"Good morning, George," were usually John Kennedy's first words of the day as the valet laid four morning newspapers on his bedstand. [George] Thomas, a fifty-five-year-old Negro, had been a gift from Arthur Krock, who repaid past debts to Joseph Kennedy by sending his own valet to take care of Joe's son when he came to Washington in 1947 as a young bachelor used to being taken care of by servants. Thomas laid out the first suit of the day. Kennedy had a habit of changing clothes from the skin out as often as four times a day, sometimes using six shirts. He was surprised once when Ben Bradlee told him that he and a lot of the other men wore the same shirt two days in a row. The President owned eighteen suits, with European-cut, two-button jackets different from the three-button models worn by most American men. If Kennedy's back was troubling him, Thomas would help him into his clothes.
From President Kennedy: Profile of Power by Richard Reeves
