Jacqueline Kennedy

EARLY LIFE

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New York to Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III (1891–1957) and Janet Norton Lee (1907–1989).

Her early years were spent in New York City and East Hampton, Long Island, at the Bouvier family estate called "Lasata".

Starting at a young age, Jackie was a talented equestrienne. At just 3-years-old, she was already able to control her pony.

Six-year-old Bouvier in 1935

Jackie's parents divorced in 1940, and her mother married Standard Oil heir Hugh D. Auchincloss in 1942. Jackie and her younger sister, Lee, moved in with their mother's new family, and divided their time between their stepfather's two vast estates: Merrywood in McLean, Virginia, and Hammersmith Farm in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1941, a 12-year-old Jackie toured the White House with her mother and sister, but she found it extremely frustrating that there was so little information offered to visitors. So when Jackie eventually moved into the White House herself, she made it her mission to fix this.

Jackie once wrote in her school yearbook that her ambition in life was "not to be a housewife."

In 1951, the 22-year-old Jackie submitted an essay to a Vogue writing contest, where the winner would earn a junior editor position for six months in New York and six months in Paris. And out of 1,279 entries, Jackie's essay won the contest. However, she quit on her first morning as a junior editor.

Before she started a relationship with John F. Kennedy, Jackie was engaged at the age of 22 to a Wall Street banker named John Husted. She broke it off after three months in 1952, because she reportedly thought he was dull and also was hesitant about becoming a housewife.

MARRIAGE TO JFK

Jacqueline Bouvier and then congressman John F. Kennedy were introduced by a mutual friend at a dinner party in May 1952. Kennedy was then busy running for the US Senate, but after his election in November, the relationship grew more serious and led to a proposal.

The wedding of Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy took place on September 12, 1953, at St Mary's Church, in Newport, Rhode Island. It was considered the social event of the season with an estimated 800 guests at the ceremony and 1000 at the lavish reception that followed at Hammersmith Farm.

Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy on their wedding day, September 12, 1953

Jacqueline Kennedy suffered a miscarriage in 1955, and gave birth to a stillborn baby girl in 1956.
The couple eventually became parents to a daughter Caroline (b. 1957) and a son John (1960-1999). A second son, Patrick, was born prematurely in August 1963 and died two days later.

Jacqueline Kennedy was multilingual. She mastered French and speaking also some German and Italia as well as Spanish fluently. She taped radio ads in French, Italian and Spanish, urging the listeners to vote for her husband.

When John Kennedy became the president of the United States on January 20, 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy became, at age 31, one of the youngest First Ladies in American history.

First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, André Malraux, Marie-Madeleine Lioux Malraux, Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson having just descended White House Grand Staircase on their way to a dinner with the French cultural minister, April 1962

After moving into the White House, Jacqueline Kennedy was dismayed at the state the official residence was in. She established a Fine Arts Committee to help her restore the house to its original splendor with American furniture and paintings of historical significance. She hosted a televised tour of the White House, on February 14, 1962, to show the progress of the work. Jackie's televised White House tour exposed millions to the ins and outs of her restoration project, eventually earning her an Emmy.

Charles Collingwood with Jacqueline Kennedy on TV tour of the White House, 14 Feb 1962.

On August 7, 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy prematurely gave birth to a boy, Patrick Bouvier  Kennedy, who died two days later of respiratory distress syndrome.

She was seated next to President Kennedy in an open limousine, when on November 22, 1963, he was shot in the head by a sniper in Dallas. The courage and dignity Jackie displayed in the aftermath of that tragedy won her international admiration.

FASHION

Already stylish and graceful even as a teenager, in 1948 Jackie was dubbed "Debutante of the Year" by Hearst columnist Igor Cassini.

In the early 1960s Jacqueline Kennedy was largely responsible for popularizing the bouffant coiffure.

Her clean suits with a skirt hem down to middle of the knee, three-quarter sleeves on notch-collar jackets, sleeveless A-line dresses, above-the-elbow gloves and famous pillbox hats became known as the "Jackie" look.

Jacqueline Kennedy at a State dinner on May 22, 1962

After her husband's assassination, Jackie refused to change out of her bloodstained bright pink suit
at Lyndon B. Johnson's swearing in, Jackie declined Lady Bird Johnson's offer of a change of clothes with a heartbreaking statement: "Oh no, I want them to see what they've done to Jack." The outfit would go on to be one of the most famous artifacts from the day her husband was assassinated.

Jackie's iconic pink suit was actually a copy of a Chanel outfit. Chez Ninon, a New York fashion salon, created a line-for-line reproduction of Chanel's design so Jackie could skirt around the ban on wearing foreign designers — a habit that she had been publicly criticized for in the past.

Not only did Jackie speak Spanish and French, she was also proficient in Italian and Polish.

Jackie Kennedy liked lunch to have less than 500 calories. It often consisted of a baked potato with a spoonful of fresh caviar.plus a glass or two of champagne.

LATER LIFE AND DEATH 

President John F Kennedy ordered one of his top Secret Service agents to make sure that Jackie did not meet her friend Aristotle Onassis on a trip she took to Greece in 1961.

After leaving the White House, Jacqueline Kennedy lived for a time in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., but moved to New York City with her children in late 1964.

Eight years after John F Kennedy’s assassination, Jacqueline Kennedy avoided the public unveiling of their White House portraits, but the Nixons graciously agreed to a secret, private tour for her and her children. It was her only return visit.

On October 20, 1968, Jackie married her long-time friend Aristotle Onassis, a wealthy Greek shipping magnate. The wedding took place on Skorpios, Onassis's private Greek island in the Ionian Sea.

After Onassis' death in 1975, Jackie once more settled in New York City. From 1978 to 1994, the former First Lady worked as a book editor for Doubleday, an American publishing company. While there, she worked on several JFK biographies.

in 1988 Jackie Onassis edited Michael Jackson's 1988 autobiography Moon Walk. 

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died of cancer (lymphoma) on May 19, 1994 at her home in New York City, at the age of 64. She was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, next to President Kennedy, their stillborn daughter and infant son.

Source Good Housekeeping