“Ladies Man” is the newest book to cover the famous Kennedy family, and this one centers on the salacious story of John F. Kennedy — and his sex addiction.

The second part of the book’s title sets the stakes: The Careless Heart of John F. Kennedy. “Careless” suggests something that could, or should, be controlled. It also implies collateral damage. How very well the loaded word “careless” mirrors common attitudes around addiction and whether or not one is “in control.”

The author gets right to his thesis, which is that JFK engaged in risky sexual behavior, before and during his time in office, as a response to physical pain. In an exclusive with People, the author Laurence Leamer says, 

“He was in physical pain over half of his life,” says Leamer. The Kennedy biographer knew three of the mistresses, Gunilla Von Post, Judith Exner and Diana de Vegh, the latter whom he interviewed at length for over 20 years. Says Leamer, “Sex was JFK’s way of defying his endless ailments, and he became a sex addict.

What exactly did JFK suffer from? Addison’s disease wreaked havoc on his energy levels, blood pressure, and digestive system. He had scarlet fever as a child, and “urinary tract infections, prostatitis, and a duodenal ulcer,” as an adult. From his football- playing days he also suffered from chronic back pain and osteoporosis. 

But that’s not all.

What “everyone” seemingly knew in his lifetime, but lacked the words to describe, was his well-known “playboy behavior.” Twenty-five years after his death his sexual appetite was described, in 1994, with a bit of euphemism: “He suffered from an acute case of satyriasis and lacked all self-restraint.” 

A book in 2026 announcing that JFK had a “sex addiction” and treating it as a newsworthy tell-all makes sense if you know a little bit about the continuing debates surrounding how to define “sex addiction,” whether or not “sex addiction” exists as a true psychiatric disorder, and lately, even if it is ethical to use the term in clinical sexology.

Here’s a brief recap: “Sex addiction” was included in the 1989 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (“DSM-III”), a diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric Association. But by DSM-IV the definition was changed, and changed again later in DSM-5, the 2013 edition. “Sex addiction” was removed from the 2022 update, DSM-5-TR. Culturally, however, the description “sex addiction” is commonly used. 

“Sex addiction” is not the only addictive behavior whose legitimacy is debated. One reason could be the narrow research focus on how substances work instead of why they are used in the first place. 

What is not debated is the effects compulsive sexual behaviors can have on others, especially intimate partners. A 2025 study in Australia looked at the female partners of men with sexual addiction (SA) and compulsive sexual behavior (CSB). The psychological impact on female partners manifests in many detrimental ways. “Significantly, the findings indicated that most impacted women had in some way lost their sexual freedom and/or carefree sexual functionality,” wrote the authors. 

What is also increasingly understood is the connection between displacement (of pain, of stress) and its role in starting and maintaining an addiction. It seems reasonable to assume that JFK had physical and emotional pain that drove his risky and compulsive sexual behavior. Culturally, we’re still debating how to describe and define addictions that relate to human requirements such as food and sex.

More than six decades after JFK’s death, we are still pursuing a better understanding of why addiction exists in so many forms, even including ways that didn’t exist when JFK was alive.

Written by Katie McCaskey. First published October 6, 2026.

Sources:

“Ladies’ Man: The Careless Heart of John F. Kennedy,” Penguin Random House, 2026.

“JFK and His Many Mistresses: Compulsion, Kinky Photos and a Lifetime of Risk (Exclusive Excerpt),” People, September 28, 2026.

“JFK ‘tried to live beyond’ his serious health issues with sex and drugs, author says,” Entertainment Weekly, September 28, 2026.

“John F. Kennedy kept these medical struggles private,” PBS News, November 22, 2019.

“Addison’s disease,” The Mayo Clinic, accessed September 29, 2026.

“All the president’s unreported women: JFK never had problems like Bill Clinton’s, recalls Nick Bryant,” The Independent, May 26, 1994.

“Sexual Addiction, Hypersexual Disorder and the DSM-5: Myth or Legitimate Diagnosis?” Counselor, August 7, 2012.

“Your Addiction, her Sexual Suffering — A Qualitative Inquiry into the Effects of Compulsive Sexual Behaviors on Intimate Female Partners,” Sexual Health and Compulsivity, April 10, 2025.

Image Copyright: chrisdorney.