In May 1994, the media reported the death of Jacqueline Kennedy, also known as Jackie Onassis. By the will of 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 did the life of this woman turn out and what brought her to the top of the social Olympus? For an answer to this question, let's turn to the testimonies of biographers.
Family of America's Future First Lady
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), the charm inherent in her since childhood, as well as her penchant for reading and drawing, was always mentioned. In addition, the girl was addicted to horseback riding, and carried this love through her whole life.
The father of the future first lady of the United States was of Anglo-French origin, and his mother was Irish. Their marriage proved fragile, and in 1940the couple divorced, after which Mrs. Norton Lee remarried, giving 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 her primary and secondary education in privileged educational institutions, after which she left for Paris in 1949, where, within the walls of the Sorbonne, she improved her French and joined the European culture.
Returning to her homeland, she entered the capital's George Washington University, after which she was awarded the title of Bachelor of Arts, specializing in French literature. Subsequently, she expanded her education in one of the departments of Georgetown Columbia University. There, Jacqueline studied a number of foreign languages.
After graduating, Ms. Bouvier (then called the future Mrs. Kennedy) was hired as a street reporter for The Washington Times-Herald. The position is very modest, but allowed Jacqueline to perfectly master the art of easy communication with strangers, which was very useful to her in the future.
Mistress Bouvier's first marriage
In May 1952, an event occurred that largely determined the entire subsequent life of a young woman: at one of the dinner parties, she met her future husband, young but promising Senator John F. Kennedy. The politician couldn't resistbefore 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.
First years of married life
The wedding with John F. Kennedy - a promising politician who came from an influential and we althy family - forced Jacqueline to change not only her last name, but her whole way of life, first of all, having finished working in a newspaper. After spending their honeymoon in Acapulco, the couple moved to McLean, Virginia, where they settled in their own house, specially purchased for the occasion.
This period of life entered the biography of Jacqueline Kennedy as far from being the happiest. The first pregnancy ended in failure, which caused deep mental trauma. In addition, the outwardly prosperous and prosperous life of a young woman was constantly overshadowed by frequent betrayals of an excessively loving husband.
Having 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 was a gift to her husband, who in those days took the post of President of the United States. In 1963, after a difficult birth, another child was born, but, without having lived even two days, he died. Oddly enough, but this misfortune brought Jacqueline and John closer, through whose faultthey have been on the verge of breaking more than once. By this time, the couple had moved to Georgetown, where they settled in their own North Street mansion.
Participation in the election campaign of the spouse
In early January 1960, Jacqueline Kennedy's husband announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States, and, despite another pregnancy, she took an active part in his election campaign. Many biographers later noted that John owed much of his success to his wife.
Extraordinarily attractive by nature and well versed in the art of communicating with people (remember her reporter 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.
As America's First Lady
The presidential elections held on November 8, 1960 ended with a convincing victory for John F. Kennedy, who became the country's 35th president. 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, US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was in the spotlight of all the world's media. By this time, she was 31 years old and at the height of her popularity.
Becoming the mistress of the White House, Jacqueline changed the interior of many rooms, giving themsophistication, combined with business rigor. She also organized all the official receptions. Years devoted to the study of European art, developed in her the perfect taste, which helped her to shine with unique elegance. Among the general public, among whom she enjoyed constant success, then a peculiar term came into use - “the style of Jacqueline Kennedy.”
Under it, in addition to the ability to dress impeccably, it meant the art of keeping oneself in society. Being constantly under the lenses of photojournalists and giving endless interviews, Jacqueline knew how to be extremely open, but at the same time keep a distance between herself and others. The same can be said about her behavior at informal receptions at the White House, where she, along with politicians, invited famous artists, artists, athletes and other popular people. For everyone, she was close and at the same time inaccessible. The wives of subsequent presidents of the country also tried to imitate this characteristic style of Jacqueline Kennedy.
Texas tragedy
1963 was a fatal year for Jacqueline Kennedy's husband and her entire family. In January, her next pregnancy ended with the death of a newborn child, and on November 22, a tragedy occurred in Texas that claimed the life of her husband. His murder caused her incurable mental trauma. Characteristically, even after a long time, the widow appeared before reporters in the same pink suit with blood stains of her husband, which she wore on the day of his death. In it, she was present at the official swearing-in ceremony.the next president of America - Lyndon Johnson, who replaced John F. Kennedy.
Remarriage
The next severe shock she experienced five years later, when in June 1968 her brother-in-law, the brother of her late husband, Robert Kennedy, was killed. This crime made her fear that in the future the killers might choose her children as their targets. The fear associated with this prompted Jacqueline to marry the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who proposed to her and guaranteed her personal safety in the future. So the former first lady of America became Mrs. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.
After the wedding ceremony, Jacqueline lost her status as the widow of the president of the country, and at the same time she lost all the privileges required by law, including the right to be guarded by secret service agents. With the light hand of journalists, the nickname Jackie O, formed from the diminutive form of her name and the first letter of the new surname, has since stuck to her. 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 public interest in her did not weaken, and she again found herself in the center of attention of the world media.
Death of second husband
Unfortunately, the new family union also turned out to be short-lived and was interrupted in 1975 by the death of Aristotle Onassis. The reason for the death of the magnate was a severe nervous shock that he experienced after the death of his only son Alexander in a plane crash. As a result, Jackie Onassis (JacquelineKennedy) was widowed for the second time.
According to Greek laws, which strictly regulate 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 part of the huge fortune of the deceased, but she could not count on more, since the marriage contract concluded between Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis did not mention any additional deductions in such a case.
The last period of a widow's life
Becoming a widow for the second time at the age of 46, Jackie Onassis returned to America, and to fill the void left by the death of her husband, she decided to return to journalism. For a woman with such a big name, this was not difficult, and in June 1975 she accepted the offer of the editor-in-chief of the Viking Press to take one of the vacant places. She worked there for three years, after which she was forced to terminate the contract due to a conflict with the management. After that, Jackie Onassis for some time was an employee of another publishing house - Doubleday, which was owned by her longtime acquaintance - Belgian-born diamond industrialist Maurice Templesman.
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 presented the Washington Museum of Art with several valuableexhibits.
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.
