Just Jackie Essay Research Paper Just Jackie

Just Jackie Essay, Research Paper

Just Jackie: Her Private Years

Edward Klein: author

Like many other Americans, my fascination with Camelot and with the Kennedy family has been apparent since I first heard of the legacy. One of the most breathtaking and admiral women to grace the earth in the last century has been Jacqueline Lee Bouvier whom married the most famous of all the Kennedy.s, Jack. When Jack was inaugurated president in 1961 the White House and nation was brought a beautiful young wife and the first young children of the President in over half a century. As the .First Lady., Jackie brought beauty, intelligence, and cultivated taste.

Jackie born in 1929, was the daughter of John Vernon Bouvier and his wife, Janet Lee. Her early years were divided between New York City and East Hampton, Long Island, where she learned to ride almost as soon as she could walk. She was educated at the very best of private school. She learned to write poems and stories, draw illustrations for them, and studied classical ballet. Her mother obtained a divorce from Jackie.s father and remarried Hugh D. Auchincloss in 1942. The change brought Jackie and her younger sister Lee to a home near Washington, D.C. called, .Merrywood.. Jacqueline was named . the Debutante of the year. for the 1947-1948 season, but still after all her success socially she continued her education. As a young girl, Jackie.s father taught her that the way women gained power would be by associating themselves with powerful men. In many ways it seemed as Jackie and her father were more like confidants rather then father and daughter. Being the child of a verbal alcoholic father, Jackie had learned to block things out at a young age. She spent her adult life striving to do this and trying to please her mother. She spent her junior year in college in France as a Vassar University student and traveled extensively. These travels left her with a great acceptance and understanding for foreign countries, and their people. Finally Jackie Bouvier graduated from George Washington University. After her graduation from college, Jackie obtained a job in Washington as a photographer for a local newspaper.

Soon after Jackie started working for the newspaper she crossed paths with one of the most eligible bachelors in Washington. She slowly began a romance with Senator John F. Kennedy. Their courtship was very private until the two wed in a ceremony at Newport in 1953. Jackie had to adapt herself to the wife of one of the most up-and-coming political leaders in the U.S. Her publicity and ordeal with the media has been said to have had only been in comparison with Princess Diana. Part of this attraction was her interest in the arts; this new type of presidential family was publicized greatly by the press. It also inspired an attention to culture, which had never before been evident in a first lady. She devoted much of her time into making the White House a museum a museum of decorative arts as well as a home full of elegance and charm. It was said that Jack loved ceremonies of friends, especially beautiful women, politicians, reporters, entertainers, and intellectuals. Jackie was the producer of these parties while Jack was the consumer.

Jack and Jackie had many problems while trying to have children early in their marriage. Jackie had several miscarriages and she also gave birth to a stillborn child. But in 1957, she gave birth to a girl named, Caroline Bouvier. When Jack was elected president, Jackie was pregnant with the couples. second child, John Jr. In 1963, Patrick Bouvier was born prematurely and died shortly thereafter. She triumphed through the deaths of her children and produced what seemed to be the perfect American family. She defined her life as taking care of the president and raising her young children.

By 1963, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy has achieved the most sought after lifestyle. She was married to the most powerful man in the world; had a mansion filled with a staff of servants; limousines, airplanes, and helicopters; and a wardrobe catered to everything that a woman could want. But most importantly she had won the hearts of people worldwide. In November of that year the life of the Kennedy.s and of the world was shaken when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. After the death of Kennedy, Jackie told Theodore White, a journalist who spoke very intimately with the first lady, that she did not know how she would go without a man in her life. She was so devastated by her husband.s death that she spent the rest of her life thinking that there was something that was always something else she could have done.

In January of 1964, Jackie moved into a house of her own, and after two months of seclusion she was ready for company. She wanted the companionship of men whom she could lean on for support. The trouble was that if she ventured outside of her home with a man that people would begin to talk. There were tons of suitors over the years after Jack.s death, one of which was said to be Clint Hill a secret service man for the president. He had traveled with Jackie and served as an anchor for her after the assassination. But even if she were to do something unpleasing to the public, the press was sure not to take a picture doing so. There were several occasions when Ms. Kennedy got drunk with men such as Hill and even actor, Marlon Brando in public. The