Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

First Lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963

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Journalists rank#108
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Lived 1929–1994, aged 65United States

United States JournalistsJournalist

Wikipedia
86 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1929–1994
Aged 65
Awards
3
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-08-29

She turned the White House into a stage for culture and made fashion a tool of statecraft during the Cold War. The "Jackie Look" moved nations; her fluency in languages and history made her a diplomatic force at 33.

Biography

About

Born into the upper-class Bouvier family in Southampton, she studied history and art at Vassar before earning a degree in French literature from George Washington University in 1951. She started as an inquiring photographer at the Washington Times-Herald, then met congressman John F. Kennedy at a dinner party in 1952. They married in Newport the following year. After his election to the presidency in 1960, she led a highly publicized White House restoration and became Time's Woman of the Year in 1962. His assassination in 1963 sent her into retreat. Five years later she married Greek shipping…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

said17 Nov 1964

Now, I think that I should have known that he was magic all along.

— Quoted from article written by Jacqueline Kennedy for Look Magazine (17 November 1964) JFK memorial issue.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

said1964

I loathe the French. There's not one French person I can think of except—maybe two very simple people. Maybe Boudin, who's so un-French. You know, they're really not very nice.

— In her 1964 interview with Arthur Schlesinger, quoted in Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy (2011).

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

said25 Nov 1963