RE: JFK: 'I Am a Jelly Doughnut'

I think your source is engaging in a little wishful thinking.

The urban legend part of it is actually related to a story that everyone in Berlin broke down in gales of laughter when he said it. That didn't happen.

When I was in Germany, several Germans had a good time with that speech. One of them asked me, "Do all American politicians claim to be pastries?" Several of them told me that since most real Berliners knew he wasn't from Berlin, the jelly doughnut reference was the first thing that passed through their minds, but in context, they understood his meaning.