Jackie Kennedy: MLK A 'Phony'

A new book of interviews reveals Jackie Kennedy didn’t like Martin Luther King, Jr. very much — and his cheating was one of the reasons.

The AP got a hold of a copy of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, which comes out next week. In the book, the former first lady tells interviewer Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr that King made fun of her husband’s funeral and the Cardinal who officiated at it:

He made fun of Cardinal Cushing and said that he was drunk at it. And things about they almost dropped the coffin. I just can’t see a picture of Martin Luther King without thinking, you know, that man’s terrible.

She also called King “tricky” and “phony” after hearing FBI tapes showing he was unfaithful to his wife. However, her husband apparently urged her not to judge him, perhaps anticipating the day when his own affairs would come to light. It’s unclear if she felt differently about King’s cheating after learning about JFK’s.

In Newly Published Interviews, Jacqueline Kennedy Recounts JFK’s Scorn For Lyndon Johnson [AP, via Newser]