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JACQUELINE KENNEDY
What Kind of First Lady Would She Be?
By BOB DRISCOLL
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, the beautiful 31-year-old
wife of the Democratic Presidential
nominee, admits being a political neophyte before
her marriage in 1953. Since then, however, she has
lived in the politically saturated atmosphere of
what is now referred to as "the Kennedy clan."
"She breathes all of the political gases that flow
around us," says husband John F. Kennedy, "but
never seems to inhale them." He didn't mean that
Jacqueline (she dislikes the nickname "Jackie")
lacked political savvy; he meant that she took
political matters in stride.
So when I recently asked her: "Mrs. Kennedy,
what kind of a First Lady will you be if Senator
Kennedy wins the election?" a loaded question at
best I wasn't surprised by her answer,
"I really think it would be silly to talk about
that now," she replied.
Although Jacqueline feels that it would be pre
sumptuous and undignified to project herself as
the next First Lady, our ensuing discussion on a
variety of subjects gave an idea what to expect.
She certainly wouldn't be as much in the public
eye as some previous First Ladies, such as Eleanor
Roosevelt. She has demonstrated during her hus
band's campaigns that she feels she should travel
with him as his wife, not as a fellow politician.
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Jacqueline has tried to make the Kennedys' George
town home a retreat where Jack can escape pressures.
When I asked her why she hadn't given more
speeches in Senator Kennedy's behalf during his
campaign, she told me emphatically: "When Jack
is going to speak, I'm sure that no one wants to
hear me. I'm happy to chat with people afterward
and answer their questions about my husband if
they have any. Once in Wisconsin, when Jack was
called home to vote, I fulfilled his speaking sched
ule for two days, but only because he couldn't
possibly be there."
With great feeling, she told me she was heart
broken that her doctors won't permit her to cam
paign with Jack because she is expecting her sec
ond child in November. (Their first child, Caroline,
is now 2V4.) In 1956, she went to the Democratic
convention with him when she was seven months
pregnant. She felt it was her duty to be there, but
she had a miscarriage soon after and was on the
critical list for a week.
"Maybe I'll find some magic way to help him this
time," she told me whimsically. "This is the major
effort of his life."
What's Jacqueline Really Like?
To understand the full significance of Jacque
line's attitude and the effect it would have on her
possible tenure in the White House, it's necessary
to know the "real" Mrs. Kennedy.
Jacqueline's society upbringing is consistent with
the background of many of our First Ladies. Her
father, the late John Bouvier III, was a stockbroker,
as is her stepfather, Hugh Auchincloss.
She is accustomed to summers on the swank sea
shore at Newport, R. I., servants, boats, travel,
horses, private schools, and all the other adjuncts
of upper-class living. Quite often her aristocratic
family spoke French at the dinner table; if Jacque
line or her sister Caroline lapsed into English, they
had to pay a penny fine.
As she grew up, she followed a course that one
could safely predict for a young girl of elite family
background. Straight "A's" at Miss Porter's exclu
sive school preceded Vassar College. She left Vas
sar to study on the continent.
Perhaps it was at this point that the sheltered
background of cloistered riches wore thin and the
woman that Jack Kennedy fell in love with began
to emerge. She refused to return to Vassar because
she didn't want "to live like a little girl again" in
a college dormitory. She finished work for her
degree at George Washington University in Wash
ington, D.C., and set out to find a newspaper job.
When she was offered an inquiring photogra
pher's job on the Washington Post & Times Herald,
she grabbed it. Basically she's a shy girl, and she
admits that at first it was agony "stopping perfect
strangers and asking them silly questions while a
photographer bobbed around between us." But she
showed a characteristic determination by sticking
to it. She even learned photography (she still loves
to take pictures although she hates to be photo
graphed herself) and went out on her own.
Considering Jacqueline's shyness, it's difficult to
picture her as part of the Kennedy family. The
Kennedys have always been a closely knit group
with a rigorous spirit comparable to that of a col
lege football team, and Jacqueline has done her
best to adapt to their feverish vitality. She played
in the traditional Kennedy touch-football games,
for instance, although she probably would have
preferred to cut flowers for the house. Brother-in-law
Teddy brought home some brawny teammates
from Harvard for a "friendly" game one weekend,
and the high-spirited collegians ended Jacqueline's
attempt to "be a Kennedy" by breaking her ankle.
She's Happier in the Background
Jacqueline decided to be herself, to stand back
and admire the enthusiasms of the family she had
married into. All indications point to the fact that
this passive role suits her. She's certainly not as
dynamic as her husband and will be fully content
to take a back seat to him as far as public life is
concerned. Because of her attitude, friends say that
Jack Kennedy has finally learned to relax.
Any White House guest list, however, would
reflect Jacqueline's preferences as well as her hus
band's. Instead of just cabinet members, high
ranking officials, and businessmen, it's a safe bet
there also would be younger, more varied guests
for the Kennedys. For example, Jacqueline's news
paper background put her in close contact with
many journalists, and Jack, a Pulitzer Prize-win-
(Contintied)
Though she has a governess for Caroline,
Jacqueline prefers caring for her
daughter herself. Like two gentle kittens,
they play together for hours.
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Family Weelell, September II, I960