John F Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline did not vibe well with Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi: Book

WASHINGTON: A new book has shown that late American President John F Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline did not vibe well with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi during their meetings.

When Nehru visited the US in November 1961, the then American President Kennedy called it as "the worst head-of-State visit" and considered the former Prime Minister's last days as "the town preacher being caught in the whorehouse".

Kennedy also did not like Nehru's company while the First Lady Jackie Kennedy hated his daughter and future Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, calling her as real prune.

However, the first couple loved reading cables from the then US Ambassador to India, John Kenneth Galbriath, as they were all piece of great literature.

"It's like the town preacher being caught in the whorehouse," John F Kennedy is quoted as saying about Nehru in his last days in power.

These nuggets of information about the views the first couple had about the two top Indian leaders is part of the the book, 'Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F Kennedy'.

On day one, the book, which is basically the seven-part interview of Jackie Kennedy conducted in early 1964, was a number one bestseller on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles.

Referring to the 1961 US visit of Nehru, the book says that it was decided that the men would have their lunch in the dining room while Jackie would have the little ladies lunch in the living room along with Indira Gandhi, who was accompanying her father.

"Well, of course, she hated that. She liked to be in with the men. And she is a real prune--bitter, kind of pushy, horrible woman. You know, I just don't like her a bit. It always looks like she's been sucking a lemon," Jackie said according to the transcripts of the interview in the book.