Jacqueline Kennedy (23 photos)

16 February 2012

And today Jacqueline Kennedy remains a mystery to historians. The former first lady of the United States, who became a style icon in the 60s of the last century, is an elegant and charming woman - that’s probably all that the public saw. In the book “Jacqueline Kennedy: Historical Conversations about Life with John Kennedy” we see a different Jacqueline: a young widowed woman who managed to gather her will into a fist and learn to live a new life.

In the early summer of 1964, during a personal meeting between Jacqueline and former White House consultant Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. in her own home, the former First Lady of the United States told Arthur about her life in the White House and her husband. The recording of the conversation was hidden from the public for many years. Jacqueline never wrote memoirs or gave public interviews.

1. Jacqueline Kennedy with her son John Jr. The heir apparent to the US President was born on November 25, 1960. (Photo credit AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

2. John F. Kennedy at a press conference on April 9, 1963. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

3. The First Lady of the United States is vacationing a few weeks after her husband was elected President of the United States. Jacqueline died at the age of 64 from cancer. (Photo credit B/AFP/Getty Images)

4. The US President and his wife at the parade on March 27, 1963 in Washington. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

5. Bride Jacqueline Bouvier on her wedding day to John F. Kennedy in Rhode Island on September 12, 1953. (Photo credit AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

6. The Kennedys meeting with the President of Sudan (pictured left) at a ceremony at the White House on October 4, 1961. (Photo Courtesy of Kennedy Library Archives/Newsmakers)

7. Jacqueline Kennedy with her children during a horseback ride in Glen Ora on November 25, 1962. (Photo credit AFP/Getty Images)

8. Jacqueline and John at the premiere of the production of “Mr. President” on September 25, 1962 in Washington. (Photo courtesy of Kennedy Library Archives/Newsmakers)

9. The widow of the US President with her daughter Carolyn. (Photo credit AFP/Getty Images)

10. The First Lady of the United States at a ceremony at the White House on April 20, 1962. (Photo Courtesy of National Archive/Newsmakers)

11. Jacqueline at the White House June 22, 1961. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

12. The Kennedys at the White House on February 21, 1963. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

13. The Presidential couple at the White House on January 18, 1963. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

14. Social reception at the White House on January 21, 1963. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

15. Jacqueline and John March 27, 1963 (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

16. One of the social evenings in Washington on February 19, 1963. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

17. Jacqueline and John Jr. in a New York apartment on September 16, 1964. (Photo credit AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

18. Jacqueline with children June 1, 1963. John F. Kennedy Jr. went missing while flying his own plane to Martha's Vanyard on July 17, 1999. (Photo credit STF/AFP/Getty Images)