to me that I am probably the only young woman who ever worked in the Kennedy White House whom the president did not make a pass at. Perhaps it was my permanent wave, which was a truly unfortunate mistake. Perhaps it was my wardrobe, which mostly consisted of multicolored dynel dresses that looked like distilled Velveeta cheese. Perhaps it's because I'm Jewish

Maybe it's because you had a face that could stop a clock...


4 posted on 05/20/2003 5:13:52 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster

5 posted on 05/20/2003 5:14:21 AM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (When you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus
Oops - a simulphotopost thingy!! Sorry!! It's a treasure trove over there on the Wellesley site. Guess who:


6 posted on 05/20/2003 5:18:26 AM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (When you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet
Yeah, I know. ROFL! Do you like the image of Hillary! (tm) there?
7 posted on 05/20/2003 5:19:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus
Come on now. She's not bad looking. :>)
8 posted on 05/20/2003 5:23:39 AM PDT by RockBassCreek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
Perhaps it's because I'm Jewish - don't laugh, think about it, think about that long, long list of women JFK slept with. Were any Jewish? I don't think so.

Uh, Nora, I think that JFK's second most publicized affair prior to the Mimi revelation was his relationship with Judith Exner.

I'm going to guess Judith wasn't Irish.

9 posted on 05/20/2003 5:24:17 AM PDT by wideawake (Support our troops and their Commander-in-Chief)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RockBassCreek
I'd say about average.
10 posted on 05/20/2003 5:24:53 AM PDT by wideawake (Support our troops and their Commander-in-Chief)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: RockBassCreek
Yeah, but remember, we're not comparing to "average" with JFK, "Personal Minister to the Star(let)s"!
11 posted on 05/20/2003 5:25:00 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
He was the handsomest man I had ever seen.

I saw JFK in person and "handsome" didn't come to mind. I was too busy wondering about the thick, orangey-colored, pancake make-up on his face.

12 posted on 05/20/2003 5:28:27 AM PDT by onyx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus
Weird! How come she didn't have one of those hair-fresh-out-of-rollers-and-sprayed-with-White Rain-looking portraits, like everyone else? That was really her senior picture? What a bizarre shot!
13 posted on 05/20/2003 5:29:45 AM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (When you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: wideawake; Cincinatus
The truth be known, I'm more into form than face.

Remember the lady who was in the Big Easy with Dennis Quaid? (Ellen something or other?) She looked like she'd KISSED that Mack truck.

But....really NICE form from there on down.

14 posted on 05/20/2003 5:30:01 AM PDT by RockBassCreek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: RockBassCreek
Ellen Barkin. (Yes, there is an obvious joke there, but I am not going to make it.)
15 posted on 05/20/2003 5:32:14 AM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (When you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus
I think Nora might have worn thick glasses. Look at that sleepy left eye. Reminds me of Aristole Onasis.
16 posted on 05/20/2003 5:34:28 AM PDT by onyx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: RockBassCreek
Yup - Ellen Barkin is pretty well-known for having an "interesting" face but a classic figure.
17 posted on 05/20/2003 5:36:49 AM PDT by wideawake (Support our troops and their Commander-in-Chief)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: All
She was married to Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein; a 'stormy' joining, I guess. The rocky road provided grist for her roman a clef "Heartburn", which she turned into a highly praised 1986 film. If Bernstein was anything like the husband in that movie, he was a real stinker! I think Meryl Streep played the long-suffering wife. Ephron also wrote the script for the extremely popular "When Harry Met Sally".
18 posted on 05/20/2003 5:54:10 AM PDT by Maria S
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned....
19 posted on 05/20/2003 6:38:45 AM PDT by anniegetyourgun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
Perhaps he didnt say .."How are you coming along"..but Are you coming along?
and when she said "What" and didnt move enthusiastically toward the waiting helicopter...
The prez assumed she wasnt interested...
So she blew it! the one chance she had to make history...to "be" someone "special" ( and the A list of presidential sluts)
Because she didnt hear the words correctly...
Awwwwww bummer
What the heck is it gonna be like after we elect a lesbian prez.....
20 posted on 05/20/2003 6:43:15 AM PDT by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson