Henry Vincent Jr.

Willard

Alexander

Eleanor

Kathleen

Lisa

Joseph

Adrian

Martha

Trevor

Milandri

Wallace

**Henry Vincent Jr.** (January 17, 1922 - October 5, 2019) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician who served as the 37th Vice President of the United States from 1961-3 and the 36th President of the United States from 1963-9 following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, his third cousin.

He set many records, including longest post-presidency (50 years, 259 days), youngest person to assume the presidency (41 years, 310 days) and longest lived president (97 years, 262 days).

He fathered 13 children, 10 with his wife of 71 years Morgan Smart and 3 out of wedlock. This is the third-most of any U.S. president, behind John Tyler and Thomas Jefferson.

## Early life

Henry Vincent Jr. was born on the 17th January 1922 in San Diego, United States to Emily (née Kennedy; 1901-1987), a economist, and Henry Vincent Sr. (1897-1970), a politician.

His younger sister is Amanda (1925-2013), a lawyer.

## Family

Henry Jr. married Morgan Smart, one of James Smart's three illegitimate children and, by marriage, a relative of the Campbell family, in 1948. Together, they had ten children: Henry III, Deirdre, Willard, Alexander, Eleanor, Kathleen, Lisa, Joseph, Adrian and Martha.

In 1981, Henry Jr. started an affair with Jessica Denn. Unbeknownst to the public until his death, they had two children: Trevor and Milandri. They ended the affair in 1984 after being threatened.

In 1994, Henry Jr. fathered a son, Wallace, with Harriet Symes, an assistant 48 years his junior. This story was made public.

## Career

Henry was elected to Congress in 1948, at the age of 26. Following that, he was elected Senator from California in 1950. Henry was selected to be incoming Governor Pat Brown's Attorney General. he served in the position from 1959 to 1961, where he resigned in order to become the Vice President of the United States.

Henry was considered a potential frontrunner for the 1962 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, which would have, if he won the nomination and the election, made him and his eponymous father the first father-son duo to serve as Governors of California. However, in the 1960 presidential election, the Democratic nominee (and his third cousin) John F. Kennedy chose Henry as his running mate. They won the election against Republican nominee Richard Nixon and his running mate Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

After JFK was assassinated in 1963, Henry ascended to the presidency. Two of his thirteen children were born during his presidency.

Henry Jr. had a near death experience on the 4th February 1970, just a year after he left the presidency, when the train he was riding on with his father derailed and rolled down an embankment. His father died in the accident, but Henry Jr. survived with critical injuries. At first, the latter was presumed dead and this attracted mourning worldwide. However, he was taken to hospital and survived.

## Death

After enjoying 50 years of retirement, Henry Vincent Jr. died in his San Diego residence on the 5th October 2019. He was 97.

After his death, his ex-fling Jessica Denn made a public announcement stating that Henry Vincent Jr. fathered her two children during their affair. She faced harsh criticism, but DNA testing between Trevor, Milandri and their half-siblings proved that Henry Vincent Jr. was indeed the father.