Forgive Your Enemies, But Never Forget Their Names

Deleted member 87099

Part 2: Scandal!
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President Kennedy Engaged in Vices with East German Spy! That was the headline that many Americans awoke to on July 5th, 1963, when the news broke to the public. The spy referenced was Ms. Ellen Rometsch. Rometsch had actually been kicked out of the country a week prior for "inappropriate behavior around Washington" [1]. Her not being in the country and having uncertain whereabouts made interviewing and contacting Ms. Rometsch a lot more difficult, which is probably what the White House was intending (It would later be revealed that the White House, more specifically Attorney General Robert Kennedy, was behind this).

Of course, this was only the beginning of the crisis, the opening of the flood gates, if you will. By mid-July, the international scandal known simply as 'The Kennedy Affair' was getting daily coverage on America's nightly news programs with many around the country already taking sides. The consensus of the American public decisively went towards the opinion that President Kennedy having an affair was bad, let alone having one with a woman who could potentially compromise national interests. Republicans in Washington were celebrating, they ruined the popularity of the Democratic golden boy and have a chance at ousting the incumbent President. Though of course, they wouldn't be celebrating for much longer.

President Kennedy's health took a sharp turn 'south' shortly after the scandal leaked, which was the large reason behind him not making any public appearances for the few weeks after the 4th of July. For the first couple days it was chalked up to the President attempting to dodge his scandal, and at that point it may have been, but things were soon revealed to be far darker turn. On July 10th, the President became bed ridden with what doctors first thought was some kind of cold or related bout of sickness but very soon realized was a flare up in the Presidents' Addison's Disease [2]. Kennedy had not been on had a flare up since his time in the Senate and even had a very successful surgery to help mitigate his lethal disease, but alas, Addison's was not a thing that you could avoid forever. This flare up left the president extremely weak and, at times, on the verge of death. He would only begin to recover as the month neared its end. During this time period Kennedy couldn't even alert the public of this, nor did he want to, considering all that was going on. The White House Press Corps merely said instead that the President was coming down with some sort of 'Summer's Flu' not all that different from the terrible one to hit the nation less than half a century earlier.

At its end, July proved to be a terrible month for the Kennedy administration. The President's health and approval ratings seemed to drop off a cliff and the public was either thirsting for Kennedy's blood or just thirsting for some answers (the former was the more common way of thought south of the Mason-Dixon Line). Meanwhile, Bobby Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson were in a frenzy. Kennedy trying to stop the investigation from proceeding any further while simultaneously attempting to find a suitable counter measure and Johnson trying to lead the Senate away from his extensive and less-than-legal ties with Baker himself (which were nearly uncovered before the Kennedy news cam out). But contrary to what all involved seemed to hope far, the month of August would get worse, far worse.

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[1] Two months earlier than OTL.

[2] I figured that stress could have brought this on prematurely.
 
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