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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, noted for her style and elegance, was the wife of President John F. Kennedy and a U.S. first lady. After Kennedy's death, she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

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(1929-1994)

Who Was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis?

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis married John F. Kennedy in 1953. When she became first lady in 1961, she worked to restore the White House to its original elegance and to protect its holdings. After JFK's assassination in 1963, she moved to New York City and married Aristotle Onassis in 1968. She died of cancer in 1994.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was born on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York. Her father, John Bouvier, was a wealthy New York stockbroker of French Catholic descent, and her mother, Janet, was an accomplished equestrienne of Irish Catholic heritage. Onassis was a bright, curious and occasionally mischievous child. One of her elementary school teachers described her as "a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic, and full of the devil." Another teacher, less charmed by young Jacqueline, wrote admonishingly that "her disturbing conduct in geography class made it necessary to exclude her from the room."

Onassis enjoyed a privileged childhood of ballet lessons at the Metropolitan Opera House and French lessons beginning at age of 12. Like her mother, Onassis loved riding and was highly skilled on horseback. In 1940, at the age of 11, she won a national junior horsemanship competition. The New York Times reported, "Jacqueline Bouvier, an eleven-year-old equestrienne from East Hampton, Long Island, scored a double victory in the horsemanship competition. Miss Bouvier achieved a rare distinction. The occasions are few when the same rider wins both competitions in the same show."

Onassis attended Miss Porter's School, a prestigious boarding school in Farmington, Connecticut; in addition to its rigorous academics, the school also emphasized proper manners and the art of conversation. There she excelled as a student, writing frequent essays and poems for the school newspaper and winning the award as the school's top literature student in her senior year. Also during her senior year, in 1947, Onassis was named "Debutante of the Year" by a local newspaper. However, Onassis had greater ambitions than being recognized for her beauty and popularity. She wrote in the yearbook that her life ambition was "not to be a housewife."

Upon graduating from Miss Porter's School Onassis enrolled at Vassar College in New York to study history, literature, art and French. She spent her junior year studying abroad in Paris. "I loved it more than any year of my life," Onassis later wrote about her time there. "Being away from home gave me a chance to look at myself with a jaundiced eye. I learned not to be ashamed of a real hunger for knowledge, something that I had always tried to hide, and I came home glad to start in here again but with a love for Europe that I am afraid will never leave me."

Upon returning from Paris, Onassis transferred to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and graduated with a B.A. in French literature in 1951. After graduating from college in 1951, Onassis landed a job as the "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the Washington Times-Herald newspaper. Her job was to photograph and interview various Washington residents, and then weave their pictures and responses together in her column. Among her most notable stories were an interview with Richard Nixon, coverage of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inauguration and a report on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

U.S. First Lady

It was at a dinner party in 1952 that Onassis met a dashing young congressman and senator-elect from Massachusetts named John F. Kennedy; he "leaned across the asparagus and asked her for a date." They were married a year later, on September 12, 1953. Onassis gave birth to her first child, Caroline Kennedy, in 1957. That same year, she encouraged Kennedy to write and, subsequently, helped him edit Profiles in Courage , his famous book about U.S. senators who had risked their careers to stand for causes they believed in.

In January 1960, John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency. Although Onassis was pregnant at the time and thus unable to join him on the campaign trail, she campaigned tirelessly from home. She answered letters, gave interviews, taped commercials and wrote a weekly syndicated newspaper column called "Campaign Wife."

On November 8, 1960, Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon by a razor-thin margin to become the 35th president of the United States; less three weeks later, Onassis gave birth to their second child, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. The couple had a third child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy born prematurely on August 7, 1963, but lost the child two days later.

Onassis's first mission as first lady was to transform the White House into a museum of American history and culture that would inspire patriotism and public service in those who visited. "Every boy who comes here should see things that develop his sense of history," she once said. Onassis went to extraordinary lengths to procure art and furniture owned by past presidents—including artifacts owned by George Washington, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln—as well as pieces she considered representative of various periods of American culture. "Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there," she insisted. "It would be sacrilege merely to 'redecorate' it—a word I hate. It must be restored—and that has nothing to do with decoration. That is a question of scholarship."

As the culmination of her project, Onassis gave a tour of the restored White House on national television on February 14, 1962. A record 56 million viewers watched her televised special, and Onassis won an honorary Emmy Award for her performance.

As first lady, Onassis was also a great patron of the arts. In addition to the officials, diplomats and statesman who typically populated state dinners, Onassis also invited the nation's leading writers, artists, musicians and scientists to mingle with its top politicians. The great violinist Isaac Stern wrote to Onassis after one such dinner, "It would be difficult to tell you how refreshing, how heartening it is to find such serious attention and respect for the arts in the White House. To many of us it is one of the most exciting developments on the present American cultural scene."

Additionally, Onassis frequently traveled abroad, both with the president and alone, and her deep knowledge of foreign cultures and languages (she spoke fluent French, Spanish and Italian) helped garner goodwill toward America. She was so adoringly received in France that President Kennedy introduced himself as "the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris." Presidential advisor Clark Clifford wrote to Onassis, "Once in a great while, an individual will capture the imagination of people all over the world. You have done this; and what is more important, through your graciousness and tact, you have transformed this rare accomplishment into an incredibly important asset to this nation."

Assassination of JFK

On November 22, 1963, Onassis was riding alongside the president in a Lincoln Continental convertible before cheering crowds in Dallas, Texas, when he was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, widowing Onassis at the age of 34. The first lady's stoic composure in her bloodstained pink suit became the symbol of national mourning. It was also Onassis who, in the aftermath of the president's death, provided a metaphor for her husband's administration that has remained its enduring symbol: Camelot, the idyllic castle of the legendary King Arthur. "There'll be great presidents again," Onassis said, "but there'll never be another Camelot again."

Marriage to Aristotle Onassis

In 1968, five years after John F. Kennedy's death, Onassis married a Greek shipping magnate named Aristotle Onassis. However, he died only seven years later, in 1975, leaving Onassis a widow for the second time.

Following the death of her second husband, Onassis returned to the promising career that had been put on hold when she married Kennedy. She went to work as an editor at the Viking Press in New York City and then moved to Doubleday , where she served as senior editor.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis died on May 19, 1994, at the age of 64. She is buried beside President John F. Kennedy's gravesite at the Arlington National Cemetery, which is marked by the eternal flame.

Onassis continues to be regarded as one of the most beloved and iconic first ladies in American history. Throughout her life, she was a ubiquitous presence on lists of the most admired and respected women in the world. Learned, beautiful and eminently classy, Onassis has come to symbolize an entire epoch of American culture. "She epitomized elegance in the post–World War II era," historian Douglas Brinkley once said. "There's never been a first lady like Jacqueline Kennedy, not only because she was so beautiful but because she was able to name an entire era 'Camelot' ... no other first lady in the 20th century will be able to have that aura. She's become an icon."

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• Birth Year: 1929
• Birth date: July 28, 1929
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: Southampton
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, noted for her style and elegance, was the wife of President John F. Kennedy and a U.S. first lady. She later married Aristotle Onassis.
• Astrological Sign: Leo
• George Washington University
• Vassar College
• Paris-Sorbonne University
• Death Year: 1994
• Death date: May 19, 1994
• Death State: New York
• Death City: New York
• Death Country: United States

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/us-first-lady/jacqueline-kennedy-onassis
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: September 14, 2022
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• When you get written about a lot, you just think of it as a little cartoon that runs along at the bottom of our life—but one that doesn't have much to do with your life.

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Past Loves & Secret Disguises: The Biggest Bombshells from a Colorful New Jackie Kennedy Biography (Exclusive)

'Jackie: Public, Private, Secret' shares previously untold details of Jackie's personal life, including her relationship with a former lover, architect Jack Warnecke, and her feelings about Madonna's brief fling with JFK Jr.

Bettmann Archive/Getty

There was always more to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis than the life she led in public. According to a new biography —  Jackie: Public, Private, Secret  by J. Randy Taraborrelli — exclusively excerpted in this week's issue of PEOPLE, there is still much more to her discover.

In the book, Taraborrelli shares new details of Jackie's private life, including her relationship with former lover, architect  Jack Warnecke , and how she really felt about a brief dalliance between her son, John F. Kennedy Jr ., and Madonna .

Below, Taraborrelli discusses some of the biggest bombshells from the book.

Jackie's Mom Initially Wanted JFK to Marry Her Younger Daughter, Lee

While it was Jackie who would go on to marry John F. Kennedy in 1953, her mom, Janet Bouvier, initially thought that her younger daughter, Lee, might be a better fit for the future president.

John was a young senator from Massachusetts, and Jacqueline Bouvier a "camera girl" and reporter for the  Washington Times-Herald , when she — and her sister, Lee — met JFK at a party at the Kennedy's Palm Beach estate.

"JFK and Lee actually got along better than Jackie and JFK," Taraborrelli tells PEOPLE. "And Janet felt that Jackie [who was four years older than Lee] needed to get settled. Lee did not need to get settled yet."

In the end, Jackie's marriage to JFK was a decision not entirely based on a love connection, but as Taraborrelli puts it, on "Which one needed to get settled?"

"And when you think about it, it's mind-blowing that in that moment, Janet decided it was going to be Jackie. And that decision changed everything for those two girls," he says.

JFK and Jackie  announced their engagement  on June 24, 1953, and tied the knot  at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island, in September 1953.

Getty Images 

Jackie's Second Husband Was at the White House the Night of JFK's Funeral

While it's been previously reported that on the night of JFK's funeral, Aristotle Onassis spent the night at the White House, Taraborrelli writes that the shipping tycoon also visited Jackie in her private quarters that evening.

At the time, Onassis was dating Jackie's sister, Lee. But according to Taraborrelli, after the assassination, "he called Jackie and said that he was in town for the funeral and was staying at a hotel. And she felt like she had no choice but to invite him to the White House."

Ultimately, Onassis stayed in the spartan living quarters of a White House staff member — a detail which left Lee allegedly "mortified," Says Taraborrelli: "She felt like Ari was going to be very upset. But Onassis was the kind of guy who could really make the best of most any situation."

Onassis didn't attend the funeral. Instead, he stayed at an empty White House, where even the phone operators had left to attend the service.

That evening, after the service, Taraborrelli writes that according to two sources, Onassis was "seen knocking on Jackie's door." But, he left the room within the hour, and, says Taraborrelli, "I can't imagine the grief Jackie was going through. I don't think anything happened between them at that moment."

Jackie Dated a Greek Film Director After Her Second Husband's Death

Jackie tied the knot for a second time with Greek shipping magnate  Aristotle Onassis in Oct. 1968, a marriage that ended when Onassis died  in March 1975 of respiratory failure.

After his death, Jackie dated Greek film director Michael Cacoyannis, a short-lived romance that ended when the Zorba the Greek director said he wanted her to stop working.

Initially, Cacoyannis had become friendly with Onassis, though the two suffered a falling out until Jackie attempted to mend their relationship.

"When Onassis was on his deathbed, Jackie wanted Michael and Ari to have a reconciliation," Taraborrelli says. "So she asked Michael to go to Onassis, to his deathbed, and reconcile with him. And they did."

After Onassis died, Jackie moved to New York and got a call from Cacoyannis, asking, "What if you and I get together?"

"According to the people that we talked to, she had a leaning toward Michael, because he reminded her of Onassis," Taraborrelli says. "He was Greek, he had the same sensibility; she missed Onassis ... so they ended up having an affair."

Then Jackie got an offer to work at the publishing house Viking Press, where she would make $200 per week. Michael — shocked that she would take a meager offer when she had inherited millions from Onassis — told her, "Greek women don't work, and I don't want you to work. ... You have to choose between this job and me."

According to Taraborrelli, Jackie confided in Onassis' sister Artemis, that the choice, for her, was easy. "When a man makes you choose between him and something else and you choose him, you're in trouble," she said.

Jackie Attended One of Madonna's Plays (in Disguise) During John F. Kennedy Jr.'s Brief Fling with the Pop Star

As Taraborrelli details, Jackie was not happy to discover that her son was having a fling with pop megastar Madonna in the 1980s. And while it's been rumored that Jackie's main issue with the pop star was her resemblance to Marilyn Monroe (a rumored paramour of her late husband's), the real issue was much less superficial.

"[Jackie's] problem with [Madonna] was that she was married," Taraborrelli tells PEOPLE, adding that Jackie was also "confounded by Madonna's penchant for attention. Jackie had spent her entire celebrity life avoiding paparazzi, whereas Madonna would court paparazzi. And Jackie just couldn't understand any of that."

Despite his mother's reservations, JFK Jr. at one point asked his mom to attend one of Madonna's plays — and she complied, albeit, in disguise.

"I interviewed somebody who worked with Jackie at Doubleday, who said that she went with Jackie to the show; that Jackie wore a red wig so that she wouldn't be recognized," Taraborrelli says. "She put the wig on, and she asked this woman, 'How do I look?' And the woman said, 'You look just like Jackie Onassis in a red wig.'"

According to the author, Jackie drew the line, however, at meeting the musician backstage: "She thought Madonna was good in the show. But she also felt like she didn't want to validate the relationship that John had with Madonna by being photographed."

Gibson Moss / Alamy Stock Photo

Jackie Had a Loving — and Years-Long — Relationship with Architect John Warnecke

While it has been written that Jackie began dating architect Jack Warnecke , whom she had hired to design her late husband's eternal flame memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, in 1964, many aren't aware that the two shared such a deep connection.

"They were together for four years and they were really very important to each other," says Taraborrelli. "And she really did love him, and he really was crazy about her."

Warnecke shared some of his memories with Taraborrelli in a 1998 interview, but with one caveat. Out of loyalty to the famously private Jackie, Warnecke asked that everything remain under wraps until a decade after his death. He died in 2010, when he was 91.

As Taraborrelli writes in his book, the architect planned to propose to Jackie during a 1966 trip to Hawaii, but the couple broke it off when Warnecke admitted that he was deep in debt.

Ron Galella/Getty

Still, the two remained close. Years later, in the final months of her life, Jackie would receive a Valentine’s note from her former lover. The note lead to a reunion at her apartment several months before her death on May 19, 1994, from non-Hodgkin lymphoma at age 64.

From the book: "In [our] 1998 interview, Jack said, 'As I took my seat, Jackie handed me a stack of envelopes neatly tied together with yarn. My presence that evening was part of a ritual. Every night that week, she was inviting a trusted friend or family member to her home to take part in it.

"Jackie untied the yarn and took a letter from the stack. She read it before placing it into the fire. He recalled, 'There were letters from Jackie’s children, John and Caroline ... There were also letters from Jack Kennedy,  Aristotle Onassis , her father, Jack Bouvier and even a few from me.' She held one of the photographs and stared at it. It was her and Jack [Kennedy] on the day of his inauguration. 'Keep this for me, will you?' she asked."

According to Warnecke's daughter, Margo Warnecke, there's still more to discover. "My father left behind an unpublished memoir: Camelot's Architect,: Life, Modern Architecture and the Kennedy's," she notes. "It's part memoir, part love story. The memoir charts his life from his first encounter with JFK as a senator in 1956, to helping him preserve and redesign Lafayette Square, to the magical social scene and being an intimate of the president and his court, to JFK's assassination and designing his grave, to his long romantic relationship with Jackie and all the excitement, intrigue and personalities in-between."

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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 25, 2023 | Original: March 19, 2010

The journalist and socialite Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married John F. Kennedy, then a freshman U.S. senator from Massachusetts, in 1953. In 1960, Kennedy became the youngest man (and the first Catholic) to be elected president of the United States. As first lady, Jackie Kennedy became an international icon of style and sophistication and dedicated great effort to restoring the White House with historic furnishings and art. When her husband was assassinated in November 1963, a grieving public admired the grieving first lady’s poise and grace, as well as her devotion to her two young children, Caroline and John Jr. In 1968, Jackie married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, one of the wealthiest men in the world. After Onassis’ death in 1975, Jackie began a career in publishing in New York City, which she continued until her death in 1994.

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier: Early Life and Marriage

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York. Her parents, Janet Lee and stockbroker John “Black Jack” Bouvier, divorced in 1942, and Jackie’s mother married lawyer Hugh Auchincloss. After a privileged childhood spent in New York City , East Hampton, Virginia and Newport, Rhode Island, Jackie entered Vassar College in 1947. She studied abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris during her junior year and returned to graduate from George Washington University in 1951.

Did you know? As first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy was admired at home and abroad for her beauty, style and linguistic ability. During a trip to Europe in 1961, her husband famously joked that he was "the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris."

During the summer of 1951, Jackie Bouvier was working as an “inquiring photographer” at the Washington Times-Herald when she was introduced to John F. Kennedy , then a popular young congressman from Massachusetts, at a friend’s dinner party in Washington. They didn’t begin a romantic relationship until almost a year later and were engaged by June 1953. By that time, Kennedy had won election to the U.S. Senate .

They were married on September 12, 1953, in St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Newport, Rhode Island. The marriage came under stress early on: John underwent spinal surgery, while Jackie suffered a miscarriage and a stillbirth. In 1957, she gave birth to a healthy daughter, Caroline.

Watch the three-episode documentary event, Kennedy . Available to stream now.

Jackie Kennedy: Life as First Lady

In 1960, John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon to become the youngest man and the first Roman Catholic to be elected as president of the United States. Jackie, who gave birth to a son, John Jr., just weeks after the election, was the youngest first lady (at 31) to enter the White House in 80 years. In addition to her devotion to her children, Jackie put great effort into redecorating the White House and restoring its public rooms, encouraging donations of historic paintings, furniture and books. In February 1962, 56 million viewers watched with rapt attention as she gave a televised tour of the White House restoration.

Though she usually refrained from making political appearances, she agreed to travel with her husband to Dallas in November 1963 and was sitting beside him in his motorcade on November 22 when he was assassinated. At her husband’s funeral, a grieving Jackie stood with her two young children, earning the respect, admiration and sympathy of the world.

Jackie Kennedy: Post-White House Life

After her husband’s funeral, Jackie Kennedy moved to New York City and attempted to live her life with some privacy amid the glare of celebrity. In October 1968, she sparked a frenzy of publicity when she married the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, 28 years her senior and one of the wealthiest men in the world. She lived with him in homes in Greece and Paris but still spent much of her time in New York, where her children attended school. By 1975, when Onassis died, the couple had apparently been separated for some time; he left her some $20 to $26 million, while the bulk of the estate went to his daughter.

Widowed for the second time, Jackie returned to her love of publishing. She worked as a consulting editor at Viking Press before moving to Doubleday, where she eventually became a senior editor. She was also active in the arts and landmark preservation, including that of several historic New York buildings. Her companion in her later years was Maurice Tempelsman, a Belgian-born diamond dealer. In 1994, Jackie was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She died in her New York apartment on May 19, 1994, at the age of 64, and was buried next to her first husband in Arlington National Cemetery .

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Life of Jacqueline B. Kennedy

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York. Her father, John, was a wealthy stockbroker on Wall Street whose family had come from France in the early 1800s. Her mother, Janet, had ancestors from Ireland and England.

Janet Bouvier was an accomplished rider, and Jackie was only a year old when her mother first put her on a horse. By age 11, she had already won several national championships.  The New York Times wrote in 1940:

Jacqueline Bouvier, an eleven-year-old equestrienne from East Hampton, Long Island, scored a double victory in the horsemanship competition. Miss Bouvier achieved a rare distinction. The occasions are few when a young rider wins both contests in the same show.

Jackie also enjoyed reading. Before she started school, she had read all the children’s books on her bookshelves. Her heroes were Mowgli from Rudyard Kipling's  The Jungle Book , Robin Hood, Little Lord Fauntleroy’s grandfather, Scarlett O'Hara from  Gone With the Wind , and the poet Byron. Mrs. Bouvier wondered if Jackie might one day be a writer.

Going to School

After kindergarten, Jackie started first grade at Miss Chapin’s School on East End Avenue in New York. One of her teachers, Miss Platt, thought Jackie was "a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic, and full of the devil." At times she did get into mischief and would be sent to the headmistress, Miss Ethel Stringfellow, who wrote on her report card: "Jacqueline was given a D in Form because her disturbing conduct in her geography class made it necessary to exclude her from the room."

When Jackie was ten years old, her parents divorced. It was a difficult period for her, especially because at the time few children had divorced parents. She also came from a Catholic family, and the Catholic Church disapproves of divorces. Jackie had always been a private person, but now she became still quieter, keeping her thoughts to herself.

Despite these hard times, Jackie had many advantages and opportunities in life. She took classical ballet lessons in the old Metropolitan Opera House. She began taking lessons in French. In 1942, when Jackie was about to turn thirteen, her mother married a businessman named Hugh Auchincloss who had children from previous marriages. Besides her younger sister, Lee, Jackie now had two stepbrothers, Yusha and Tommy, and a stepsister, Nina.

In June 1947, Jackie graduated from Miss Porter’s School, a boarding school for girls in Connecticut. She continued her education at Vassar College in New York, where she studied history, literature, art, and French. Jackie spent her junior year studying abroad in Paris, France. She lived with the de Renty family at 76 Avenue Mozart. Madame de Renty had two daughters, Claude and Ghislaine, and one four-year-old son, Christian. Jackie later wrote about her experience:

I loved it more than any year of my life. Being away from home gave me a chance to look at myself with a jaundiced eye. I learned not to be ashamed of a real hunger for knowledge, something I had always tried to hide, and I came home glad to start in here again but with a love for Europe that I am afraid will never leave me.

She returned to the United States to finish up her last year of college, transferring from Vassar College to The George Washington University because she preferred being in the city and close to her family.

Jacqueline Bouvier: The Inquiring Photographer

Jacqueline started her first job in the fall of 1951 as the "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the  Washington Times-Herald  newspaper. Roving around the city, she took pictures of people she encountered, asked them questions on the issues of the day, and wove their answers into her newspaper column. Among those she interviewed for her column was Richard M. Nixon. She also covered the first inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

During this time, Jacqueline met John F. Kennedy, who was a congressman and soon to be elected senator from Massachusetts. On September 12, 1953, they married at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island. After their honeymoon in Mexico, the Kennedys returned to Washington DC. Early on in their marriage, Senator Kennedy suffered crippling pain in his back from football and wartime injuries and had two operations. While recovering from surgery, Mrs. Kennedy encouraged him to write a book about several US senators who had risked their careers to fight for the things they believed in. The book, called  Profiles in Courage , was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957. That same year, the Kennedys’ first child, Caroline, was born.

In January 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. He began traveling all around the country and Jacqueline often accompanied him. During the campaign, she learned that she was pregnant and her doctors instructed her to remain at home. From there, she answered hundreds of campaign letters, taped TV commercials, gave interviews, and wrote a weekly newspaper column, "Campaign Wife," which was distributed across the country. On November 8, 1960, John F. Kennedy beat Republican Richard M. Nixon in a very close race. Two and-a-half weeks later, Mrs. Kennedy gave birth to their second child, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr.

Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the United States

On January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office to become the nation's 35th president. At age 31, Jacqueline Kennedy was the first lady. With her gracious personal style and her passion for history and the arts, she worked hard to be worthy of her new role. While she had a deep sense of obligation to her country, her first priorities were to be a good wife to her husband and mother to her children. She told a reporter that "if you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."

Restoring the White House

Mrs. Kennedy soon set about making the White House into a real home for her family. She turned the sun porch on the third floor into a kindergarten school for Caroline and 12 to 15 other children, who came every morning at 9:30. There was also a swimming pool, a swing set, and a tree house on the White House lawn for Caroline and John Jr.

Mrs. Kennedy also thought about what the White House represented to its many visitors and to citizens everywhere. She wanted people to have a greater appreciation of the history of America's most famous residence and its past inhabitants. Her first major project as first lady was to restore and preserve the White House. She enlisted the aid of many experts, established a White House Fine Arts Committee, and created the post of White House curator. Gathering outstanding examples of American art and furniture from around the United States (including many items that had belonged to former presidents and their families), she restored all the public rooms in the White House. CBS Television asked Mrs. Kennedy to present a televised tour of the newly restored White House. Eighty million Americans watched the broadcast, and it earned Jacqueline Kennedy an honorary Emmy Award.

Promoting the Arts

The Kennedys brought a new, youthful spirit to the White House, which they believed should be a place to celebrate American history, culture, and achievement. As first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy planned important dinners and events at the White House and invited artists, writers, scientists, poets, and musicians to mingle with politicians, diplomats, and statesmen. After a visit to the White House, the world-renowned violinist Isaac Stern wrote to Mrs. Kennedy to thank her. "It would be difficult to tell you," he wrote, "how refreshing, how heartening it is to find such serious attention and respect for the arts in the White House. To many of us it is one of the most exciting developments on the present American cultural scene." Mrs. Kennedy also influenced the world of fashion. Her unique and refined sense of style made her a trendsetter, although she discouraged the excessive focus on her appearance by magazines, newspapers, and the general public.

Ambassador of Good Will

Mrs. Kennedy also traveled with her husband, representing the United States abroad. Clark Clifford, a respected lawyer and advisor to President Kennedy, was so pleased with Mrs. Kennedy after her trip to Paris, Vienna, and Greece that he sent her a note of appreciation, "Once in a great while, an individual will capture the imagination of people all over the world. You have done this; and what is more important, through your graciousness and tact, you have transformed this rare accomplishment into an incredibly important asset to this nation."

As first lady, Mrs. Kennedy also traveled to Italy, India, and Pakistan. Her interest in other cultures and her ability to speak several foreign languages, including French, Spanish, and Italian, brought her good will and admiration around the world.

A Time of Loss

On August 7, 1963, Mrs. Kennedy gave birth to their third child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy. He suffered from a serious lung ailment and was rushed to the Children's Hospital in Boston, where he died two days later. While still recovering from this loss, another terrible tragedy befell her. On November 22, 1963, President and Mrs. Kennedy were in Dallas, Texas. As their car drove slowly past cheering crowds, shots rang out. President Kennedy was killed and Jacqueline Kennedy became a widow at age 34. She planned the president's state funeral. As it was broadcast around the world, millions of people shared her grief and admired her courage and dignity.

Soon after President Kennedy’s death, Mrs. Kennedy began the work of creating the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum as a memorial to her husband. She chose the architect I.M. Pei to design the building, which now stands as a landmark overlooking Boston Harbor.

In 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy married a Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. When Mr. Onassis died in 1975, she became a widow a second time. Now that her children were older, Jacqueline decided to begin a new career. She accepted a job as an editor at Viking Press in New York City and later moved to Doubleday as a senior editor. She enjoyed a successful career in publishing until her death on May 19, 1994. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was laid to rest beside President Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, DC.

The Legacy of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy

Throughout her life, Jacqueline Kennedy sought to preserve and protect America’s cultural heritage. The results of her work are still visible in Lafayette Square, across from the White House in Washington, DC. While she was first lady, she helped to stop the destruction of historic buildings along the square, including the Renwick Building, now part of the Smithsonian Institution. In New York City, she led a campaign to save and renovate Grand Central Station. Today, more than 500,000 people pass through each day and enjoy its restored beauty, thanks to her efforts.

Jacqueline Kennedy captivated the nation and the rest of the world with her intelligence, beauty, and grace. With a deep sense of devotion to her family and country, she dedicated herself to raising her children and to making the world a better place through art, literature, and a respect for history and public service.

Biography Online

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Biography

She is remembered for her contributions to the art and refurbishment of the White House. During her husband’s short-lived presidency, she was a great asset helping to gain the admiration of the press and public opinion.

Short Bio Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

“We should all do something to right the wrongs that we see and not just complain about them.”

– Jacqueline Kennedy

Jacqueline was born in New York to a wealth stockbroking family. Her family were wealthy, Catholic and Republican. Though, when she met her future husband John, she was willing to switch political allegiances, taking little interest in actual political ideologies.

She gained a degree in French Literature from the George Washington University, in Washington D.C. During her degree, she spent a year in France. After graduating, she was hired as a photojournalist for the Washington Times-Herald. She was also a leading light of the local social circles – attending many high profile social engagements. It was at such dinner parties that she met then Senator John F Kennedy . They shortly became engaged and married in 1953 in Newport, Rhode Island. Speaking about her husband, she said:

“He was, she says, kind, conciliatory, forgiving, a gentleman, a man of taste in people, furniture, books.” (NY Times, 1964)

Shortly after her marriage, Jacqueline suffered a miscarriage and then her first daughter was born stillborn. She had another three children, the last of whom died aged just two years old. Her two children who survived childhood were Caroline Bouvier Kennedy and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Jacqueline_Kennedy after State Dinner 1962

In 1960, John F. Kennedy ran for the presidency with Lyndon Johnson as VP. Jacqueline did not play an active role in his campaign because she was pregnant during the election. But, she did support her husband from her home by answering letters and giving interviews for TV and newspapers.

After a hard-fought campaign, John F Kennedy won a small majority – narrowly defeating Richard Nixon, and becoming the youngest President of the modern era. Jacqueline was also the youngest first lady, and she helped bring a refreshing glamour to the White House. She became responsible for organising social events, and she took great interest in refurbishing the White House, trying to give a greater sense of history to the famous building.

In a highly popular TV programme, Jacqueline invited TV cameras for a guided tour of the White House. This proved a great public relations exercise and the video was sent to over one hundred countries boosting support for America in the cold war. Speaking about the positive reaction to the White House tour, she said:

“Suddenly, everything that’d been a liability before–your hair, that you spoke French, that you didn’t just adore to campaign, and you didn’t bake bread with flour up to your arms–you know, everybody thought I was a snob and hated politics. … I was so happy for Jack, especially now that it was only three years together that he could be proud of me then. Because it made him so happy–it made me so happy. So those were our happiest years.” (NY Times interview, 1964)

Her social charm and grace endeared herself to the public and also visiting leaders. For example, when the Russian Premier, Khrushchev visited, he made a point of wanting to shake the hand of Jacqueline before her husband.

In 1961, the Kennedy’s made a very popular visit to France. Jacqueline was in her element as she could speak French and her sense of fashion and charm (especially her pillbox hats) endeared her to the French public and the French leader Charles de Gaulle . At the end of his visit, John F. Kennedy wryly remarked:

“I do not think it altogether inappropriate to introduce myself to this audience. I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it.”

Jacqueline had stolen the show, but the visit was helpful for the overall image of the Kennedy presidency.

In the summer of 1963, the couple suffered the loss of another child – Patrick. He was born prematurely and died two days after birth. This was a devastating event which brought the couple closer together.

However, it was on November 22nd that Jacqueline’s life was forever changed by the assassination of her husband, John F Kennedy during an open car tour of Dallas, Texas. Her stoicism and dignity in the light of the shocking tragedy was a defining image of this traumatic event in American history. She later said:

“He didn’t even have the satisfaction of being killed for civil rights… it had to be some silly little Communist. ”

The marriage was not greeted with much enthusiasm by the American press, who felt they were losing their Jacqueline to a foreign billionaire; Jacqueline endured a rare bout of public criticism. After the marriage, she was also hounded by paparazzi photographers which caused her much distress.

In 1975, Aristotle Onassis died, leaving Jacqueline, a widow for the second time. She spent some time working for a publisher. She also campaigned for the arts and preservation of American heritage. In the 1970s, she played a leading role in saving the Grand Central Terminal in New York from demolition.

In 1991, she met the Clintons and helped the campaign of Bill Clinton for the White House; she also advised Hilary Clinton on how to raise a child in the White House.

Jacqueline died in May 1994 from a form of cancer. She left an estate valued at $200, to her two children Caroline and John. She remains one of the most popular first ladies, a

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan .  “ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Biography” , Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net. 11th Feb 2013. Updated 10th February 2017.

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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier; July 28, 1929–May 19, 1994) was the wife of John F. Kennedy , the 35th President of the United States. During his presidency, she became known for her fashion sense and for her redecoration of the White House. After the assassination of her husband in Dallas on November 22, 1963, she was honored for her dignity in her time of grief; she later remarried, moved to New York, and worked as an editor at Doubleday.

Fast Facts: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

• Known For: As the wife of John F. Kennedy, she was the first lady of the United States.
• Also Known As: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, Jackie O.
• Born: July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New York
• Parents: John Vernou Bouvier III and socialite Janet Norton Lee
• Died: May 19, 1994 in New York, New York
• Education: Vassar College, George Washington University
• Spouse(s): John F. Kennedy (m. 1953-1963), Aristotle Onassis (m. 1968-1975)
• Children: Arabella, Caroline, John Jr., Patrick

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in East Hampton, New York, on July 28, 1929. Her mother was socialite Janet Lee, and her father was John Vernou Bouvier III, a stockbroker known as “Black Jack.” He was a playboy from a wealthy family, French in ancestry and Roman Catholic by religion. Her younger sister was named Lee.

Jack Bouvier lost most of his money in the Depression, and his extra-marital affairs contributed to the separation of Jacqueline’s parents in 1936. Though Roman Catholic, her parents divorced and her mother later married Hugh D. Auchincloss and moved with her two daughters to Washington, D.C. Jacqueline attended private schools in New York and Connecticut and made her society debut in 1947, the same year she began attending Vassar College .

Jacqueline’s college career included a junior year abroad in France. She completed her studies in French literature at George Washington University in 1951. She was offered a job for a year as a trainee at Vogue, spending six months in New York and six months in France. At the request of her mother and stepfather, though, she refused the position. Jacqueline began working as a photographer for the Washington Times-Herald.

Meeting John F. Kennedy

Jacqueline met John F. Kennedy, the young war hero and congressman from Massachusetts, in 1952, when she interviewed him for one of her assignments. The two began dating, became engaged in June 1953, and married in September at St. Mary’s Church in Newport. There were 750 wedding guests, 1,300 at the reception, and some 3,000 spectators. Her father, because of his alcoholism, was unable to attend or walk her down the aisle.

In 1955, Jacqueline had her first pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage. The next year another pregnancy ended in premature birth and stillborn child, and soon after her husband was bypassed for an expected nomination as the Democrat Party's vice presidential candidate. Jacqueline’s father died in August 1957. Her marriage suffered because of her husband’s infidelities. On November 27, 1957, she gave birth to her daughter Caroline. It was not long before Kennedy was running for the Senate again, and Jackie—as she was fondly known—took part in that, though she still disliked campaigning.

While Jackie’s beauty, youth, and gracious presence were an asset to the campaigns of her husband, she only reluctantly participated in politics. She was pregnant again when he was running for president in 1960, which allowed her to bow out of active campaigning. That child, John F. Kennedy, Jr ., was born on November 25, after the election and before her husband was inaugurated in January 1961.

As a very young first lady—only 32 years old—Jackie Kennedy was the subject of much fashion interest. She applied her interests in culture to restoring the White House with period antiques and inviting musical artists to White House dinners. She preferred not to meet with the press or with various delegations that came to meet with the first lady—a term she disliked—but a televised tour of the White House was very popular. She helped get Congress to declare White House furnishings government property.

Jackie maintained an image of distance from politics, but her husband sometimes consulted her on issues and she was an observer at some meetings, including of the National Security Council .

The White House announced in April 1963 that Jackie Kennedy was again pregnant. Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born prematurely on August 7, 1963, and lived only two days. The experience brought John and Jackie Kennedy closer together.

November 1963

Jackie Kennedy was riding in a limousine next to her husband in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, when he was shot. Images of her cradling his head in her lap as he was rushed to the hospital became part of the iconography of that day. She accompanied her husband’s body on Air Force One and stood, still in her bloodstained suit, next to Lyndon B. Johnson on the plane as he was sworn in as the next president. In the ceremonies that followed, Jackie Kennedy, a young widow with children, figured prominently as the shocked nation mourned. She helped plan the funeral and arranged for an eternal flame to burn as a memorial at President Kennedy’s burial site in Arlington National Cemetery. She also suggested to an interviewer, Theodore H. White, the image of Camelot for the Kennedy legacy.

After the Assassination

After the assassination, Jackie did her best to maintain privacy for her children, moving to an apartment in New York City in 1964 to escape the publicity of Georgetown. Her husband’s brother Robert F. Kennedy stepped in as a role model for his niece and nephew. Jackie took an active role in his run for the presidency in 1968.

After Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June, Jackie married Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis on October 22, 1968—many believe to give herself and her children an umbrella of protection. However, many of the people who had admired her so much in the aftermath of the assassination felt betrayed by her remarriage. She became a constant subject of tabloids and a constant target for paparazzi.

Career as an Editor

Aristotle Onassis died in 1975. After winning a court battle over the widow’s portion of his estate with his daughter Christina, Jackie moved permanently to New York. There, though her wealth would have supported her quite well, she went back to work, taking a job with Viking and later with Doubleday and Company as an editor. She was eventually promoted to senior editor and helped produce bestselling books.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis died in New York on May 19, 1994, after a few months of treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and was buried next to President Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery. The nation’s depth of mourning stunned her family. A 1996 auction of some of her belongings, to help her two children pay inheritance taxes on her estate, brought more publicity and significant sales.

Jackie Kennedy is one of the United States' most iconic first ladies, consistently topping polls of the nation's most beloved and influential figures. As a style icon, she helped popularize long gloves and pillbox hats, and she continues to inspire couture designers today. She has been depicted in the films "Thirteen Days," "Love Field," "Killing Kennedy," and "Jackie."

A book written by Jacqueline Kennedy was found among her personal effects; she left instructions that it not be published for 100 years.

• Bowles, Hamish, ed. "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years: Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum ."  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001.
• Bradford, Sarah. "America's Queen: A Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis." Penguin, 2000.
• Lowe, Jacques. "My Kennedy Years . " Thames & Hudson, 1996.
• Spoto, Donald. "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life." Macmillan, 2000.
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Jacqueline Kennedy

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York, to parents John and Janet Bouvier. She and her younger sister, Caroline, grew up in Manhattan. During her childhood, Jacqueline learned French, practiced ballet, and took horseback riding lessons. 1

She enrolled at Vassar University in 1947 and studied abroad in Paris, France, before transferring to George Washington University, where she earned a degree in French literature in 1951. 2 After college, Jacqueline worked as a photographer for the Washington Times Herald .

In 1952, she met up-and-coming Congressman John F. Kennedy, and the couple married on September 12, 1953. They divided their time between Washington, D.C. and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, while raising their children Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr. In the 1950s, Jacqueline supported John F. Kennedy’s political aspirations, which culminated in his election to the presidency in 1960.

In January 1961, the Kennedys moved into the White House. Despite her short time there, Jacqueline Kennedy made a profound impact on the home and the role of first lady. She immediately set her sights on preserving the historic integrity of the White House. In 1961, she created the Fine Arts Committee for the White House, made up of specialists in the field, and hired Lorraine Waxman Pearce as the first curator of the White House. That same year, the first lady also established the White House Historical Association, a private, non-profit organization to assist with acquisition and preservation efforts. Kennedy spearheaded efforts to make the White House a museum, protected by Congress, and renovated many rooms. She expanded the White House Collection, searching for historic pieces from past administrations, and published the first White House Guidebook.

To share these efforts with the public, CBS News broadcast the first televised tour of the White House in 1962, led by the first lady. Over eighty million viewers around the world watched, and Mrs. Kennedy earned a special Emmy Award for the program. 3 Jacqueline Kennedy also organized efforts to save Lafayette Park and its historic buildings from demolition, successfully preserving it for future generations. 4

Despite her busy schedule, motherhood was Mrs. Kennedy’s priority, and she made several changes to make the White House more comfortable for her family. She set up a school room in the Third Floor Solarium for Caroline Kennedy’s kindergarten classmates and created a nursery for John Jr. in the Residence. Sadly, she and President Kennedy lost a child, Patrick, born prematurely in August 1963.

Her influence as first lady also stretched beyond the White House. Jacqueline Kennedy traveled abroad several times as first lady, visiting the countries of India, Pakistan, Venezuela, Italy, and the United Kingdom, among others. 5 Following a trip to France in 1961, she successfully negotiated for Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to travel to the United States, and millions of Americans visited the famous painting in Washington, D.C. and New York City in early 1963. 6 Indeed, the Kennedy White House was a cultural center, and ballet, musical performances, opera, and theater filled its halls.

Tragically, the Kennedys’ time in the White House was cut short. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while campaigning for re-election in Dallas, Texas. Mrs. Kennedy planned his State Funeral to imitate President Abraham Lincoln’s almost a century earlier. 7

After leaving the White House, she moved with her children to New York City, and in 1968, Jacqueline married Greek businessman Aristotle Onassis. She only returned to the White House once more. She and her children secretly visited on February 3, 1971, to view the recently completed portraits of herself and President Kennedy at the invitation of President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon.

Jacqueline participated in the creation of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts and attended the dedication ceremony on October 20, 1979. Following the death of her second husband, Jacqueline became an editor for Doubleday. She also continued to advocate for historic preservation, fighting to save Grand Central Station in New York City. 8 She spent her final years with her long-time partner, Maurice Tempelsman. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died on May 19, 1994, at the age of sixty-four. She is buried next to President Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery.

Footnotes & Resources

• “LIFE OF JACQUELINE B. KENNEDY,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum , https://www.jfklibrary.org/lea... .
• “Jacqueline Kennedy’s Emmy Award,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum , https://www.jfklibrary.org/med... .
• “The “First Neighborhood”: Presidents and Preservation in Lafayette Park,” National Park Service , https://www.nps.gov/articles/l... .
• “JACQUELINE KENNEDY IN THE WHITE HOUSE,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum , https://www.jfklibrary.org/lea... .
• See Margaret Leslie Davis, Mona Lisa in Camelot (Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association).
• “John F. Kennedy Funeral,” White House Historical Association , https://www.whitehousehistory.... .
• Angela Serratore, “The Preservation Battle of Grand Central,” Smithsonian Magazine , June 26, 2018, https://www.smithsonianmag.com... .

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