Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis led a charmed, yet tragic, life. Raised in an affluent family and educated at elite boarding schools and universities, she married John Fitzgerald Kennedy on September 12, 1953 in Newport, Rhode Island, before settling into her most famous role as mother and First Lady.
Alongside the charismatic president, Jackie was considered a breath of fresh air in The White House. The Kennedy children, Caroline and John Jr. (killed in a 1999 plane crash) -- born in 1957 and 1960, respectively -- completed America’s picturesque First Family. During her three years as First Lady, Jacqueline was an international darling and fashion icon, focusing on White House social events, the restoration of The White House, and the redesign of The White House Rose Garden.
Jacqueline’s life, however, was hardly free of pain and even catastrophe. Between 1955 and 1963, she suffered the deaths of two children: a stillborn daughter and a son who died from respiratory distress two days after his birth. She showed incredible grace and poise following the assassination of her husband on November 22, 1963, and again after the murder of her brother-in-law, Senator Robert Kennedy, five years later.
In October of 1968, Jacqueline married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, taking on the moniker “Jackie O.” Onassis gave Jackie and her family the privacy and security she desired, but after only seven years of marriage, he too passed away. Shortly thereafter, Jacqueline moved to New York, where she worked as a successful book editor, donating her time and wealth to the arts. On May 19, 1994, Jacqueline died from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, leaving behind a legacy of style, grace, and philanthropy.
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