Althouse: Jackie Kennedy was glad not to be "just a sad little housewife," but...

May 13, 2014

Jackie Kennedy was glad not to be "just a sad little housewife," but...

"Maybe I’m just dazzled and picture myself in a glittering world of crowned heads and Men of Destiny... That can be very glamorous from the outside — but if you’re in it — and you’re lonely — it could be a Hell."

19 comments:

RecChief said...: I realize there is a certain fascination with 'Camelot' amongst children of the '60s but can we move on from the Kennedy clan now; 5/13/14, 2:36 PM
MadisonMan said...: What impact will this have on Hillary!!!'s Presidential run?

(I kid!)

In 60 years, maybe someone will buy Michelle Obama's twitter feed transcript.

Doubt it.; 5/13/14, 3:01 PM
Michael K said...: I wonder if the timing is political and Hillary prep. Maybe it is just a coincidence.

She had to have known of all his tomcatting around.; 5/13/14, 3:04 PM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: I think the most damning information about JFK's womanizing was the revelation that on the eve of his wedding he had his best friend, Lem Billings (a gay man), inform Jackie of his womanizing and that he would continue to see other women after the marriage.

JFK didn't have the, what's the word?, courage? decency? honor? to inform her himself.

Shameless.

I think Jackie once admitted that it was an "Asiatic marriage" (her words).

A secret service agent who guarded JFK told Seymour Hersh that there were moments when he would have gladly and willing given his life to save John F. Kennedy. The President and the man.

And then there were moments, he said, when he was utterly disgusted with the man.

JFK was quite a contradiction. The best and the worst of us.; 5/13/14, 3:04 PM
SJ said...: I wonder if this describes any "movie star marriages", or "royal marriages".

Perhaps this loneliness might have led Princess Diana to some of her troubles.

(Though the behavior and outside-love-interest of Prince Charles might also have added to her trouble...); 5/13/14, 3:27 PM
Titus said...: Her power comes because of her style and wealth and poise.; 5/13/14, 3:28 PM
Mitch H. said...: I read that as "Justice Kennedy" and wondered if he had lost his ever-living mind.; 5/13/14, 3:42 PM
traditionalguy said...: Jacky was a Lady in every sense of the word.; 5/13/14, 3:48 PM
Michael K said...: "I wonder if this describes any "movie star marriages", or "royal marriages"."

Robert Mitchum was once asked how his marriage had survived all his dalliances. He said "Lack of imagination" by his wife. He was married 57 years.; 5/13/14, 4:14 PM
John henry said...: Wasn't Jackie basically just a "housewife"? Other than her job in later life as an editor, she never really did much beyond being the wife of Kennedy and Onassis.

Would she have gotten the editor job if she had not been a Kennedy/Onassis widow and rich?

As for sad, I guess that is subjective. However for her to put up with the abuse and mistreatment she got from both husbands seems like a rather sad life to me.

I see Jackie Kennedy as Hilary with better taste and better press agents.

I am NOT a Kennedy fan. Any of them.

John Henry; 5/13/14, 5:53 PM
J Lee said...: Wives of Democratic presidents with sold connections to the Boston-Washington corridor are destined to be overhyped by the media and forced to live being touted as "The (name your superlative here) woman in the world" going all the way back to Eleanor Roosevelt. Jackie had it even worse than the others, because she couldn't simply by the grieving widow after her husband's assassination -- she had to be the grieving widow-as-prop who would help restore the Kennedys and their support staff to their proper place in the White House. No wonder she ran off and married Onassis after Bobby was killed.

(As far as achievements on her own, Jackie did lead the effort to save Grand Central Terminal from the wrecking ball fate that befell Penn Station in the 1970s. Anyone who's had to take a train of just visited the two rail stations can appreciate that.); 5/13/14, 6:33 PM
Illuninati said...: I'm not a big fan of the Kennedys but I do recognize that his assassination had a profound effect on the young people at the time and may have weakened the country's resistance to the attacks by the left. It is possible that the takeover of the universities by the left could have been blocked if Kennedy had lived. His assassination left many young people vulnerable to cynicism. For that reason alone, his presidency will always be pivotal.

Her letters are a valuable addition to the historical record.; 5/13/14, 7:38 PM
sdharms said...: Am I to feel sympathy for Jackie O? She didn't just have clean sheets on the bed every nite, she demanded NEW sheets. She was self absorbed and lived in a world she chose. Not my problem.; 5/13/14, 8:11 PM
Carol said...: When I see old interviews of Jackie, I can't believe how stupid she sounded. Was that the style back then? I was too young to notice at the time.

Anyway, it's easy to see where Caroline gets it.; 5/13/14, 10:13 PM
Anonymous said...: She looks like Anne Hathaway in that picture.; 5/13/14, 11:56 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Carol, I have wondered about that way she sounded as well. She obviously wasn't the idiot she portrayed. The vocal style was similar to Marilyn Monroe's, another non-idiot who played idiot on film.

It must have been a popular style. Strange behavior. These women's mothers were suffragettes, so one might think they would have tried to portray themselves as proud, smart people.

Audio matters. The way you talk sends a strong message, and not necessarily the one you want.; 5/14/14, 6:32 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Margaret Thatcher was born four years before Jackie Kennedy was born. The two women chose very different vocal styles. What led them those ways?; 5/14/14, 8:31 AM
MadisonMan said...: I think the most damning information about JFK's womanizing was the revelation that on the eve of his wedding he had his best friend, Lem Billings (a gay man), inform Jackie of his womanizing and that he would continue to see other women after the marriage.

JFK didn't have the, what's the word?, courage? decency? honor? to inform her himself.

It's bad luck to see the bride on the night before your wedding. :); 5/14/14, 8:46 AM
Unknown said...: The word is "balls".; 5/14/14, 2:26 PM