another OT: HBO documentary on Ben Bradlee

by Jay ⌂, San Diego, Tuesday, December 05, 2017, 08:16 (2306 days ago)

Debuted last night. Worth a watch.

Covers not just the Watergate reporting, but his backstory as a close personal friend of JFK's, his mixed-up family life, and the Janet Cooke scandal at the Post.

HBO ran this back-to-back with All the President's Men, which I couldn't help but start as well.

Did it discuss his wife?

by San Pedro @, Tuesday, December 05, 2017, 09:00 (2306 days ago) @ Jay

Apparently JFK chased her around at his last birthday party on a yacht and made some
aggressive passes

Thanks for the tip. Saw it was on and wondered about it.

yep, that and his other wives too

by Jay ⌂, San Diego, Tuesday, December 05, 2017, 09:07 (2306 days ago) @ San Pedro

The archival JFK footage is pretty interesting.

The JFK / Camelot stuff was pretty amazing

by JPH, Tuesday, December 05, 2017, 15:26 (2305 days ago) @ Jay

Don't think I'd ever seen that video footage, but sure took you back. And the kicker about JFK and his wife had a particular resonance in our current reckoning.

If interested, Bradlee's memoir from the late 90s was very good. He was a funny guy -- though kinda a jerk, too, I suppose. It covers much of the same ground as the documentary, but it's an enjoyable and insightful read.

Did it discuss his SIL?

by Bryan (IrishCavan), Howth Castle and Environs, Tuesday, December 05, 2017, 09:24 (2306 days ago) @ Jay

Fascinating story, esp. her relationship with JFK and both of their deaths.

went into it a bit

by Jay ⌂, San Diego, Tuesday, December 05, 2017, 09:45 (2306 days ago) @ Bryan (IrishCavan)

and talked a little about the gentleman’s agreement among the press corps in not reporting on any of that stuff at the time. You wonder how JFK might have fared in today’s media landscape.

Not well

by DEM, Chicago, Wednesday, December 06, 2017, 06:31 (2305 days ago) @ Jay

I mean Tony Smith wrote in her book that JFK basically "assaulted" her when he finally caught up to her on the boat.

I saw the documentary last night. I thought it was an excellent look at a great, but flawed man. The Kennedy stuff was unbelievable. I've heard all of the stories a million times but some of the Bradlee/Kennedy stuff and some of the video was new to me. It is worth a watch if just for that.

Here is an article that describes the 46th birthday cruise in more detail. How would you like to be the descendants of Clement Norton who will live on as a boor into eternity !

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/26/jfks-last-birthday-gifts-c...

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