Carolyn Bessette Was Reportedly Obsessed with Dating JFK Jr. Before They Even Met

Isabel Jones
Updated

Though the tragedy of their death seems to overshadow the intricacies of their life together, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s relationship was nothing if not complicated.

In Steven M. Gillon’s new biography, America’s Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr., the historian and friend of the late Kennedy writes that the political heir’s wife had her sights set on him long before their paths crossed.

According to a college friend of Bessette’s, the famous blonde identified John as her “dream guy.” “I’m going to get him,” Bessette would tell her. “I’m going to move to New York and I’m going to get him.” Following in line with her comments about JFK Jr., Bessette had also told her friend of her life’s goal: “to be famous.” “Maybe if I hook up with the right guy I will be famous,” she’d allegedly mused.

Justin Ide/Boston Herald/Getty Images
Justin Ide/Boston Herald/Getty Images

Ultimately, Bessette’s dream came true. She was promoted from her job at the Calvin Klein store in Boston’s Chestnut Hill Mall to a position handling celebrities at the brand’s New York store. Though she and John originally met at a charity function, it wasn’t long before he found an excuse to visit Bessette’s place of business.

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They dated a bit in the summer of 1990, but John soon rekindled his relationship with then-girlfriend Daryl Hannah. However, it seemed Carolyn never strayed far from his mind. “He always had one eye on her,” his cousin’s wife, Carole Radziwill, recalled.

After Kennedy and Hannah split for good in 1994, he and Bessette reunited. But now that she had him, the obsession she bore through college seemed to have waned. By 1998 she was soliciting advice from friends on how to “keep the passion” alive, telling them John’s “not my type.”

Notes Gillon, “For some reason, she seemed to relish telling people that she was not sexually attracted to her husband, as if she alone did not share the common perception of him as one of the sexiest men alive."