These sorts of scandals have always been an issue and could have been used in the 1960’s.
History repeats itself but the early 1960s was a very conservative time for American culture and we can't project modern day culture onto 1960s America.
Also, it seems naive to believe that political insiders and members of the DC Press were unaware of the infidelity of many US Presidents (including JFK and LBJ) given how many books have been written about that sort of thing after the Presidents leave office. It's more likely that they knew but chose not to report on it at the time. And publishing intimate pictures of a President with his wife or a mistress would've never happened in the 1960s.
The Press for the most part, adored JFK and the media rarely dug into the personal lives of politicians in general back then.
Don’t some CTers claim that some of the press is controlled by the CIA? Wasn’t James Phelan supposedly working for the CIA, even though he appeared to be a legitimate reporter?
"Manipulated by the CIA" is more accurate in my humble opinion.
A former CIA agent once explained how they manipulate journalists. He said first they give several accurate newsworthy scoops to the journalist. Once they build a good relationship with the journalist they can insert propaganda or misleading info into the info that they pass to reporters.
I'm sure that other intelligence services like the KGB for example, operate the same way.
But whether it's control or manipulation, I can't imagine JFK being taken down by a sex scandal in the 1960s. That sort of thing just wouldn't happen back then.
And you don’t answer my main point. If I accept a Large-Secret-Enduring Conspiracy theory like the JFK assassination theory, why shouldn’t I accept others? If I go that far, why not believe that many programmers, volunteer election workers and Republican politicians like governors and secretary of state were all involved in stealing the 2020 election from Trump?
I'm of the opinion that only a small number of people (less than 20) were needed to execute a conspiracy to kill JFK.
As for the coverup, sure, lots more people would need to be involved and the reasons for government agencies covering it up varies from wanting to avoid "World War 3" as LBJ seemed to suggest to Earl Warren to wanting to protect certain agencies or operations from scrutiny that could land people in prison or lead to the agency being disbanded.