---
born: 1921-08-14
category: Authors & Journalists
died: 2017-02-17
location: Chicago, Illinois
summary: American newspaper columnist and close friend of JFK who recounted Kennedy's
  meetings with Jewish leaders regarding Middle East policy.
tags:
- Person
- Journalist
---

Charles L. Bartlett was an American newspaper columnist and a close friend of [John F. Kennedy](/people/john-f-kennedy/). Kennedy recounted to Bartlett a much different version of his meeting with Jewish leaders at [Abraham Feinberg](/people/abraham-feinberg/)'s apartment, expressing outrage at the suggestion of controlling U.S. Middle East policy in exchange for campaign funds. Bartlett also recalled Kennedy making cynical remarks about [Myer Feldman](/people/myer-feldman/), his presidential point man for Jewish and Israeli affairs.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 8.