JFK’s Father Paid Jackie Kennedy $1 Million to Stay Married: a ‘Divorced Man’ Couldn’t Be President

A longtime rumor surrounding John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy‘s marriage is getting renewed attention following the release of a new book.

In Ladies’ Man: The Careless Heart of John F. Kennedy, author Laurence Leamer revisits the former president’s romantic relationships, including the alleged role his father, Joe Kennedy, played in keeping his marriage to Jackie intact.

“There were rumors — whispered in the corridors of power and influence — that Mr. Kennedy paid Jackie a million dollars to stay with Jack,” Leamer writes, via Entertainment Weekly. “Whether or not this happened, Jack’s father had lengthy talks with Jackie. For him, this was a matter of far greater importance than a failing marriage.”

According to Leamer, Joe was concerned that his son’s marital problems could derail his political ambitions.

“It was about his son becoming president of the United States . . . and he knew Jack could not achieve that as a divorced man,” Leamer reportedly adds in the book.

JFK went on to become president in 1960. Although Jackie was deeply in love with her husband when they married in 1953, their relationship was not always a happy one, according to Leamer.

“Jackie resigned herself to continuing the marriage. She had been deeply in love when she married Jack and ready to devote herself to her husband,” Leamer writes, per the outlet. “Unfortunately, the relationship had come to sometimes resemble an arranged marriage, with Jackie dutifully performing her marital responsibilities. At other times, however, everything was wonderful.”

The alleged payment was also discussed in J. Randy Taraborrelli‘s 2023 book JFK: Public, Private, Secret. According to Entertainment Weekly, Taraborrelli wrote that Jackie considered divorcing JFK and hired an attorney after learning about one of his affairs. Joe subsequently met with his daughter-in-law over lunch in an effort to smooth things over.

Authors Danforth Prince and Darwin Porter have also explored the alleged arrangement, suggesting Joe may have made Jackie a seven-figure offer. The former first lady reportedly had a condition of her own: She allegedly told Joe she wanted $20 million if her husband “brings home any venereal disease” from his alleged extramarital affairs, the authors claimed, per EW.