Jacqueline Kennedy

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Jacqueline Kennedy

When she was First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy achieved a life beyond her wildest dreams. She had the love of the most powerful man in the world, a mansion with a staff of servants, a fleet of limousines, airplanes, and helicopters, round the clock security, a wardrobe created by her own couturier, and the adoration of millions of people. Then in a split second in Dallas, she lost it all. She was among the most accomplished, elegant and inspiring of the first American First Ladies. Poet Robert Frost called her one of the greatest First Ladies in American History.

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, a gallant woman, was born on July 28, 1929. Her early years were spent between New York City and East Hampton, Long Island. When Mrs. Kennedy was 11 years of age she was a national horseback riding champion. Mrs. Kennedy was educated at the best of private schools, and was 18 year old when she was dubbed "the Debutante of the Year" for the 1947-1948 season. While attending Vassar she traveled extensively, spending her junior year in France, before graduating from George Washington University in 1952. Even as a child, and later as a young woman, Mrs. Kennedy showed the qualities that were later to impress the world.

In Washington she took a job as a photographer for a local newspaper, the Washington Times-Herald at the age of 21. Soon after she met Senator John F. Kennedy, who was considered one of the most eligible bachelors in Washington, they were married in 1953. She was 24 years old and it was the outstanding social event of the year. The couple's first child, Caroline, was born in 1957 and John Jr. was born between the 1960 election and Inauguration Day.

The inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 196...

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...emely grateful. Everyone's been very generous. And I hope that, you know, we can just have these next couple of days in relative peace."

Bibliography:

Anderson, Christopher. Jackie After Jack: Portrait of the Lady. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1998.

Dareff, Hal. Jacqueline Kennedy: A Portrait In Courage. New York: Parents' Magazine Press, 1666.

David, Lester. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait of Her Private Years. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1994.

Heymann, C. David. A Woman Named Jackie: An Intimate Biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. New York: Carol Communications, 1989.

Klein, Edward. Just Jackie: Her Private Years. New York: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998.

Thayer, Mary Van Rensselaer. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961.

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