According to a new book, former President John F. Kennedy paid for another woman’s abortion shortly after welcoming a child with his wife, Jackie Kennedy. On November 27, 1957, Jackie gave birth to Caroline Kennedy. Then, in June 1958, Joan Lundberg, a woman JFK had been having an affair with, allegedly told him she was pregnant.
The story of the affair is detailed in JFK: Public, Private, Secret by J. Randy Taraborrelli. According to an excerpt shared by People, JFK told Joan “she couldn’t have the baby” and sent her $400 for an abortion.
The affair reportedly began after JFK met Joan at a dive bar in 1956. He was already married to Jackie. That same year, in August, Jackie gave birth to a stillborn child and JFK’s reaction, or lack thereof, reportedly made her feel like something was lacking.
“She’d always felt something was missing in his nature, and now she knew what it was: empathy,” Taraborrelli wrote in the book. Not long after that, in September, JFK reportedly invited Joan to a party while he was in Los Angeles. That night, they had “wild” sex, according to Joan.
When he returned home, Jackie reportedly questioned him about Joan. Concerned about her husband’s infidelity, Jackie considered divorce. But according to the book, her father-in-law, Joe Kennedy, tried to persuade her to stay in the marriage.
“Joe told Jackie that if she agreed to stay in the marriage he could give her the freedom to do whatever she liked,” the author wrote. “He would offer her $100,000 upon the birth of her and Jack’s first child.”
According to Joan, JFK had described his marriage to Jackie as “an arranged marriage.” Taraborrelli alleges, “As such marriages go, he said it was ‘fine. Not great, but okay.'”
The affair reportedly ended after Joan’s abortion, though Joan noticed that something had changed once JFK and Jackie welcomed Caroline. According to the author, Joan was the one who decided she needed to distance herself from JFK.
In the book, Taraborrelli shared some details from the phone call that marked the end of the affair. According to the book, Joan told JFK, “‘One thing I want to say to you, Kennedy,’ she told him. ‘You love Caroline, and I know that, but I’m somebody’s daughter, too. Remember that the next time you treat a woman the way you’ve treated me.’”
