Former First Lady and eternal style icon Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born into wealth and power and maintained that status her entire life. She was the embodiment of strength and grace for a grief-stricken nation after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. She dedicated her time while he was in office to the restoration and historic preservation of the White House, endearing herself to the public and becoming one of the most popular first ladies in American history.
After the assassination and funeral, Kennedy and her children largely retreated from the public eye. In 1968, she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, one of the world's wealthiest men.
A multifaceted woman, Onassis was a socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Southampton, New York. As a child, she had a passion for equestrianship and a voracious appetite for reading. She studied history, literature, French, and art at Vassar College and, after transferring to George Washington University to be closer to family, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in French literature.
Onassis’s first job was "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the Washington Times-Herald, roving around the city taking pictures of people she encountered, interviewing them on issues of the day, and writing about them in her column. It was during this time that she met John F. Kennedy, and they married shortly after. She was just 31 years old when her husband was inaugurated.
The Kennedys brought a youthful spirit to the White House, and the young First Lady emphasized arts and culture, turning their home into a museum of American history and achievement. She traveled frequently with her husband, and her interest in other cultures and her ability to speak several foreign languages—including French, Spanish, and Italian—brought her goodwill and admiration from around the world.
In 1975, after the death of her second husband, Onassis returned to an old interest and worked as a Consulting Editor at Viking Press and later as an Associate and Senior Editor at Doubleday. She never lost her passion for the arts and played an important role in saving Grand Central Terminal in New York City, as well as saving the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur. Onassis passed away in 1994 after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.