Harry Benson
It was early one evening in 1965. We were at one of those clubs that seem to spring up out of nowhere, a new "in" spot of the moment where everyone wants to be seen. The owner of the club was from London, and since I had arrived from there a year before, I was asked to come along and take photographs of him. Anyway, a group of tall, young, handsome men in very nicelycut business suits came in. I would say there were seven or eight of them, laughing, assured of themselves, getting drinks at the bar. One of them walked over and sat down at a table next to a beautiful young woman in a glittering minidress. Immediately a conversation sprung up that seemed quite intense. After a short period of time, the two got up and left the club together. The man was Teddy Kennedy. Teddy went on to have an exceptional career as a senator from Massachusetts (yet there was also Chappaquiddick). I photographed him over the years at numerous occasions, including his niece Caroline Kennedy's wedding, and the last time was in his senate office with his second wife, Vicky. But I think this photograph is the most interesting, showing the young, dashingly handsome senator who, like a magnet, drew attractive people toward him his whole life.