Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: Biography, Book, Childhood, Death (1997)

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Jacqueline Lee (Bouvier) Kennedy Onassis commonly known as "Jackie" (July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis; they remained married until his death in 1975. For the final two decades of her life, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had a career as a book editor. She is remembered for her contributions to the arts and preservation of historic architecture, her style, elegance, and grace. She was a fashion icon; her famous ensemble of pink Chanel suit and matching pillbox hat has become symbolic of her husband's assassination and one of the lasting images of the 1960s. Bouvier attended the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1942 to 1944, and Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, from 1944 to 1947. When she made her society debut in 1947, Hearst columnist Igor Cassini dubbed her "debutante of the year."[21] Beginning in 1947, Bouvier spent her first two years of college at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and then spent her junior year (1949–1950) in France – at the University of Grenoble in Grenoble, and at the Sorbonne in Paris – in a study-abroad program through Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.[22] Upon returning home to the U.S., she transferred to The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; she graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French literature.[6] Bouvier's college graduation coincided with her sister's high school graduation, and the two spent the summer of 1951 on a trip through Europe.[citation needed] This trip was the subject of Jacqueline's only autobiographical book, One Special Summer, – co-authored with her sister; it is also the only one of Jacqueline's publications to feature her drawings.[23] Following her graduation, Bouvier was hired as "Inquiring Photographer" for The Washington Times-Herald. The position required her to pose witty questions to individuals chosen at random on the street and take their pictures to be published in the newspaper alongside selected quotations from their responses. During this time, she was engaged to a young stockbroker, John G. W. Husted, Jr., for three months.[22] Bouvier later took continuing education classes in American History at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Jacqueline Bouvier and then-U.S. Representative John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy belonged to the same social circle and often attended the same functions.[22] They were formally introduced by a mutual friend, journalist Charles L. Bartlett, at a dinner party in May 1952.[22] Kennedy was then busy running for the US Senate but after his election in November, the relationship grew more serious and led to their engagement, officially announced on June 25, 1953.[citation needed] They were married on September 12, 1953, at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island, in a Mass celebrated by Boston's Archbishop Richard Cushing.[24] The wedding was considered the social event of the season with an estimated 700 guests at the ceremony and 1,200 at the reception that followed at Hammersmith Farm.[25] The wedding cake was created by Plourde's Bakery in Fall River, Massachusetts.[26] The wedding dress, now housed in the Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts, and the dresses of her attendants were created by designer Ann Lowe of New York City.[27] The newlyweds honeymooned at the San Ysidro Ranch in California, before settling in their new home, Hickory Hill in McLean, Virginia.[28] Behind the glamour, however, the couple faced several personal setbacks. Jack had some serious health issues then unknown to the public: he suffered from Addison's Disease and from chronic and at times debilitating back pain due to a war injury. During the fall and winter of 1954, he underwent two delicate spinal operations which almost proved fatal.[29] Additionally, Jackie suffered a miscarriage in 1955 and in August 1956 gave birth to a stillborn daughter whom they planned to name Arabella.[30] The couple sold their Hickory Hill estate to Jack's brother Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy, his wife Ethel Skakel, and their growing family, and bought a townhouse on N Street in Georgetown.[7] Jackie subsequently gave birth to a second daughter, Caroline Bouvier, in 1957, and a son, John F. Kennedy Jr., in 1960, both via Caesarean section.[30] A second son, Patrick, was born prematurely in an emergency caesarean section on August 7, 1963, and died two days later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Kennedy