In May 1994, the media reported the death of Jacqueline Kennedy, also known as Jackie Onassis. By fate, she became the widow of two famous people, one of whom was the president of America, and the other a Greek shipping magnate. How was the life of this woman and what led her to the top of the social Olympus? For the answer to this question, we turn to the testimonies of biographers.
The family of the future first lady of America
July 28, 1929 in the family of a successful broker John Bouvier and his wife Janet Norton Lee, who lived in one of the fashionable suburbs of New York, a daughter was born, who was named Jacqueline. Nature was generous to her. In the biography of Jacqueline Kennedy (and it was she) she always mentioned her inherent charm from childhood, as well as a penchant for reading and drawing. In addition, the girl was addicted to horseback riding, and this love carried through her whole life.
The father of the future first lady of the United States was of Anglo-French descent, and his mother was Irish. Their marriage was fragile, and in 1940 the couple divorced, after which Mrs. Norton Lee remarried, having given birth to two more children - son James and daughter Janet.
Years of study and work as a newspaper reporter
As a child from a family belonging to the upper strata of society, young Jacqueline Bouvier received primary and secondary education in privileged educational institutions, after which she left for Paris in 1949, where she improved her French language and joined the European culture within the walls of the Sorbonne.
Upon returning to her homeland, she entered the George Washington Metropolitan University, after which she was awarded the title of Bachelor of Arts, specializing in French literature. Subsequently, she expanded her education at one of the faculties of Georgetown University of Columbia. There, Jacqueline studied a number of foreign languages.
Having become a graduate, Miss Bouvier (at that time so called the future Mrs. Kennedy) was hired as a street reporter for The Washington Times-Herald. The position is very modest, but it allowed Jacqueline to perfectly master the art of easy communication with strangers, which was very useful to her in the future.
The first marriage of Madame Bouvier
In May 1952, an event took place that largely determined the whole subsequent life of a young woman: at one of the dinner parties, she met her future husband - a young but promising senator John Kennedy. The politician could not resist the charm of his new acquaintance, and a romantic relationship began between them, the result of which was the marriage ceremony, which took place on September 12, 1953 in St. Mary's Church in Newport (Rhode Island). From now on, Miss Bouvier received the right to be called Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy (Jacqueline kennedy) and became a member of one of the most influential families in America.
The first years of married life
The wedding with John F. Kennedy, a promising politician who came from an influential and wealthy family, forced Jacqueline to change not only his surname, but his whole lifestyle, first of all ending his work in the newspaper. After spending a honeymoon in Acapulco, the couple moved to Macklin (Virginia), where they settled in their own house, specially acquired for this occasion.
In the biography of Jacqueline Kennedy, this period of life entered as far from the happiest. The first pregnancy ended in failure, which caused a deep mental trauma. In addition, the outwardly prosperous and prosperous life of a young woman was constantly overshadowed by frequent betrayals, not to the extent of her loving husband.
Birth of children
Fate smiled at her only in November 1957, sending a long-awaited daughter named Caroline, and three years later her son John joined her. He became a gift to her husband, who in those days was the president of the United States. In 1963, after a difficult birth, another child was born, but, not having lived even two days, he died. Oddly enough, but this misfortune brought Jacqueline and John together, through whose fault they had more than once been on the verge of a break. By this time, the couple moved to Georgetown, where they settled in their own North Street mansion.
Spouse campaigning
In early January 1960, her husband, Jacqueline Kennedy, nominated himself for the presidency of the United States, and, despite her next pregnancy, she took an active part in his election campaign. Many biographers subsequently noted that John owes much of his success to his wife.
Extraordinarily attractive by nature and well-versed in the art of communicating with people (recall her reporting activities), Jacqueline easily won the sympathy of thousands of audiences. By the way, she delivered her speeches, in addition to her native English, in French, Spanish, Italian and Polish, which was not difficult for her, since she was fluent in them.
In the role of the first lady of America
The presidential election held on November 8, 1960, ended with a convincing victory for John F. Kennedy, who became the 35th president of the country. He was ahead of Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the number of votes cast for him. This politician had to wait another nine years for his finest hour. After her husband was sworn in, the first lady of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy, was in the center of attention of all the world media. By this time she was 31 years old, and she was at the zenith of her popularity.
Having become the mistress of the White House, Jacqueline changed the interior of many rooms, giving them sophistication, combined with business austerity. She organized all the official receptions. The years devoted to the study of European art developed the perfect taste in it, helping her to shine with unique elegance. Among the general public, among which it enjoyed constant success, a peculiar term came into use then - "Jacqueline Kennedy's style."
Under it, in addition to the ability to dress flawlessly, was meant the art of keeping oneself in society. Being constantly under the lenses of photojournalists and giving endless interviews, Jacqueline was able to be extremely open, but at the same time maintain a distance between herself and others. The same can be said about her behavior at informal receptions in the White House, where she, along with politicians, invited famous artists, artists, athletes and other popular people. For all, she was close and unattainable at the same time. Jacqueline Kennedy tried to imitate this characteristic style and the wives of subsequent presidents of the country.
Texas tragedy
1963 was a fateful year for her husband Jacqueline Kennedy and her entire family. In January, the death of a newborn child ended her next pregnancy, and on November 22 in Texas, a tragedy occurred that claimed her husband's life. His murder inflicted an incurable trauma on her. It is characteristic that even after a long time, the widow appeared in front of reporters in the same pink suit with blood stains from her husband, who was on her on the day of his death. In it, she attended the official ceremony of swearing in the next president of America - Lyndon Johnson, who replaced John Kennedy on this post.
Remarriage
She suffered the following severe shock five years later, when in June 1968 her brother-in-law, the brother of his late husband, Robert Kennedy, was killed. This crime led to fear that in the future, murderers could elect their children as their targets. The associated fear prompted Jacqueline to marry the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who proposed to her and guaranteed personal security in the future. So the former first lady of America became Mrs. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.
After the wedding ceremony, Jacqueline lost the status of the widow of the president of the country, and at the same time lost all the statutory privileges, including the right to protection by secret service agents. With the light hand of journalists, from then on, the nickname Jackie O was formed, formed from the diminutive form of her name and the first letter of a new surname. By the way, the widow's hopes for peace and solitude, which she hoped to find in a new marriage, did not materialize, since the interest shown to her by the public did not weaken, and she again became the focus of world media attention.
The death of the second husband
Unfortunately, the new family union was also short-lived and in 1975 was interrupted by the death of Aristotle Onassis. The tycoon’s death was caused by a severe nervous shock experienced by him after the death of his only son Alexander in the crash. As a result, Jackie Onassis (Jacqueline Kennedy) was a widow for the second time.
According to Greek laws, strictly regulating the size of the inheritance received by the surviving spouse of foreign origin, she became the owner of 26 million dollars. This amount was only a tiny fraction of the great condition of the deceased, but she could not count on more, because the marriage contract concluded between Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis did not mention any additional deductions in this case.
The last period of the widow's life
Secondarily becoming a widow at the age of 46, Jackie Onassis returned to America, and in order to fill the void that formed after her husband's death, she decided to return to journalism. It was not difficult for a woman with such a big name, and in June 1975 she accepted the offer of the editor-in-chief of Viking Press to take one of the vacant seats. She worked there for three years, after which she was forced to terminate the contract due to a conflict with the leadership. After that, Jackie Onassis for some time was an employee of another publishing house - Doubleday, owned by her longtime acquaintance - a diamond industrialist of Belgian origin Maurice Templeman.
In the last years of her life, Mrs. Onassis was actively engaged in work aimed at the restoration of historical monuments of America. She also contributed to the preservation of several antiquities in Egypt, for which the government of this country donated several valuable exhibits to the Washington Museum of Art.
Jackie Onassis passed away on May 19, 1994. The cause of her death was a malignant tumor that developed as a result of a prolonged disease of the lymph nodes. The body of the deceased was buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to the graves of her husband, John F. Kennedy, and their first stillborn daughter, Isabella.