The unusual connection between James Bond and John F. Kennedy
After Dr. No introduced James Bond to the cinemagoing audience and announced the arrival of a new big-screen icon, it wasn’t long before 007 returned to the multiplex when his second outing in From Russia with Love was released just one year later.
The source novel was the fifth entry in creator Ian Fleming’s literary series, but its status as the sophomore entry in the movie franchise had everything to do with a ringing endorsement from the single most powerful man in the world after John F. Kennedy heartily praised the book as one of his favourites.
In a profile published by Life magazine in March 1961, From Russia with Love was named as being among Kennedy’s ten favourite books, which naturally piqued public interest. Sales skyrocketed as a direct result, with Fleming becoming the single bestselling crime author in the United States as readers clamoured to discover why the espionage adventure had such an impact on the sitting president.
Another by-product of Kennedy exponentially increasing the profile of both Fleming and From Russia with Love was producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman settling on the novel serving as the inspiration for the debonair MI6 operative’s next major motion picture, wisely hoping to capitalise on the momentum generated by such public praise of the source material.
According to The Washington Post, though, Kennedy’s adoration of Bond was as political as it was a reflection of his own readership tastes. “Kennedy deliberately used Bond to project an image as a heroic leader who could meet any challenge in the most perilous years of the Cold War,” journalist Theo Zenou wrote. “His bromance with Bond had begun.”
“JFK was a master of spin. He knew that professing his fondness for Bond would result in an avalanche of articles lumping them together, which worked to his advantage,” Zenou added. “When people thought of Bond, they would also think of Kennedy – and thus the heroic qualities of the spy would get bestowed on the president.”
From Russia with Love wasn’t released in the United States until May 1964, six months after Kennedy’s assassination, but it nonetheless ended up as the final feature he ever watched. The day before leaving for Dallas on the trip that would ultimately claim his life, the White House hosted a screening of Sean Connery’s second stint as 007, entwining them ever further.
It’s one of the strangest connections in Bond’s long and illustrious history, but Kennedy’s praise of From Russia with Love encouraged the producers to bring it to the screen as soon as possible, with the end result going on to serve as the last movie he saw before being assassinated in Dallas.
