From that point forward, the boy nicknamed John John would generate a large amount of publicity.
"If a camera hit him, he considered that a compliment. He loved the idea of getting attention, it was validating," Littell said. "He had been groomed that way."
In 1988, People magazine named him the sexiest man alive and his personal life became tabloid fodder. Still, Littell said Kennedy just wanted to be an average guy.
"He wanted to be a regular guy, which is ultimately what he kind of became to his great favor and to everybody else's favor, I think," Littell said. Littell and Kennedy went to school together and even were roommates at one point.
"When I met John, he was charming. He was funny and he was smart. Interestingly enough, he wasn't the most talented guy I'd ever met," Littell said. "But what was interesting about him over the 20 years, by the time he passed on at 39 years old, he was the most talented guy I knew. He was the most passionate guy I knew. He had the most energy and a lot of it was from life experiences."
John F. Kennedy Jr. (far left) is pictured with Rob Littell (far right) in this undated photo. Courtesy of Rob Littell.
Littell and Kennedy were so close that Kennedy gave a speech at Littell's 1991 wedding rehearsal dinner.
"I think everyone has a certain -- they gain things from their friends. They observe their friends, they take certain things from all the relationships you have with people," Kennedy said during his speech to Littell and his bride-to- be Fran. "I think, really, more than any other couple or people that I know, there was a sense when Rob and Fran met that they figured out something a lot earlier about men and women."
Littell describes his friend as a man motivated by a strong sense of decency and a determination to do good for his friends, as well as those he didn't know.
"To a certain extent, there's a guy who wanted to do the right thing, had the tools to do the right thing and went out and did the right thing," Littell said.
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