“I was never part of his inner circle,” Phil says about Frank Sinatra, “but for some reason he trusted me.” When Kennedy won the presidency, Sinatra was thrilled. After all, Sinatra had supported Kennedy for years, and credits himself with Kennedy’s election victory in Hawaii (where Sinatra had been stumping while shooting The Devil at 4 O’Clock). To show his appreciation for Sinatra’s support, Kennedy asked him to stage the Inaugural Gala. Phil says “I knew it would be an historic occasion, and I wanted to be in on it. So I wrote a note to Frank on a file card and left it in his dressing room. It read something like: I’d like to photograph the inauguration. Check one of three boxes – fuck off, I’ll think about it, or yes.” The answer was yes. After the gala, Sinatra and Phil made a limited amount of these books to be given to the performers.

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