Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Bouvier
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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1929, became First Lady of the United States in 1961 after marrying John F. Kennedy. She won an Emmy for her 1962 televised White House tour and later married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968. After his death, she worked as a book editor in New York until her death from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1994.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
On July 28, 1929, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born in Southampton, New York, to Janet Lee Bouvier and stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III. After her parents’ divorce around age six, her mother married Hugh D. Auchincloss, giving Jackie two stepbrothers and a stepsister. She attended Miss Porter’s School, then Vassar College, but spent her junior year at the Sorbonne in Paris before transferring to George Washington University, graduating in 1951.
After college, Jacqueline worked briefly at a Washington, D.C., newspaper as a photographer. On assignment in 1952, she met Senator John F. Kennedy, and they married in 1953. As First Lady from 1961, she focused on historic preservation, including restoring the White House. Her 1962 televised tour of the White House earned her an Emmy Award. Following JFK’s 1963 assassination and Robert Kennedy’s 1968 murder, she married Aristotle Onassis on October 20, 1968, gaining financial security. After Onassis’ death in 1975, she returned to New York and became a book editor, a role she held for the last two decades of her life.
Jacqueline married John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1953. They had four children: Arabella stillborn in 1956, Caroline born 1957, John Jr. born 1960, and Patrick Bouvier died two days after birth in 1963. She sat beside President Kennedy in the limousine during his assassination on November 22, 1963. On October 20, 1968, she married Aristotle Onassis, who died in 1975. Later, she had a long-term companion, Maurice Tempelsman. She also briefly dated Warren Beatty in 1976.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s 1962 White House tour set a precedent for public engagement. Style, poise, and dedication to historic preservation define her legacy. She received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1986 and posthumously the Women’s International Center Living Legacy Award in 1995. Her influence persists in fashion, the arts, and the role of the First Lady.
Browse the complete filmography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Don’t Think There Are Any Men Who Are Faithful to Their Wives.
The First Time You Marry for Love, the Second for Money, and the Third for Companionship.
The One Thing I Do Not Want to Be Called Is First Lady. It Sounds Like a Saddle Horse.
I Want to Live My Life, Not Record It.
If You Bungle Raising Your Children, I Don’t Think Whatever Else You Do Well Matters Very Much.
What Is My Proudest Accomplishment? I Went Through Some Pretty Difficult Times, and I Kept My Sanity.
Our Dreams and Goals Are Never Completely Realized. They Are Always There Before Our Eyes, but Always Just Slightly Out of Reach. and so as We Strive to Fulfill Our Vision, We Must Make the Most Out of Every Living Moment.
There Are Two Kinds of Women. Those Who Want Power in the World, and Those Who Want Power in Bed.
I Charge Everything to Olympic Airways.
Sex Is a Bad Thing Because It Rumples the Clothes.
Little-known facts about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
On returning to Washington after JFK’s assassination, Lady Bird Johnson urged her to change out of her bloodstained outfit, but she refused, saying, Let them see what they have done.
She never spoke publicly about her husband’s murder.
Her four children: Arabella Kennedy stillborn 1956, Caroline Kennedy born 1957, John F. Kennedy Jr. born 1960, died 1999, and Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died two days after birth in 1963.
Won an Emmy for her 1962 televised tour of the White House.
Her favorite actor was William Holden, but she was disappointed to learn he was a registered Republican.
Although JFK was wealthy, her inheritance from him was modest; her marriage to Aristotle Onassis in 1968 brought financial independence, including a $3 million marriage gift and trust funds for her children.
Could speak Italian, French, and Spanish.
Aristotle Onassis reportedly nicknamed her Supertanker due to her expensive tastes.
Briefly dated Warren Beatty in 1976; Beatty later denied they had a sexual relationship.
Named one of the 100 most important women of the 20th century by Ladies Home Journal.
Her father had French, English, German, Scottish, and remote Dutch ancestry; mother was of Irish descent.
Daughter-in-law of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Kennedy.
Named Debutante of the Year 1947-1948.
Shared the same stepfather, Hugh Auchincloss, with writer Gore Vidal.
Sister-in-law of Robert F. Kennedy, Jean Kennedy Smith, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Ted Kennedy; also sister-in-law of Peter Lawford and Joan Bennett Kennedy.
Won the Vogue magazine contest in 1951 by defining Sergei Diaghilev as unique alchemist in history of arts.
First Lady of the USA from 1961 to 1963.
Attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Niece of Edith Bouvier Beale and cousin of Edith Little Edie Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens fame.
Recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1986.
Received the Women’s International Center Living Legacy Award posthumously in 1995.
Frequented the Paris Salon of Yves Saint-Laurent with her sister Lee Radziwill.
The character Jaqueline Bouvier on The Simpsons is named in her honor.
Older sister of Lee Radziwill.
Aunt of Christopher Lawford, Maria Shriver, director Burr Steers, Anthony Radziwill, Tina Radziwill, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Rory Kennedy, and Kerry Kennedy.
Her youngest child Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, born August 7, 1963 and lived two days, was the only child born to an incumbent U.S. President and First Lady in the 20th century.
Her first six succeeding First Ladies were all older than her; Hillary Clinton was the first younger one.
Mentioned in songs Two Tub Man by The Dictators and Saturn 5 by Inspiral Carpets.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Celebrities similar to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — same craft, ranked by reach.
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