JFK CALLS INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST A 'HILLBILLY REPORTER'
Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) Maxine Hall (Cheshire)*, originally from the mountains of Kentucky, was a "redhead noted for her boldness" when she worked as a crime reporter at the Knoxville News-Sentinel in the early 1950s.
Maxine married UPI Bureau Chief Herb Cheshire, moved to Washington, D.C., and there was employed by the Washington Post in 1954.
Brittany Crocker writes...
"President John F. Kennedy complained to...Phillip Graham that the 'hillbilly reporter' had reduced Jackie Kennedy to tears by investigating $1 million worth of antiques donated to the White House, listing each piece's value and questioning the authenticity of several items."
In addition to the Kennedys, Mrs. Cheshire did investigating reporting of Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey and Frank Sinatra. Once when she approached 'Old Blue Eyes,' he said...
"Get away from me, you scum. I don't want to talk to you."
Brittany Crocker writes in today's Knoxville News Sentinel...
"She became the waking nightmare of presidents, celebrities, international businessmen and anyone else with something to hide."
*Maxine Cheshire (1930-2020) was born in Harlan, KY. Her father was a miner's union lawyer & she attended Union College before entering the newspaper business.
MC became best known in the period 1965-1981 when she reported for The Washington Post and her column 'V.I.P.' was published in more than 300 newspapers.
MC died on Dec 31, 2020 at the age of 90 in McAllen, TX.
JFK+50 NOTE
Maxine Cheshire wrote an 8 part series for the Washington Post on Jacqueline Kennedy's restoration of the furnishings of The White House. Mrs. Cheshire also crashed the Aristotle Onassis-Jackie Kennedy wedding in 1968.
SOURCES
"JFK called her a 'hillbilly' but she was a powerhouse," by Brittany Crocker, March 1, 2021, Knoxville News-Sentinel, www.knoxnews.com/
"Maxine Cheshire, Post reporter and columnist with 'the guts of a cat burglar,' dies at 90," by Matt Schudel, January 29, 2021, The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/
