Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy

orig. Jacqueline Bouvier

(born July 28, 1929, Southampton, N.Y., U.S.—died May 19, 1994, New York, N.Y.) U.S. first lady, socialite, and editor. After graduating from George Washington University in 1951 she took a job as a reporter-photographer at the Washington Times-Herald. In 1953 she married Sen. John F. Kennedy, who became president in 1961. As first lady, she restored the White House to its original Federal style and conducted a televised tour of the residence. Her graciousness, elegance, and beauty endeared her to the American public, and her broad culture and ease in speaking Spanish and French impressed foreign leaders. After her husband's assassination in 1963 she moved to New York with their children, Caroline (b. 1957) and John, Jr. (1960–99). In 1968 she married Aristotle Onassis. After his death in 1975, she returned to New York, where she became a book editor.

Onassis, Jacqueline (Lee) Kennedy (b. Bouvier) “Jackie” (1929–94) First Lady; born in Southampton, N.Y. Educated at Vassar, the Sorbonne, and Washington University, she worked as a reporter before marrying John Kennedy (1953). She was not always comfortable with the demands of being the wife of a Kennedy and a politician, but as first lady she promoted her personal agenda of the arts, history, and high style. Her first child was stillborn and she lost an infant in 1963, but the Kennedys publicly enjoyed their two fine children, Caroline (b. 1957) and John (b. 1960). Her stoic behavior at Kennedy's death and funeral enhanced her standing with the public, but she stunned the world when in 1968 she married the Greek millionaire shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. For some years she was the world's premier celebrity, but after Onassis's death (1975), she worked in New York publishing and went about her private rounds of family, the arts, and social engagements. Her last illness and death were marked by the same quiet dignity with which she had conducted her public life as the president's wife and widow.