In 1942, young Naval Ensign John F. Kennedy fell into an intense romance with Inga Arvad, a Danish journalist with a past that caught the immediate attention of the FBI. Arvad, a former beauty queen and actress, had interviewed Adolf Hitler in 1935, describing him glowingly and securing an invitation to his private box at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
This direct connection to the Nazi leader, combined with her new relationship with the son of a powerful American political family, triggered a massive federal surveillance operation led by J. Edgar Hoover.
A Past with Adolf Hitler
Before arriving in America, Inga Arvad used her journalism career to access the highest levels of the Nazi party. Through Hermann Göring, she secured an invitation to a party hosted by Adolf Hitler. Hitler, captivated by her appearance, called her a “perfect Nordic beauty” and granted her multiple exclusive interviews.
Photographs of the two laughing together in his private box at the 1936 Summer Olympics circulated widely. Arvad wrote of Hitler that his eyes showed a “kind heart” and sparkled with force. When she emigrated to the US in 1940, she used these same interviews to secure work at the Washington Times-Herald.
The FBI Wiretaps and the Kennedy Romance
Arvad met John F. Kennedy, known as Jack, who was stationed in Washington while serving in the Navy. The two began a serious relationship, with Kennedy even exploring how to annul her previous marriages so she could convert to Catholicism.
However, Kennedy’s sister Kathleen, a fellow journalist at the Times-Herald, uncovered the photographs of Arvad and Hitler. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who already harbored deep suspicions of the Kennedy family, ordered agents to tap Arvad’s phones and monitor her apartment. The FBI feared a classic honey trap, noting that several naval officers were regular visitors to her home.
The South Carolina Transfer
The wiretaps captured intimate conversations between Kennedy and Arvad, including one exchange where Arvad claimed her husband had spies monitoring Kennedy’s conversations with his father. While FBI Assistant Director Milton Ladd reported that there was no concrete proof Arvad was an active Nazi agent, her 1,200-page FBI file and her connections to powerful Washington figures were deemed too great a risk.
Fearing an espionage scandal, the Navy abruptly transferred Kennedy to South Carolina in January 1942, effectively terminating the relationship.
After Kennedy: A Quiet Life
Arvad continued to move in elite circles after Kennedy’s transfer. Near the end of World War II, she became engaged to Robert Boothby, a British Member of Parliament. However, Arvad broke off the engagement, fearing her past association with Hitler and his public praise of her would destroy Boothby’s political career.
She eventually married American actor Tim McCoy, with whom she had two children, and lived quietly until her death from cancer in 1973.