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    Ladies' Man

    The Careless Heart of John F. Kennedy

    Author Laurence Leamer
    Hardcover
    $32.00 US
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | G.P. Putnam's Sons
    6"W x 9"H | 18 oz | 12 per carton
    On sale Oct 20, 2026 | 320 Pages | 9798217048403
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Capote’s Women, a penetrating examination of President John F. Kennedy’s complicated, tumultuous life as told through the lens of the fascinating women he loved.

    John F. Kennedy was a born leader—bold, charismatic, and able to charm with nothing more than a witty phrase and a winning smile. He was also obsessive, manipulative, and haunted by complex desires for shiny, remarkable women, collecting them voraciously and carelessly, then dismissing them summarily, on his rise to the White House.

    But these women were perhaps the only witnesses to the real JFK—and it’s time their stories were finally told. Bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer knew three of Kennedy’s mistresses, and Ladies’ Man reveals JFK’s harrowing, intimate life with unprecedented access.

    From youthful indiscretions at boarding school, early connections with such beautiful aristocratic European women as Inga Arvad and Gunilla von Post, marriage to the stately Jacqueline Bouvier, affairs with Pamela Turnure and Diana de Vegh, liaisons with mafia moll Judith Exner and East German spy Ellen Rometsch, to his relationship with Marilyn Monroe shortly before her death, JFK’s affairs were multifaceted and often tragic. His cautious public persona contrasted sharply with his reckless personal life, where he took bewildering chances that could have destroyed his presidency.

    No one who reads Ladies’ Man will ever think about John F. Kennedy the same way again.
    “Wonderfully researched and sensitively written, Ladies’ Man illustrates that JFK’s cold relationships with the women in his life perfectly mirrored his stony political calculations. You may think—as I did—that you know a lot about ‘Jack,’ but Ladies’ Man will make you reconsider everything about him.” —Gus Russo, co-author of Brothers in Arms

    “Sensitive rather than salacious, this meticulously researched and engagingly written accounting focuses on how JFK’s often primitive but also complicated relationships with women shaped the career and revealed the character of the charismatic martyred president whose legacy of sex appeal being central to political appeal still shapes American politics.” —Scott Farris, author of Inga: Kennedy’s Great Love

    “From Boston boyhood to his assassination in Dallas, JFK’s love life was prolific—and reckless. Laurence Leamer’s Ladies’ Man captures the story of JFK’s addiction to women so frankly, yet with such human understanding. I doubt Laurence Leamer’s new account can be bettered. Once started, you will have to read on to the tragic end.” —Nigel Hamilton, New York Times bestselling author of JFK: Reckless Youth
    © Jacek Gancarz
    New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer is a leading biographer of the rich and scandalous, including Capote’s Women, Madness Under the Royal Palms and The Kennedy Women, among many other books. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Palm Beach, Florida. View titles by Laurence Leamer

    About

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Capote’s Women, a penetrating examination of President John F. Kennedy’s complicated, tumultuous life as told through the lens of the fascinating women he loved.

    John F. Kennedy was a born leader—bold, charismatic, and able to charm with nothing more than a witty phrase and a winning smile. He was also obsessive, manipulative, and haunted by complex desires for shiny, remarkable women, collecting them voraciously and carelessly, then dismissing them summarily, on his rise to the White House.

    But these women were perhaps the only witnesses to the real JFK—and it’s time their stories were finally told. Bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer knew three of Kennedy’s mistresses, and Ladies’ Man reveals JFK’s harrowing, intimate life with unprecedented access.

    From youthful indiscretions at boarding school, early connections with such beautiful aristocratic European women as Inga Arvad and Gunilla von Post, marriage to the stately Jacqueline Bouvier, affairs with Pamela Turnure and Diana de Vegh, liaisons with mafia moll Judith Exner and East German spy Ellen Rometsch, to his relationship with Marilyn Monroe shortly before her death, JFK’s affairs were multifaceted and often tragic. His cautious public persona contrasted sharply with his reckless personal life, where he took bewildering chances that could have destroyed his presidency.

    No one who reads Ladies’ Man will ever think about John F. Kennedy the same way again.

    Praise

    “Wonderfully researched and sensitively written, Ladies’ Man illustrates that JFK’s cold relationships with the women in his life perfectly mirrored his stony political calculations. You may think—as I did—that you know a lot about ‘Jack,’ but Ladies’ Man will make you reconsider everything about him.” —Gus Russo, co-author of Brothers in Arms

    “Sensitive rather than salacious, this meticulously researched and engagingly written accounting focuses on how JFK’s often primitive but also complicated relationships with women shaped the career and revealed the character of the charismatic martyred president whose legacy of sex appeal being central to political appeal still shapes American politics.” —Scott Farris, author of Inga: Kennedy’s Great Love

    “From Boston boyhood to his assassination in Dallas, JFK’s love life was prolific—and reckless. Laurence Leamer’s Ladies’ Man captures the story of JFK’s addiction to women so frankly, yet with such human understanding. I doubt Laurence Leamer’s new account can be bettered. Once started, you will have to read on to the tragic end.” —Nigel Hamilton, New York Times bestselling author of JFK: Reckless Youth

    Author

    © Jacek Gancarz
    New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer is a leading biographer of the rich and scandalous, including Capote’s Women, Madness Under the Royal Palms and The Kennedy Women, among many other books. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Palm Beach, Florida. View titles by Laurence Leamer

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