NEHRU Kennedy, his wife did not vibe well with Nehru, Indira: book

Washington, Sep 15 (PTI) 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 prunebitter, 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. He (President Kennedy) used to say about Nehru sometimes, 'Isn't it sad? This man did so much for independence and everything, but he stayed around too long and now it's all going, bit by bit, and he's botching up things. 'And, you know, Nehru's image really did change a lot in his last years because Nehru got to be awfully sanctimoniousI mean, the difference between Hungary and Goa and all of that', she said. What was the thing Jack had about that? A very good expression. Something about, 'It's like the town preacher being caught in the whorehouse'. You asked me about him and Nehru the other dayhe had that sort of feeling about him, Jackie said. Jackie said her husband had a most unsatisfactory time with Nehru when he'd been a Congressman in India. He said they'd warned him, 'Whenever Nehru gets bored with you, he taps his fingertips together and looks up at the ceiling'. And Jack said he'd been there about ten minutes when Nehru started to look up at the ceiling, she said. Giving a detailed account of the State Visit, Jackie Kennedy said they had a drink before lunch and Nehru never said one word. Jackie Kennedy said John F Kennedy was disappointed by the Nehru's trip. I think the meetings got absolutely nowhere and there was an awful lot of tapping the fingers and looking up at the ceiling, she said. Mrs Gandhi, his daughter, she said is one of those women who when marriage and love and all those things don't turn out right, its as if somethingIt all goes back inside you and the poison works inside like an ulcer, so she's a truly bitter woman. And she's the kind of woman who's always hated Jack. You can name so many violently liberal women in politics who were always suspicious of Jack.