Historical Figure
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
1929–1994
First Lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963
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Biography
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis, nicknamed Jackie Kennedy or Jackie O following her second marriage, was the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963 as the wife of John F. Kennedy. She redefined the role of first lady by hosting cultural and intellectual events, leading the restoration of the White House, and influencing 1960s fashion with the "Jackie Look".
Timeline
The story of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, told in moments.
Born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at Southampton Hospital, New York. Her father is a Wall Street stockbroker everyone calls "Black Jack." Her mother is a socialite of Irish descent. She attends Vassar, studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, and graduates from George Washington University with a degree in French literature. Works as an "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the Washington Times-Herald.
Marries Congressman John F. Kennedy in Newport, Rhode Island. She met him at a dinner party in 1952. Over 800 guests attend. They have four children. Two die in infancy. One, Patrick, lives 39 hours.
Becomes First Lady at 31. Leads a nationally televised restoration of the White House that 56 million Americans watch. Speaks French with de Gaulle, Spanish with Latin American leaders. Creates the "Jackie Look." Time names her Woman of the Year in 1962. JFK tells the press in Paris: "I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to France."
Dallas. The motorcade through Dealey Plaza. She's sitting next to him in the open car. She crawls onto the trunk of the limousine in the seconds after the shots. She refuses to change out of her blood-stained pink Chanel suit for the swearing-in of LBJ. "Let them see what they've done," she says.
Marries Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on his private island of Skorpios. She is 39. He is 62. The American public is shocked. She reportedly received a prenuptial settlement of $3 million plus $150,000 per year. When Onassis dies in 1975, she negotiates a $26 million settlement from his daughter.
Dies of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in her Manhattan apartment at 64. She'd spent her final 19 years as a book editor at Viking Press and then Doubleday. Buried at Arlington National Cemetery beside JFK and two of their children. She remains one of the most recognized First Ladies in American history.
In Their Own Words (20)
I loathe the French. There's not one French person I can think of except—maybe two very simple people. Maybe Boudin, who's so un-French. You know, they're really not very nice. They're all for themselves.
In her 1964 interview with Arthur Schlesinger, quoted in Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy (2011)., 2011
What is sad for women of my generation is that they weren’t supposed to work if they had families. What were they to do when the children were grown — watch raindrops coming down the windowpane?
Quoted in The Last Word (1992) edited by Carolyn Warner, 1992
It was a very spasmodic courtship, conducted mainly at long distance with a great clanking of coins in dozens of phone booths.
On her romance with John F. Kennedy quoted in The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys (1987) by Doris Kearns Goodwin., 1987
You are about to have your first experience with a Greek lunch. I will kill you if you pretend to like it.
Welcoming decorator Billy Baldwin to the island of Skorpios; quoted in Ari (1986) by Peter Evans, 1986
The one thing I do not want to be called is First Lady. It sounds like a saddle horse.
Advice to her secretary; quoted in The Kennedys (1984) by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, 1984
Artifacts (15)
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754–1838), Prince de Talleyrand MET DP148275
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754–1838), Prince de Talleyrand MET 1994.190 1
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754–1838), Prince de Talleyrand MET 1994.190 2
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
KN-C19649. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's Tea for the Special Committee for White House Paintings
Robert LeRoy Knudsen
Avec John F. Kennedy: conversations inédites avec Arthur M. Schlesinger, 1964
Jacqueline Kennedy, née Bouvier, n'a laissé ni autobiographie ni mémoires. " Son silence sur son passé, rappela le New York Times à sa mort en 1994, surtout sur les années Kennedy et son mariage avec...
I said we would lead Barça to the forefront of the footballing world, and for th...
ualify for any European competition. === Barcelona === Newly elected FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta stated, "I said we would lead Barça to the forefront of the footballing world, and for that...
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