Sailing from an early age
Born in 1917 in a family of 9 children, his father Joe Kennedy made his fortune during the 1920s alongside figures from the underworld.
The social position of the Kennedys in the 40's allowed the young JFK, who had gone through the best American and British universities, to take up competitive sailing.
His father gave him his first boat, Victura, for his 15th birthday, a small 8.50m sloop. He'll use it for the rest of his life.
JFK engaged in US NAVY
Despite a spinal injury and adrenal gland disease, he joined the US NAVY in 1942 and managed to enter active service. Lieutenant, appointed commander of a patrol boat, PT-109, in the Pacific against Japan. Wounded in the back, he will be decorated for his actions at the head of this building.
A president in love with his sailboat
After the war, JFK embarked on a political career, first as a congressman, then as a senator, and finally as a Democratic candidate in the 1961 election. As soon as he was elected 35th president of the United States, JFK started looking for a presidential sailboat, it would be Manitou.
JFK immediately fell in love with Manitou. He put his bag on board as soon as he could and even thought about it at the height of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis when he scribbled his silhouette on a notepad during a White House meeting.
The Floating White House
The young president, who was a sportsman but not an ascetic (he drank, especially with his mistresses), liked to combine business with pleasure. So he used to call meetings aboard Manitou in a relaxed atmosphere. Did the seasick subjects dare refuse to join him?
A floating family residence
During his three years as president, he spent dozens of family weekends on board for cruises on the Maine coast where he owned a residence in Hyannis Port. The Kennedy family sailed on Victora or Manitou depending on the navigation program chosen.
A bachelor pad for total privacy
JFK's drug treatment for his World War II injury was a combination of corticosteroids, steroids and amphetamines and gave him a very high energy level. He seriously told the British Prime Minister at the time in an interview "three days without sex and it's a headache guaranteed!"
Probably anxious to avoid the unpleasant effects of a headache and although married to the very chic and pretty Jacqueline Bouvier, says Jackie, JFK multiplied the young conquests. His boat, which he had equipped with a bathtub, proved to be an ideal meeting place, as discreet as it was romantic. A place where he took only some of his most serious conquests, including a blonde arsonist, Marilyn Monroe.
