During her tenure in the White House, Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy rose to become one of the most adored First Ladies in history. For everyone seeing from the outside, the life of the Southampton, New York native and the then-youngest president to assume office—John F. Kennedy—seemed like a perfect love tale.
Everything changed on that dreadful November 1963 day in Dallas, Texas, when John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. Years later, Jacqueline, sometimes known as “Jackie,” would remarry after having to adjust to a completely new life.
Despite her enormous popularity, little was known about Jackie Kennedy’s existence in the White House; even though the people loved her, there were concerns regarding her availability on a daily basis.
New details about Jacqueline and her private life were disclosed by her former bodyguard, Clint Hill, in an interview with the JFK Presidential Library and Museum.
But first, let’s examine Jackie Kennedy’s life in more detail.
On July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York, she was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. Her parents are Janet Lee and John Vernon Bouvier III.
Jackie Kennedy’s formative years
The Bouvier family was well-off, and her father was a stockbroker. At an early age, Jackie showed an interest in writing, painting, and riding. She was sitting on a horse’s back pretty much as soon as she could walk.
Due to her family’s financial stability, Jackie Kennedy attended some of the top private schools available. She spent her early years composing poetry and other stories and creating her own pictures for them while residing in New York City, Hampton, Newport, and Rhode Island. She studied ballet as well.
Jackie enrolled in Miss Chapin’s School on East End Avenue in New York’s first grade. Jackie was considered by Miss Platt, one of her instructors, to be “a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic, and full of the devil,” according to the JFK Library.
By coincidence, Jackie got into a lot of trouble. “Jacqueline was given a D in Form because her disturbing conduct in her geography class made it necessary to exclude her from the room,” a headmistress Miss Ethel Stringfellow said on one of her report cards.
Jackie’s parents separated when she was ten years old, and her mother Janet later wed Hugh D. Auchincloss. Then, the family relocated to his house close to Washington, D.C.
Jackie Kennedy started attending Vassar College in 1947. She returned to George Washington University in 1951 to receive her degree after spending her junior year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris.
worked as a photographer and journalist.
Jackie developed empathy for individuals from other nations, particularly the French, as a result of her stay in France. She was unaware, nevertheless, that one day she would have the title of First Lady of the United States.
“It was the most beloved year of my life.” Of her year in France, Jackie Kennedy remarked, “Being away from home gave me a chance to look at myself with a jaundiced eye.”
“I came home happy to start over here but with a love for Europe that I’m afraid will never go,” the speaker said. “I learned not to be ashamed of a real hunger for knowledge, something I had always tried to hide.”
Jackie started her first employment at the Washington Times-Herald Newspaper after graduating from George Washington University. She adopted the persona of the “Inquiring Camera Girl,” going about the city during work hours, snapping pictures of individuals and posing various inquiries to them based on the topic of the day.
She kept on her column writing for the newspaper, conducting interviews with notable figures including Richard M. Nixon and covering Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first inauguration.
Jackie got to know John F. Kennedy, the man who would become her husband, at work at the Herald. She received an invitation to a dinner party in Georgetown in 1952, sent by Charles Bartlett, a friend and fellow journalist.
How did John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy get together?
John Kennedy was a buddy of his as well. When they first met, Jackie and John clicked right away.
As stated in America’s Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Jackie’s family friend Molly Thayer remarked, “She knew instantly that he would have a profound, perhaps disturbing, influence on her life.”
At her rendezvous with future president John, sparks had already flown, even though Jackie left to go on another date. Ted Kennedy, his younger brother, said that he loved her.
When he first saw her at supper, “my brother really was smitten with her right from the very beginning,” he said.
Thus, it came to pass that Jackie and John F. Kennedy fell in love. The couple wed at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 12, 1953. Kennedy had already been elected to the U.S. Senate by the time they traveled to Mexico for their honeymoon.
JFK had plenty of free time at the same time that his political career was flourishing. During his recuperation from the back surgery, Jackie suggested that he publish a book about US senators who had sacrificed their careers to stand up for causes they supported.
Following the publication of Profiles in Courage, JFK was awarded the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. The birth of Caroline, the Kennedy family’s first child, made it a momentous year for them as well.
The life of Jackie Kennedy in the White House
A triennial later, Kennedy declared his intention to seek the presidency. JFK took over as the country’s next president on November 8, 1960.
Jackie, then thirty-one, was instantly crowned the First Lady of the United States. Her husband became quite upset shortly after the inauguration, and Jackie and JFK had a beautiful moment.
The pair was captured in the now-famous photo by AP photographer Henry Burroughs with Jackie’s palm resting on his chin.
“Why didn’t Jack kiss you after? Everyone asked, knowing full well that he would never do that there. Jackie Kennedy said, “But you had to march out in such an order that I was about eight behind him.”
And I really, really wanted to see him by himself before lunch. And I was just so proud of him when I finally caught up to him in the Capitol.
And there’s a photo where I put my hand on his chin and, you know, he’s just staring at me, and there were actual tears in his eyes,” she continued. I thought there was no one there, and then a flash occurred. The papers stated that his wife had chuckled him beneath the chin. That was so much more poignant than a kiss, in my opinion, because he actually did start to cry.
Jackie had a strong sense of duty to her nation. She was totally committed to their family at the same time, especially because John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., their second child, had been born a few weeks after the inauguration.
After the death of John F. Kennedy, life
The White House grounds were updated to include a swimming pool, a treehouse, and swings to better accommodate a family with young children. As First Lady, Jackie’s primary goal was to preserve and repair the White House.
After this was finished, Jackie Kennedy personally gave a tour of the facility. Over 80 million viewers tuned in to the CBS broadcast, and Jackie Kennedy received an honorary Emmy Award.
Patrick, John and Jackie’s third child, was born on August 7, 1963. Sadly, a serious lung condition claimed his life just two days later.
Then came the notoriously horrific Dallas, Texas, tragedy of November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot and died. At the age of 34, Jackie became a widow, and millions of people worldwide expressed their sorrow.
Jackie was commended for her bravery and decency at the moment. She started working on the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum shortly after her husband passed away.
Jackie quickly stepped back from the spotlight and wed Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1968. In 1975, she experienced her second divorce and made the decision to start a new profession. Jackie started off as an editor at New York City’s Viking Press before moving on to Doubleday as a senior editor.
Cause of death: Jackie Kennedy
She died on May 19, 1994, of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and was buried next to John F. Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery, which is located outside of Washington, D.C.
All those who had known her as the First Lady were particularly hurt by her passing. However, not much is known about Jackie’s personal life, despite the fact that she rose to enormous popularity at the White House.
Clint Hill, her former bodyguard, recently opened up about his life defending Jackie, disclosing a lot of information that most people are probably unaware of.
Clint joined the Department of the Army as a counterintelligence agent and worked for President Eisenhower in Denver, Colorado. He was chosen one day to become an agent and collaborate closely with Jackie Kennedy.
He initially believed that would be a rather uninteresting detail.
“All right, we’ve made up our minds about what to do. You will be paired with Mrs. Kennedy. And I remember being extremely horrified,” Hill said.
“I was not interested in that task. I knew what prior first ladies were capable of. I had no desire to participate in fashion presentations, tea parties, or dance classes.
However, Clint quickly saw that Jackie was different from the other First Ladies who had come before her. The two struck up a wonderful friendship that progressively got better with time.
As previously stated, Jackie prioritized her children above everything else, serving as both a mother and a First Lady. Clint Hill also picked up on that very fast.
Clint Hill, a former bodyguard, describes Jackie Kennedy’s personality.
She desired that the kids grow up to be typical kids. Nothing noteworthy. They were to be handled by the agents as though they were one of their own. The children got back up if they fell. You failed to assist them. All of this has to be learned by them independently. He clarified, “She wanted to keep herself and the kids as anonymous as possible.
Yes, she made a fantastic mother. Her worries were centered around them and their schooling. In order to provide Caroline with an education, she established a school within the White House and invited several young students from various backgrounds to enroll as well. There were two teachers there, and it was located directly on the White House’s third level. He said, “They used to play out on the south grounds.”
Despite their intimate bond, Jackie always addressed Clint as Mr. Hill, while he addressed her as Mrs. Kennedy. He once moved his entire family to Squaw Island, where the Kennedy family was staying, for the duration of the summer.
As the First Lady’s bodyguard, Clint put in a lot of overtime and was frequently away from his family. As a result, his kids were essentially left fatherless.
However, Jackie occurred to observe that Clint’s kids were the same age as hers that summer on Squaw Island.
She asked Clint’s kids to come play with hers.
But as for him, he turned it down.
“She cared about us more than she did about herself.”
At last, I persuaded her by telling her that it wasn’t a good idea. In the government, I work. You are the president’s wife. These are the offspring of the President. Something should happen because I don’t think it would be a good idea for my two kids to play with your two kids. When she eventually realized what was wrong, she said, “Okay.”
Naturally, Clint Hill was there that awful November 1963 day in Dallas, Texas. He is recognizable in photos as the Secret Service operative who got into the automobile after JFK was shot.
Hill accompanied Jackie Kennedy to the hospital, and he was given credit for ensuring that no pictures were taken. He naturally desired to keep Kennedy’s privacy private. But she did something he didn’t anticipate when they got on the plane to return to Washington.
Instead of lamenting the death of her cherished spouse, Jackie Kennedy inquired about Clint Hill’s well-being.
“Oh, Mr. Hill, what’s going to happen to you now?” she exclaimed. Clint noted in the interview that “she was so much more concerned about my well-being and that of the other agents that were involved, that she wanted to make sure that we were going to be okay.”
“And I assured her, Mrs. Kennedy, I would be alright. I’ll be alright. She wasn’t dressed differently. She hadn’t tidy up. She was just shocked; she hadn’t done anything. Furthermore, she cared about us more than she did about herself.
At Husband’s Funeral Wife Meets a Woman with His Baby in Her Arms – Story of the Day
Nancy’s life is turned upside down at her husband’s funeral when she encounters an older woman holding a baby. The woman claims the child she is carrying is Nancy’s late husband’s. Is she lying? Or do more shocking revelations await Nancy?
Nancy looked at the final traces of her husband’s funeral service. She couldn’t believe Patrick was gone. He had died in a car accident. It had been a week, but she could still feel him around her. How could he be dead?
With a heavy heart, she headed toward the cemetery’s exit, telling herself she had to start figuring out the rest of her life.
Suddenly, an older woman with a baby blocked her path.
“Are you Nancy?” the woman asked while the baby in her arms cried.
Nancy didn’t recognize her. Who was she?
“I am. Who are you?” Nancy replied.
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Nancy’s heart wasn’t ready when the woman, Amanda, revealed the baby in her arms was Patrick’s child.
“Only you can look after this child now,” she told Nancy. “Her mother can’t provide for her.”
A shiver ran down Nancy’s spine. She stared at the baby and backed away.
“No, it can’t be! Patrick was a loving husband. He would never do this to me!”
Nancy turned around and left. She would never doubt Patrick.
“Watch out!”
Nancy bumped into one of Patrick’s old friends, Mike. She was too lost in her thoughts to notice where she was heading.
Mike started chatting with her, offering his condolences. Nancy didn’t want to talk to anyone, but she had to be courteous. She finished the conversation as soon as she could and headed to her car.
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The baby’s thoughts replayed in her mind, but she dismissed them. However, as Nancy opened her car door, she was shocked. The same baby lay in her back seat, crying.
Nancy looked around. Amanda was nowhere to be seen. “How did this baby even get here?” she wondered.
It was cold, so Nancy removed her jacket and began wrapping it around the little one.
But she froze when she noticed a birthmark on the baby’s neck. “It can’t be,” she muttered to herself.
The birthmark was exactly like Patrick’s. Nancy didn’t want to suspect her late husband of cheating. But now, she needed the truth. She needed to know if Patrick had been unfaithful to her.
Nancy drove home with the baby, took Patrick’s hair strands from his hairbrush, and went to a hospital.
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“Hello, I’d like to get a paternity test done,” she told the receptionist at the counter.
“OK, ma’am. Normally, it takes a few days to get the results,” the woman said.
“Can it be done quicker?” Nancy asked. “I’ll pay extra.”
“Well, we do have expedited service. Let me see what I can do. But it will cost you more.”
“I’ll take it,” Nancy replied. She submitted Patrick’s samples and paid for the test.
Sitting in the hallway, she was awaiting the results when the baby started crying. Nancy sniffed the baby’s clothes. Her diaper didn’t need a change.
Nancy guessed she must have been hungry. There was still time before the results came in, so she drove to a supermarket and bought baby formula, bottles, and a few diapers — just in case she needed them.
She returned to the hallway and sat there, feeding the formula to the baby. After what seemed like an eternity, a nurse approached her with the results.
The woman handed her an envelope and walked away.
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“This is the truth, and I’ll have to accept it whether I like it or not,” Nancy thought as she opened the results.
Her head seemed to spin when she read the words, “Paternity rate – 99%.”
Nancy looked at the sleeping baby in her arms and swallowed the tears in her eyes. Patrick had cheated on her and kept her in the dark.
Nancy decided she would not live with the proof of his infidelity forever. She would find the baby’s mother and give the baby back to her.
Pulling herself together, Nancy drove home and began going through Patrick’s things. But she didn’t find anything that could point her to his lover. She moved to his office next, searching his drawers, files, and cabinets. But nothing.
Nancy sighed. The baby was asleep in the living room. Grabbing the baby monitor, she headed to Patrick’s car. She searched under the seats, in the glove compartment, and in all the nooks and crannies of the vehicle. But she didn’t find anything significant.
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Nancy sank into the driver’s seat when her eyes landed on the GPS. And it was then it hit her. Patrick was terrible at directions and always used the navigator. If he had ever visited his mistress’ house, that is where she would find her address.
Nancy went straight to recent destinations on the navigator. The list wasn’t long, mostly familiar places: local restaurants, the hardware store, and Patrick’s office. But then, one address caught her eye—it appeared more frequently than others, and she didn’t recognize it.
“This is it,” she thought. She took the baby with her and drove to the address.
***
Arriving there, Nancy found herself in front of a modest house. She scooped the baby in her arms, walked to the front door, and knocked.
“Hello? Anyone home?” she asked.
After the tenth knock, when nobody answered the door, Nancy concluded the house was empty. She looked around and decided to approach the neighbors. She started with the house next door and rang the doorbell.
The door opened with a creak, and Nancy’s eyes widened when Amanda stepped out.
“You?” Nancy asked.
“How…how did you find me?” Amanda stuttered.
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“I was trying to find my husband’s…” Nancy paused. “His other woman. I wanted to return her baby.”
A strange sadness flashed across Amanda’s face. “The woman who lived next door… died a few days ago. She had a heart attack when she learned about your husband’s accident. Emma is no more.”
“Wait…did you say Emma?” Nancy asked, shocked.
“Yes,” Amanda nodded. “Did you know her?”
“Was…Was her last name Warren?”
When Amanda nodded, Nancy hung her head in shame. “Can-Can I come inside?” she asked. “There’s something I’d like to tell you. I feel I could use some talk.”
Amanda opened the door wider for her, and Nancy stepped inside. They settled in the living room. “Emma was my classmate,” Nancy began recounting her past. “She was also my friend. But I wronged her and…Patrick…”
20 years ago…
Nancy and Patrick were in their school’s hallway. She was standing next to her locker when Patrick approached her.
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“Hey, Nancy,” he said quietly, and she looked at him.
“I…I need to tell you something,” Patrick added anxiously.
“Hey,” she smiled. “Yes?”
“I…I’m in love with someone else, Nancy,” he confessed. “I know you’ve been really kind and everything, but I’m sorry.”
Nancy was shocked. “Tell me it’s a joke, Patrick,” she cried. “You can’t be serious!”
But Patrick was serious. Patrick was head over heels in love with Emma, and Emma loved him, too.
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Nancy was so distraught that day that she returned home in tears.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Her mother immediately sensed something had happened at school.
Nancy sobbed as she told her how Patrick had broken up with her.
“I want to break them up!” she yelled. “I won’t let them be together!”
“Nancy, you won’t be able to create your own happiness by destroying someone else’s,” her mother advised her. “Revenge is never an option. Forget about him.”
But Nancy was fueled with the desire for revenge.
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In the next few days, Nancy tried everything she could to drive Patrick and Emma apart—she spread silly rumors, planned coincidental run-ins where she’d flaunt newfound confidence, and even stooped to sending anonymous notes, trying to stir up jealousy.
However, nothing worked. Emma seemed happy, wrapped up in her and Patrick’s world and Nancy was left on the outside, her plans crumbling uselessly around her.
But Nancy wasn’t the one to give up. One night, she had the perfect idea to drive a wedge between Emma and Patrick.
“Hello, Nancy, how are you?” Nancy visited Patrick, and the door was answered by this mother.
“I’m fine, Mrs. White. Is Patrick home?”
“Yes, dear. Let me get him.”
Patrick was confused to see her on his doorstep. “Nancy? What’s going on?”
“I know this will come as a shock to you, Patrick, but…I’m-I’m pregnant!” she announced.
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Patrick was shocked and terrified. “What…but…Are you sure?”
When she nodded, Patrick invited her inside. She told him she hadn’t told her parents yet because she was scared. Nancy said her father would definitely be against it and force her to terminate the pregnancy. So she begged Patrick not to tell anyone about it and noticed how easily he succumbed to her lie.
Patrick was a responsible guy. Nancy knew that. He held her hands and said, “I’m the child’s father, so I’ll take the responsibility for our baby. And yes, don’t worry; this will stay between us.”
Present-day…
“I used him. I lied to him. I wasn’t pregnant,” Nancy told Amanda. “I was hurt, and I couldn’t stand losing him to Emma. So I told him a lie that changed everything. He was ready to step up, leave Emma, and be…a father.”
“Lies ruin everything, dear,” Amanda shook her head. “And what after that? Did he never find out the truth?”
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“He didn’t,” Nancy revealed. “I kept up the act, the morning sickness, the whole thing. But after a couple of months, I…I couldn’t carry on with it. So, I told him there was a mistake with the test and that the doctor was wrong. And by then, Emma had…moved. She was heartbroken and had left town with her parents. Patrick and I stayed together. He never went back to her, never tried to find her. We just moved on. Or pretended to…” Nancy added, looking at the sleeping baby in her arms. Now she knew Patrick had returned to Emma.
“And I guess it’s time to correct what I couldn’t back then,” Nancy said and rose to her feet.
She was leaving Amanda’s house with the baby when the older woman stopped her.
“What are you going to do with the baby?” Amanda asked.
Nancy turned around and smiled at Amanda. “I will raise her as my own child. Maybe that’ll help me seek forgiveness from Patrick and Emma.”
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And Nancy followed through on her words. She raised baby Catherine with love. When Catherine turned 16, Nancy told her everything about her past. She was expecting Catherine to hate her. And she was prepared for it.
But Catherine smiled and said, “Nothing changes how I feel about you, Mom. You raised me. You were there for every scraped knee, every fever, every heartbreak. You’re my mom in every way that counts.”
Nancy cried silently and hugged her daughter. Catherine’s words had not only relieved her heart, but they’d also made her believe that Emma and Patrick had forgiven her.
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