jjares reviewed Jackie Kennedy: A Captivating Guide to the Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis on + 3299 more book reviews
One of the things I enjoy most about these encapsulated histories of prominent people is that someone's whole life is available in one place. Although alive during Kennedy's era, life happened and I wasn't particularly aware of the miscarriages Mrs. Kennedy endured. I didn't realize that the death of Patrick occurred so close to the death of Jack Kennedy; what a pair of tragedies to endure.
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It was interesting to learn that Jackie attached the phrase of 'Camelot' to the administration of her husband, forever tying the two together. She was able to redefine her husband's presidency in terms of 'what might have been' instead of what it really was -- essentially, a not very effective era. (Perhaps I'm being harsh but I'm thinking of the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Vietnam War that Kennedy increased our involvement in during his tenure. He did have some success, namely getting the Russian missiles out of Cuba.)
I would have appreciated some photos (no, not the pink dress and pill hat, that's forever etched in my mind & it's on the cover of this book). But the jewelry she valued would have been nice. I would have liked to have seen the White House rooms before and after Mrs. Kennedy did the renovations. I did learn that Mrs. Kennedy was adroit in getting groups together to get the money she needed to do the changes. This book shows just how sharp a politician she was in her own right.
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It was interesting to learn that Jackie attached the phrase of 'Camelot' to the administration of her husband, forever tying the two together. She was able to redefine her husband's presidency in terms of 'what might have been' instead of what it really was -- essentially, a not very effective era. (Perhaps I'm being harsh but I'm thinking of the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Vietnam War that Kennedy increased our involvement in during his tenure. He did have some success, namely getting the Russian missiles out of Cuba.)
I would have appreciated some photos (no, not the pink dress and pill hat, that's forever etched in my mind & it's on the cover of this book). But the jewelry she valued would have been nice. I would have liked to have seen the White House rooms before and after Mrs. Kennedy did the renovations. I did learn that Mrs. Kennedy was adroit in getting groups together to get the money she needed to do the changes. This book shows just how sharp a politician she was in her own right.
