His Way_ The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra - Kitty Kelley [246]
“Everyone came to those parties,” said Peter Malatesta. “The Agnews, Henry Kissinger, Eva Gabor, Senator Barry Goldwater, Attorney General John Mitchell and his wife, Martha; astronauts including Alan Shepard, and all the ambassadors of Italy, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Morocco,” said Peter Malatesta. “The night before the inaugural, Louise Gore [Republican National Committeewoman from Maryland] was giving a bash for the Republican Finance Committee at the Jockey Club, so I told Frank he should really go. He wasn’t sure he wanted to, but I told him it was the most important party of the weekend and that if he wanted to meet the cream of the Republican crop, he’d be there. So he went and, oh, God, what a disaster that was!”
Earlier in the evening, Frank had gone to the Kennedy Center to be master of ceremonies for the inaugural’s American Music Concert. He wanted his comic, Pat Henry, to be part of the program as well, but the comedian had not been cleared beforehand and the Secret Service refused to let him participate. Frank protested, but the Secret Service remained firm, saying that without security clearance no one was allowed onstage to perform for the President. Refusing to emcee the evening without his comic, Frank stormed out, leaving Hugh O’Brian to fill in for him.
When he reached the Fairfax Hotel for Mrs. Gore’s party, he had to cross a long line of photographers and reporters in the lobby. Among them was Maxine Cheshire, society columnist for The Washington Post. Frank had encountered her several months before, when he was getting out of Ronald Reagan’s limousine at the dinner Agnew was giving for all the governors at the State Department. Frank had never forgotten her because she had approached him with the most embarrassing question he had ever been asked in the company of dignitaries.
“Mr. Sinatra, do you think that your alleged association with the Mafia will prove to be the same kind of embarrassment to Vice-President Agnew as it was to the Kennedy administration?”
“Nah, I don’t worry about things like that,” Frank had said with great aplomb. “I look at people as friends and that’s all I worry about.” He moved quickly to join Governor Reagan without a word of rebuke to Mrs. Cheshire, but her question rankled him for months.
Now as he saw her approaching Barbara Marx at the Fairfax Hotel, he exploded. “Get away from me, you scum,” he shouted. “Go home and take a bath. Print that, Miss Cheshire. Get away from me. I don’t want to talk to you. I’m getting out of here to get rid of your stench.”
Turning to the people around him, he said, “You know Miss Cheshire, don’t you? That stench you smell is coming from her.” In full fury, he turned on her and screamed: “You’re nothing but a two-dollar cunt. C-u-n-t. You know what that means, don’t you? You’ve been laying down for two dollars all your life.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out two one-dollar bills, and stuffed them into the plastic glass Mrs. Cheshire was holding. “Here, baby, that’s what you’re used to.” Grabbing Barbara he said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Malatesta, who was standing by Frank’s side. “Here I was, all set to introduce him to the Republican hierarchy, and he’s got to play Johnny Macho! I nearly died. As Frank and Barbara left, I ran to the bar for a few quick pops to get the nerve to go back home. When I walked in, Frank and Barbara were sitting in the living room in the two wing chairs, staring at the wall. No words. Nothing, Finally Frank said, ‘I told you we shouldn’t have gone.’
“He was so upset that he did not leave the house for two days, and he canceled his appearance at several inaugural events. The President was enraged when he heard what happened, and then the White House started getting on my back because Nixon had already asked Frank to appear at the state dinner for the president of Italy, and Haldeman [White House Chief of Staff] was now trying to get him to cancel because