Happy Birthday Jackie!

"One man can make a difference and every man should try."

"The one thing I do not want to be called is First Lady. It sounds like a saddle horse."

"For a while I thought history was something that bitter old men wrote."
~ All from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 1929 - 1994

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born at Southampton, New York on this day in 1929. Her father was a playboy stock broker"Black Jack" Bouvier. Her mother, Janet, was the daughter of a bank president, so she attended the finest private schools. Followed by two years at Vassar, a year at the Sorbonne, and finishing her degree at George Washington University in 1951.

While working for the Washington Times-Herald she crossed paths with the young and ambitious John Kennedy. They were married in 1953. After Kennedy's election she was a very public first lady. She charmed and impressed the world with her grace and dignity. After the assassinations of first her husband and then her brother-in-law Bobby Kennedy; she married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Many people believed she married him simply because he could protect her and her children by taking them to live outside of the US. After his death she returned to New York and lived a quiet and by most accounts simple life, working as an editor at Doubleday.

Jackie loved horses and was an accomplished equestrian.. She loved to read and paint.. to write poems and stories..At an early age she wrote essays and poems which were sometimes published in local newspapers. In her high school newspaper she created a cartoon series and won the graduating award for literature. She later submitted an entry to Vogue magazine's Prix de Paris contest, the prize for which was to spend half a year in New York, and the other half in Paris as a junior editor for the magazine. In the required essay, she listed Oscar Wilde, poet Charles Baudelaire and ballet super- star Serge Diaghilevas some of "People I Wish I Had Known,".. she was named as one of the twelve finalists and interviewed by the magazine editors Out of 1,280 entries she won the contest. Her mother, Janet, did not want her to leave the U.S. and made her turn down the prize. After college, she worked for the Washington Times-Herald as its Inquiring Camera Girl, earning $42.50 a week. Her job was to photograph and interview local citizens with one question each day; her first interview was with Patricia Nixon. Other interviews included Vice President Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy.. a meeting that resulted in their later marriage...The questions became more and more political, including topics like the Soviet Union, the Korean War, and the U.S. involvement in Vietnam ... One of her last assignments was to cover Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation.

Many rumors clouded her life and especially her time as the First Lady.. Through it all she maintained her dignity and pride.. She became world famous for her fashion sense and also for her dignity during her times of grief.

She died at home surrounded by family and friends in her Apartment in New York City
on May 19th, 1994 after a long battle with cancer. She was 64 years old..
She was laid to rest next to her first Husband John F Kennedy SR. at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia...

and now some Jackie trivia....

1:) ~When she toured India in the '60s, more people came to see her than came to see Queen Elizabeth.

2:) ~When she was First Lady she was asked what she fed her new German Shepherd puppy. Her reply was "Reporters."

3: ) ~Jackie used to smoke three packs of Salem cigarettes a day.

4:) ~ Jackie and her sister Lee Bouvier Radziwell disapproved of one another. Jackie felt Lee was a spendthrift and Lee thought Jackie a tight-wad.

5:) ~ Under her supervision the White House was restored and redecorated and declared a National Museum. She managed to do so with the help of her rich friends, without costing the taxpayer.

I never knew much about Jackie Kennedy Onassis.. As a teen-ager I remember seeing the gossip magazines with cover stories of how she had married a Greek tycoon because he had an island and that The former president was still alive and living on that island with her and her children even though he was brain dead... you know the kind of stuff they have on their covers... Many people believed that to be a fact though.. She did create quiet a scandal by marrying Mr Onassis though.. and that she wore a white mini skirt to the wedding only added to the scandal..

I was always inpressed with both her beauty and her quiet charm.. I also thought she had a keen sense of humor.. I would have never thought to tell an interviewer that I fed my dog reporters..
I am sure she felt like it many times.. She wanted to protect her private life so much that in her will she asked her children to continue to protect her private matters.. that her world not become public knowledge..

Franklin Mint created a collectible doll of Jackie and even now years after it's creation it remains one of the top selling dolls of all time.... It is almost always sold out or listed as back ordered.....
I have often looked at and wished for a Jackie doll.. Just a pair of shoes for this 15 inch doll sold on-line last year for ninety dollars.. Needless to say I will most likely simply continue to wish for one of the dolls.. Maybe I'll spot one at a flea market.. If that ever happens Poor Jackie will go from Chanel suits and ninety dollar shoes to home made dresses.. But she will be honored and loved here with me and my chickens.. so If any of you have a Jackie doll... I know where she can find a new home!! Until then I'll just wish her a Happy Birthday! Have a great night!
Patsy