Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994

<p>Over the course of her adult life, Mrs Kennedy lived between many homes including the White House, a Manhattan apartment on the Upper East Side, a vacation home Hyannis Port, a cottage in Martha’s Vineyard, a weekend retreat in Peapack, New Jersey, and a fox hunting cottage in Virginia. Today we step back in time to revisit images of Mrs Kennedy’s unique residences.</p>

Father: Father: John "Jack" Vernou Bouvier, III, born 1891, May 19, East Hampton, New York, stock broker, New York Stock Exchange; died 1957, August 2, New York, New York.

Mother: Janet Norton Lee, born 1907, December 3, New York, New York; attended Sweetbriar College, Virginia, and Vassar College but did not graduate from either institution; a noted horsewoman and a multiple trophy winner. Janet Lee married John Bouvier, 1928, July 7, at St. Philomena's Church, East Hampton, New York; died, 1989, July 22, Newport, Rhode Island.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's parents divorced in 1940. Janet Bouvier married a second time on 1942, June 21, to Hugh D. Auchincloss (1897-1972). She married a third time on 1979, October 25, to Bingham Morris. Morris's first wife had been a bridesmaid in the wedding party of his second wife (Janet Lee Bouvier).

Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis (née Bouvier /ˈbuːvieɪ/; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was First Lady of the United States during the presidency of John F. Kennedy and was regarded then and afterward as an international icon of style and culture.

Bouvier was born in 1929 in Southampton, New York, to Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III and his wife, Janet Lee Bouvier. In 1951, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in French literature from George Washington University and went on to work for the Washington Times-Herald as an inquiring photographer.[1]

In 1952, Bouvier met then-Congressman John F. Kennedy at a dinner party in Washington. Kennedy was elected to the Senate that same year, and the couple married on September 12, 1953, in Newport, Rhode Island. They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Following her husband's election to the presidency in 1960, Jacqueline was known for her highly publicized restoration of the White House and emphasis on arts and culture, as well as for her style, elegance, and grace.[2][3] At age 31, she was the third youngest First Lady when her husband was inaugurated President.

On November 22, 1963, Jacqueline was riding with her husband in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas, when he was assassinated. Following his funeral, she and her children largely withdrew from public view. In 1968, she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Following Onassis's death in 1975, she had a career as a book editor in New York City. She died on May 19, 1994, of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, aged 64.

During her lifetime, Jacqueline Kennedy was regarded as an international fashion icon.[4] Her famous ensemble of a pink Chanel suit and matching pillbox hat that she wore in Dallas has become a symbol of her husband's assassination.[5] Even after her death, she ranks as one of the most popular and recognizable First Ladies, and in 1999 she was listed as one of Gallup's Most-Admired Men and Women of the 20th century.[6]

<p>First Lady Jacqueline Lee “Jackie” (Bouvier) Kennedy Onassis was a symbol of strength for a traumatized nation after the assassination of one the country’s most energetic political figures, President John F. Kennedy, who served from 1961 to 1963.</p>

<p>The inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961 brought to the White House and to the heart of the nation a beautiful young wife and the first young children of a President in half a century.</p>

<p>She was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, daughter of John Vernon Bouvier III and his wife, Janet Lee. Her early years were divided between New York City and East Hampton, Long Island, where she learned to ride almost as soon as she could walk. She was educated at the best of private schools; she wrote poems and stories, drew illustrations for them, and studied ballet. Her mother, who had obtained a divorce, married Hugh D. Auchincloss in 1942 and brought her two girls to “Merrywood,” his home near Washington, D.C., with summers spent at his estate in Newport, Rhode Island. Jacqueline was dubbed “the Debutante of the Year” for the 1947-1948 season, but her social success did not keep her from continuing her education. As a Vassar student she traveled extensively, and she spent her junior year in France before graduating from George Washington University. These experiences left her with a great empathy for people of foreign countries, especially the French.</p>

<p>In Washington she took a job as “inquiring photographer” for a local newspaper. Her path soon crossed that of Senator Kennedy, who had the reputation of being the most eligible bachelor in the capital. Their romance progressed slowly and privately, but their wedding at Newport in 1953 attracted nationwide publicity.</p>

<p>With marriage “Jackie” had to adapt herself to the new role of wife to one of the country’s most energetic political figures. Her own public appearances were highly successful, but limited in number. After the sadness of a miscarriage and the stillbirth of a daughter, Caroline Bouvier was born in 1957; John Jr. was born between the election of 1960 and Inauguration Day. Patrick Bouvier, born prematurely on August 7, 1963, died two days later.</p>

<p>To the role of First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy brought beauty, intelligence, and cultivated taste. Her interest in the arts, publicized by press and television, inspired an attention to culture never before evident at a national level. She devoted much time and study to making the White House a museum of American history and decorative arts as well as a family residence of elegance and charm. But she defined her major role as “to take care of the President” and added that “if you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do well matters very much.”</p>

<p>Mrs. Kennedy’s gallant courage during the tragedy of her husband’s assassination won her the admiration of the world. Thereafter it seemed the public would never allow her the privacy she desired for herself and her children. She moved to New York City; and in 1968 she married the wealthy Greek businessman, Aristotle Onassis, 23 years her senior, who died in March 1975. From 1978 until her death in 1994, Mrs. Onassis worked in New York City as an editor for Doubleday. At her funeral her son described three of her attributes: “love of words, the bonds of home and family, and her spirit of adventure.”</p>