Jackie Kennedy in pictures

Influential and stylish, Jackie Kennedy made her mark on the fashion industry, the art industry and politics. We look at all her iconic moments as well as the lesser known reasons Mrs Kennedy Onassis was such a popular figure during her lifetime and compile reports to find out what really went on behind the scenes...

Everyone remembers Jackie Kennedy with fondness - her grace and elegance as well as that recognisable soft tone of voice makes her one of the most famous women in history. She used her position for positive change and, even from a young age, knew she was destined for greatness.

Born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1929 in Southampton, New York, the young woman of many talents split her time between the city and Long Island, learning to ride at a very young age. She was clever, beautiful and sociable, studied ballet, wrote poems and drew illustrations. She was educated at the very best private schools.

Even when she went out into the social world, she did that with top honours. She was dubbed "the Debutante of the Year" for the 1947-1948 season, but she still kept going with her education, travelling as a student and graduating from George Washington University.

Then she met the man who would direct the course of her life and thrust her into the spotlight where, as many knew, she thrived, becoming one of the most beloved First Ladies in American history.

Jacqueline Bouvier met John F. Kennedy in 1951 at a dinner party. She was working as a journalist; while he was fast becoming a much loved congressman form Massachusetts. The pair quickly hit it off and fell in love.

But, despite the highly publicised wedding and the fairytale love story, Jackie was going to come across a lot of heartbreak that she would face with grace and courage.

As the couple walked in to the White House, with John F. Kennedy narrowingly taking the top spot, Jacqueline was pregnant. In fact, she was pregnant four times in her life, but only two children survived.

Her first pregnancy was a miscarriage and her fourth pregnancy in 1963 resulted in a premature birth and the death of her son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, just two days after his birth. Heartbreak for Mrs Kennedy, but she treasured her other children: Caroline and John F Kennedy Jnr.

Jackie also put up with numerous affairs, according to the biography 'In These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie'. The one that stood out the most, of course, was that with Marilyn Monroe. Did Jackie know? Absolutely - but as long as they stayed private she was fine with them. And yet, the affair with Marilyn stood out and could create a scandal so something had to be done.

There was a phone call between Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe where Kennedy gave Monroe an excellent response to the affair. As the biography states, she said to Monroe: "Marilyn, you’ll marry Jack, that’s great," Jackie replied, according to Andersen. "And you’ll move into the White House, and you’ll assume the responsibilities of the first lady. And I’ll move out, and you’ll have all the problems."

Despite these challenges and others in the face of politics, the two supported each other in their roles. According to White House archives, she defined her major role as "to take care of the President" and added that "if you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."

John F. Kennedy supported Jackie in her aim to reform the White House and bring back its traditional splendour. This promoted American culture and diplomacy around the world. One of her many accomplishments as First Lady was restoring the White House which had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect.

She resorted the building to its former glory and helped to acquire many important works of art and items for the White House that belonged to previous Presidents and gave them a home. Jackie Kennedy loved the arts and used her position to host many concerts, performances and cultural events at the White House.

The First Lady also worked tirelessly to promote the importance of education and literacy, launching the White House Historical Association and the National Endowment for the Arts. She really did an excellent job in her role. But that role was to come to a sudden end.

The tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy on 22nd November 1963 changed a lot of things for Jackie and the world. She was sitting next to him in the presidential limo when he was shot and she cradled his head in her lap as he died.

Jackie was in shock and disbelief, describing the experience as ‘being in a nightmare’. But the widow showed remarkable strength and composure in the weeks following the assassination, planning her husband’s funeral in the lens of the media and even thanking the world and media for their support.

Jackie Kennedy was wearing the iconic pink ‘Chanel’ suit when her husband was shot (First Ladies had to wear American clothing so Kennedy got this Chanel design copied by an American Designer). Her suit was splattered in bloody but she refused to clean it up, saying "Let them see what they've done," as many publications, including the New York Times, reports.

Jacqueline then got on to Air Force One where Vice President Lyndon B Johnson was sworn in as President. She was there to support this great moment, despite her husband having been shot just two hours earlier. People praised her for her strength and resilience.

After the fateful day, Jackie planned her late husband’s state funeral. The event was watched by millions across the globe who shared the First Lady’s grief. Many marvelled at her composure and dignity during such a personal televised event.

Not ready to see her husband’s name lost, Jackie began the work to build the John F. Kennedy Library. This was to be in honor of her husband’s life and work. She moved to her home in Washington DC with her two children during her mourning before heading to Georgetown.

Jacqueline then married shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968. Many were shocked with the decision to marry a man many years her senior - but also because Onassis has been indicted for fraud and had an open affair with a married opera diva. But the pair’s relationship had a longer history.

They actually met in 1963 when Jackie had lost her child and her sister recommended she travel a bit to feel better. She was introduced to Onassis and they took a trip on his yacht. Onassis offered her security and, despite the unforgiving press surrounding the match, they married in a private chapel in Greece.

Of course, Jackie Kennedy Onassis looked stunning in a Valentino gown and the pair looked happy and in love. As the Greek Reporter tells us, the previously depressed and lonely widow came out of her shell once more and began to feel more confident and happy in Onassis’ company.

The marriage was short-lived and lasted six and a half years before Aristotle Onassis died of respiratory failure in 1975. According to celebrity net worth, Jackie inherited $26m after an ugly legal battle with his daughter, as well as a trust of $150,000 a year for life so long as she never remarried.

Wealthy and with a new lust for life, Jackie Kennedy Onassis went on to work as an editor for Viking Press at $200 per week in 1975 (via Town & Country) and spent the last two decades of her life doing so. She died leaving an estate worth an estimated $43.7 million, according to The New York Times.

Jackie Kennedy died in 1994 in her sleep from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in New York. Her funeral was on May 23, 1994 and she was buried next to her first husband, President Kennedy, at Arlington National Cemetery. But, as a new biography writes, she destroyed private material before her death. Material that hinted to a secret romance in her life.

‘Jackie: Public, Private, Secret’ stated that she had an affair with architect Jack Warnecke just months after John Kennedy’s death. The book details their mad, passionate affair, soon to be legal as Warnecke was about to propose.

Jackie, however, had other plans. As People tell us, the widowed First Lady found out Warnecke was $1m in debt due to their extravagant lifestyle and she ‘dumped’ him. They spoke about two months before Jackie died, and their conversation sums up the turbulent, emotional rollercoaster life of Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

People reported the phone call: "Jack remembered, 'I told her I never stopped loving her. I thought she was going to say the same to me. Instead, she said, 'That’s such a lovely thing to say, Jack. Thank you. I’d like to just leave it there if I may.'' They promised to talk again soon. They never did."

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