Catherine Kennedy's Influence On Jfk

“I am a woman above everything else,” Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis once said. To the world Jackie Kennedy was a pretty face, a strong woman that stood by her husband until his death. However, too often people refuse to look beyond the exterior, and really dig deep into what makes a strong woman so strong. The public front Kennedy showed was not all she was, in fact there was so much more she hid from the public eye. She wanted to escape from it all, to be a normal person after her husband’s death and that was the one thing she could not have. From before she became a Kennedy, through her personal life with JFK, through her time as a First Lady, and the aftermath of JFK’s assassination she kept her head high, something most people have such a

difficult time doing. She was historically significant to even today’s culture, she was also an American inspiration. But there is more to her story than just being Jackie-O, she influenced lives of so many women, but who really was Jacqueline Kennedy behind the mask she wore as the strength of the nation?

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s life was inspiring to all through from beginning to end. She was born Jacqueline Bouvier on July 29th, 1929 in Southampton, New York. She was known as a “bright, curious, and occasionally mischievious child” (Biography.com). She was talented in equestrianism, writing, and exploring the world. She was always known to be a very smart woman with a creative side. Her main love was for photography, she dreamed of photography which is why she was so passionate about art in The White House. Her life and marriage to President John F. Kennedy Jr. and motherhood was not always perfect but they all loved each other deeply. She met JFK when he was about to be elected as the senator of Massachusetts. They married on September 12th, 1953. They had ups and down with his cheating, the most well-know being Marilyn Monroe. They had three children together, Caroline Bouvier, John Fitzgerald Jr., and Patrick Bouvier. Jackie Kennedy endured a lot of pain with children through the years. She had multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth. Worst of all, Patrick Bouvier was born premature, and in 1963 there was not much to be done for him. He died a day and half later. According to The Washington Post, “His tenderness to Jackie was obvious to all” (Levingston). Describing how JFK and Jackie’s relationship grew fonder after Patrick’s death, how in the three short months they had together before JFK’s own death their relationship was at it’s highest point. She was one of the most popular and inspiring first ladies. “Jacqueline Kennedy entered the role of First Lady by declaring that her priorities were her young children and maintaining her family's privacy” (National First Ladies Library). After the death of JFK, Kennedy slipped into a crippling depression causing her to have suicidal thoughts. She felt extreme guilt for JFK’s death, thinking she was responsible for not hearing the shot. “If only she had been looking to the right, she told herself, she might have saved her husband” (Leaming). She was seen as a symbol of pain, she wanted privacy but could not have it causing her to feel even less motivation to continue with life. She was in so much pain. Kennedy managed to more forward. She began to appear at events attempting to regain her strength. She married Aristotle Socrates Onassis October 20th, 1968. He too died before her in 1975. She eventually died herself, at the age of 64 in her New York apartment on May 19th, 1994.

She was a significant historical figure. Kennedy was famous for being a First Lady and wife of JFK, but she became a historical figure of her own. She was an inspiring first lady with her love of family and children. It is said by many that above all her priority was her family. She once said, “I'm thankful to have once again seen our world through their eyes. They restore my faith in the family's future.” It is clear that she loved them so much. She also wanted to “showcase the arts” (National First Ladies Library). She spent time decorating The White House to make art more prominent. Her fashion was the another inspiring part of her first lady role. “For Jackie Kennedy, that meant well-tailored skirt sets often paired with her perfectly coordinated pillbox hat and white gloves—a look (aka the "Jackie") that not only forever set the bar for First Lady fashion, but was also deeply adored, even decades after her time in office” (Cheng). Her pink suit is one of her most famous looks. Fashion was Kennedy’s way of relating to and connecting with the American people. When JFK died she earned an even more historical role, the role of the grieving wife of a former president. She was a symbol of grief and strength to the nation. After JFK’s funeral the world used her as a crutch to deal with the president’s death. History lives and runs throughout her veins as she left an everlasting imprint on the hearts of so many people.

During Kennedy’s rein as First Lady and lifetime there were many significant American historical events. The Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs invasion were both large historical events that happened while the Kennedy’s were in office. The Bay of Pigs was one of the first major dealings the Kennedy’s faced Unfortunately JFK was not able to come out on top. “With inadequate support and facing an overwhelming force, the CIA-trained brigade of anti-Castro exiles is defeated in a few days. Kennedy takes responsibility for the disaster” (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library). JFK redeemed himself during the Cuban Missile Crisis making a deal with Russia. Another event Jackie Kennedy lived through was the Civil Rights Movement. She lived in the Washington as First Lady during the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr’s, “I Have a Dream” speech. Her husband then signed a civil rights bill. Jackie Kennedy also lived through many wars such as both World Wars, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War.

The public opinion of Jacqueline Kennedy has changed many times through the years but she has always been respected and cherished by Americans.

The public originally just saw Jackie Kennedy as just an average politician’s wife. She made it clear her children were her top priority, not to be a political figure herself. But she was also idolized for making The White House more artistic. The nation wanted to dress like her. Her fashion was copied and soon she became one of the most popular first ladies. She then became criticized for staying with JFK after he was caught cheating on her. After JFK’s assassination she was more than just a woman. To the public she was a coping mechanism a “symbol of pain.” The nation used her to grieve. But she was also known to be strong. Something the nation lacked after the death of their president. According to Vanity Fair she was, “A symbol of strength for a traumatized nation in the winter of 1963–64” (Leaming). Today, Jackie Kennedy is often forgotten in First Lady popularity rankings. However, she is still cherished by many, continuing as a symbol of strength and pain. According to Nerve Magazine she is the sexist First Lady. In 2016, a movie about Kennedy’s life after the assassination entitled Jackie was made in which she is portrayed by Natalie Portman. There is music made about Jackie-O’s pain as well. Tori Amos has a song entitled “Jackie’s Strength.” The song talks about shots ringing out and police. It also touches on her wedding and how happy she was with JFK. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis may be a woman of history but her legacy will always be with the

world.

My own opinion of Jacqueline Kennedy has changed significantly since I’ve started my research. At first I believed Jackie Kennedy was just a beautiful, elegant, First Lady. I knew she was grieving when she lost JFK, but I had no idea what she went through and all of her struggles throughout her life. Suicidal thoughts and depression are never something you picture a lady so beautiful on the outside to deal with on the inside. Things changed when I began to relate to her pain, I found her inspiring, heroic even. I realized First Ladies are never given the credit the deserve. I’ve now begun to idolized Kennedy just as the world that knew her did. I wish more than anything that I could meet her today, to look into her eyes and she what she’s been through. But time has made that impossible, the woman who lost everyone she loved eventually herself had to leave this world. Kennedy is now not just a worldwide treasure, she is inspiring people like me everyday to look beyond the pain and always carry on.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was truly a one of a kind woman and a First Lady to be remembered. She made a mark on this world with her undeniable strength, love of her family, ad passion for the arts. Although to the public she always seemed put together she masked a pain that went deep into her soul. Jackie-O was an influence to so many women. She was historically significant, surviving through many national tragedies and personal ones, the public opinion on her has only improved. To me she is a woman of grace and elegance, someone I will never forget. Jacqueline Kennedy was one of the strongest women that ever lived. It’s not easy to sum up what Jackie Kennedy’s life really was, but one of the best ways is to hear it from Jackie-O herself, “Even though people may be well known, they hold in their hearts the emotions of a simple person for the moments that are the most important of those we know on earth: birth, marriage and death.” May her life and legacy live on, as the woman who loved and the woman who lost.