Why The Kennedy Marriage Wasn't a Love Story—And Washington Played Along

The cold, transactional origins of JFK and Jackie’s marriage, the rampant infidelity, and the Kennedy patriarch’s secret million-dollar bribe to stop a divorce. The public viewed John F. Kennedy and Jackie as the ultimate fairy-tale romance of "Camelot," but behind closed doors, it was a highly strategic political arrangement. JFK was a rampant, serial philanderer who humiliated Jackie with his constant affairs. The marriage was so profoundly unhappy that in the late 1950s, Jackie seriously planned to file for divorce. Terrified that a divorce would destroy JFK's chances of becoming President, family patriarch Joe Kennedy Sr. secretly offered Jackie a $1 million bribe to stay in the marriage and play the part of the devoted wife. Washington insiders knew the truth but protected the myth.