Just how much did Jacqueline Kennedy know about her husband’s daily activities run- ning the government? This always has been a bit of a mystery. “But as this oral history con- firms,” writes Beschloss in his extremely infor- mative introduction, “she knew considerably more about John Kennedy’s political life than she let on to outsiders, and her influence on his official relationships was substantial.” He adds, “Among the First Ladies of the twentieth century, probably only Eleanor Roosevelt had a greater impact on the Ameri- cans of her time.” Jacqueline’s recollections about the politi- cal, literary and other notables with whom she came into contact are alternately acerbic, insightful, humorous and penetrating, although at times they can be curt. Despite such lapses, however, her dignity shines through in each of the conversations, as do her down-to-earth observations. On Nikita Khruschev: “It’s just one gag after another. It’s like sitting next to Abbott and Costello or something to get through … dinner.” Asked what her husband thought of President Eisenhower, she commented, “Well. Not much. Jack saw all that could have been done … how really he kept us standing still.” Many times, her comments seem to ring with relevance for the present. Speaking of JFK, she notes, “He’d often say … never get in anything so deep that you’ve lost all chance of conciliation.” There also are remarkably poignant moments—best listened to rather than read in the transcript—such as when John Jr., then just 3 years old, enters the room and Schlesinger asks him, “John, what happened to your father?” John John responds, “Well, he’s gone to heaven.” And then there are wonderful glimpses of fully private times in the White House,
such as JFK playing with Caroline and John
John when they would come into the bed-
room and turn on the TV just before he
started his workday: “He’d have them tumbl-
ing around” as they watched exercise guru
Jack LaLanne, Jackie notes. “He loved those
children tumbling around him.”
A major part of the purpose of the inter-
views was to record Jacqueline’s memories and
thoughts about her husband. Because she is so
candid here, the results often are as revealing
of her and of their remarkable relationship. At
one point she notes, “He thought his best qual-
ity was curiosity. I think he was right. He
thought his worst was irritability, but … he was
never irritable with me.”
In another passage about the moments
on the dais just after the inauguration, she
notes, “There’s a picture [see page 26] where
PROFILERS
of COURAGE
Essay contest carries
forward JFK’s values
WHEN SENATOR JOHN F. KENNEDY was recuperating from back surgery in
1955, he seized upon a project that allowed
him to indulge his interest in history and his
love of reading. The result was Profiles in
Courage, which tells the stories of eight U.S.
senators who risked their political careers by
taking principled stands for unpopular causes.
The book became a best-seller, won a Pulitzer
Prize in 1957 and was a step in bringing its author national attention.
The book’s straightforward prose and the
underlying values it treats appealed deeply to
me when I read it as a 12-year-old in 1961. In a
word, I found it inspiring. Still do. Perhaps that’s
why I was so intrigued to learn a few months
ago about the Profile in Courage Essay Contest
for high school students, conducted by the John
F. Kennedy Library Foundation. The contest
invites students from across the nation to
write an essay on an act of political courage
by an elected U.S. official. This past year
2,002 students from 50 states and Washington,
D.C., submitted essays.
The winning essay this year is
by Kevin Kay, a junior at Walt
Whitman High School
in Bethesda, Maryland, who
profiled civil-rights advocate
John B. Orr Jr., who as a freshman Florida state representative challenged that state’s
resistance to school integration
in 1956. His stand cost him
I have my hand on his chin and he’s just look-
ing at me and there really were tears in his
eyes. I mean that was so much more emo-
tional than any kiss because his eyes really did
fill with tears.”
As to her role as the wife of the president
or a wife in general, it is necessary to keep in
mind that we are hearing the voice of a woman
of the 1950s who had very much the conven-
tional view of marriage. She tells Schlesinger
her response to those who asked where she
got her opinions was “I get all my opinions
from my husband. Which is true. I could
never conceive of not voting for whoever my
husband was for.”
Elsewhere she says, “You wanted to be so
cheerful for Jack when he came home,” and “I
think a woman always adapts, and especially if
you’re very young when you get married and
Caroline Kennedy and Kevin Kay, the 2011
essay winner. Below: Profiles in Courage
current edition, now on sale at Costco,
shown with iconic early edition, now
out of print.
reelection in 1958. But “Orr’s political martyrdom sowed a seed for educational reform in Florida,” Kay wrote in his essay. Like thousands of other entrants during the last 15 years, Kay did the research, the thinking and the writing it takes to really understand the stories of those who have exhibited political courage. “These individuals embody my father’s belief that one person’s single act of courage can change the world,” notes Caroline Kennedy. Students interested in entering the 2012 contest can find guidelines and a registration form at
www.jfklibrary.org, by clicking on the “Education” tab. Essays can be submitted online (preferred) or via regular mail postmarked no later than January 8, 2012. The first-place winner will receive a $5,000 cash award and $5,000 to grow in a John Hancock Freedom 529 College Savings Plan. The second-place winner will receive a $1,000 cash award, and up to five finalists will each receive a $500 cash award.—DWF and $5,000 to grow in a John winner will receive a $1,000 cash
… are unformed, you really become the kind
of wife you can see that your husband wants.”
Spoken in 1964, the words do not jibe with
the person Jacqueline Kennedy had grown
into by the 1970s, the woman who supported
Ms. magazine in its early days and who was
known for backing various feminist causes.
Like all good collections of snapshots,
this book captures moments in time, offering
them for consideration of how some things
change, while others don’t. Vivifying the era
Jacqueline Kennedy likened to Camelot, these
pages and recordings cause readers and listeners to consider the meaning of those days.
“Now that these people are no longer in
living memory, this is one way to keep their
ideals alive,” Caroline Kennedy says, as she
moves on to further duties as principal keeper
of the flame. C
