Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

Kelli L.

Sophomore, Jackson High School

Jackson Oh

Submitted December 21, 2001

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

B. Childhood

D. Stepfather

B. College

C. Life after wedding

D. Patrick

B. Sheltering her children

B. Her children

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was a role model for women across the country during the Kennedy Presidency and after. Many people looked up to her because of her strength and class. She took her role as First Lady very seriously and helped in any way she could. She sheltered her children away from the press yet showed them how to live in the spotlight. She remained strong throughout the assassination and funeral of her husband, John F. Kennedy. She remarried five years later to a multimillionaire. Many people were shocked that she married Aristotle Onassis. After Aristotle Onassis' death, she began working for Doubleday and worked there until her death. She died in 1994 from lymphoma. The world had lost "Jackie 0".

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New York (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis...Internet). Her parents

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were John Vernon Bouvier ill and Janet Lee Bouvier (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...Internet). Her parents taught her about life and got her involved in riding horses. Jackie loved to ride horses.

By the age offour, Jackie was riding horses. At age five, she was winning equestrian championships (Trivia...lnternet). This came as little surprise to her mother since she herself was an accomplished rider. In her free time Jackie participated in ballet, she wrote poems and liked sketching and reading (Jackie...lnternet). She lived in many locations as a child. Some of the places in which she lived were McLean, VIrginia, Newport, Rhode Island, New York City, New York, and Long Island, New York (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First.. .Internet).

Jackie's mother was an equestrian and of Irish and English parentage. Her father, a Wall Street broker, had French ancestry (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...Internet). She had one sister, Lee Bouvier Radziwell. Lee and Jackie disapproved of one another. Jackie felt Lee was a spendthrift and Lee thought Jackie was a tightwad (Trivia...Internet). Her parents divorced when Jackie was eleven years old. Two years later, in 1942, Jackie's mother remarried. She married Hugh D. Auchincloss II (Jacqueline Lee...Internet). He had money and supported her mother, Jackie and her sister well. They all

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lived at the Auchinloss estate, Hammersmith Farm, in Newport, Rhode Island (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...Internet) .

Jackie attended Miss Porter's School for Girls in Connecticut as a young girl. She was Debutante of the Year in 1947 after graduating high school (Jackie...Internet). After high school, she attended Vassar College and spent her junior year at the Sorbonne in Paris. She excelled in history, literature, art, and French. She went to college at George Washington University and studied French literature. She graduated from George Washington University in 1951 (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First.. .Internet).

Jackie's first job was as an "Inquiring Camera Girl" working for the Washington Times Herald. In this position, she roamed the city with a camera to get people's facial expressions as they looked at the day's headlines. While working for the Washington Times Herald, she interviewed Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Soon after they began dating (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...Internet).

On September 12, 1953 Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and John Fitzgerald Kennedy were married at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island. Three thousand people were waiting outside of the church (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...Internet). Her stepfather gave Jackie away because

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her father was too drunk to attend the ceremony (Trivia...lnternet). There were about 1,200 guests at the reception, which was held at Hammersmith Farm. The reception was held there because of the memories Jackie had of her childhood summers spent with her family (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First.. .lnternet).

The Kennedys wanted to have children and start a family soon after they were married. Unfortunately, they were the victims of a miscarriage in 1955 and a stillborn daughter in 1956 (Trivia...lnternet). The Kennedys were blessed with a daughter, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, in 1957. They were very happy. John F. Kennedy announced his presidential candidacy in January of 1960. He was victorious in his presidential bid the following November. Weeks after this victory, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. was born. Jackie became the first First Lady to have an infant in the White House (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...Internet). Then in 1963, Jackie gave birth to a second son, Patrick. Unfortunately, Patrick died after Onld hours of life (Trivia.. .lnternet).

As the First Lady, Jackie had many accomplishments. She planned state occasions, had a stage built in the East Room for musical and dramatic performances, and accompanied the President on trips around the world. Jackie worked to have the White House restored. After the restoration of the

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White House, she hosted a CBS special giving a tour of the newly restored White House. She won an Emmy for the broadcast (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...lnternet). Jackie became even better known and beloved.

Jackie also supported many causes. Some of her projects were the renewal of Pennsylvania Avenue, the preservation of Lafayette Square, and plans for a national cultural complex, which eventually became the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...lnternet).

Jackie was also involved in the rescue of ancient Egyptian temples at Abu Simbel. These temples were threatened by floodwaters ttom the Aswan Dam. She founded the White House Historical Association, established the White House Library and the Rose Garden, promoted legislation to raise the Presidential mansion to museum status, and oversaw the publication of a visitor's guidebook to the White House (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy: First...lnternet).

As a mother in the White House, she was determined to shelter her children ttom the limelight. She did not want them to grow up being harassed by the paparazzi. This was something that worried her. She tried to insure that her children were shielded from prying eyes, yet not denied the everyday experiences of growing up. She was quoted as saying, "If you bungle raising

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your chi1dre~ I don't think whatever else you do matters very much" (Personal.. .Internet).

The First Lady, however, was not perfect. She was a smoker, and while she was the First Lady she had a three pack a day habit. Salems were cigarettes of choice (Jackie...Internet). Jackie Kennedy also became a fashion trendsetter, though not by choice. She was watched by all of America. Her trademark fashion pieces were a pillbox hat and pearls (Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy...Internet). Women all over America and the world imitated her style.

Life as the First Lady came to a tragic halt for Jacqueline Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This was the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. The couple was riding in an open car in a parade through downtown Dallas when the President was shot. The whole world watched as he died in his crying wife's arms. Jackie was j~ years old and was now a widow with two small children to raise.

She once again showed the world her amazing strength.

The following day she began to plan the President's State Funeral. She accompanied the coffin to Arlington National Cemetery and walked in the procession. Soon after his death, Jackie worked to organize the John F. Kennedy Library. This library was to commemorate her late husband's life.

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Works Cited