From First Lady to Jackie O

From First Lady to Jackie O

Everyone knows Jackie Kennedy Onassis was married to two of the 20th century’s most powerful men, but lesser known are the five incredible years between those marriages when she was on her own. "Jackie: Her Transformation from First Lady to Jackie O," the spectacular new book from Paul Brandus of West Wing Reports, is now a podcast that tells the story of this often-overlooked yet deeply formative era.

From First Lady to Jackie O
  • The Invisible Man

    If you stood the handsome and charming President John F. Kennedy next to the squat and abrasive Greek business tycoon Aristotle Onassis, you might assume they had nothing in common— but in fact, they were both wealthy, hyper-competitive, and big time womanizers, stopping at nothing to get whateve...

  • There Will Never Be Another Camelot

    After the assassination of her husband, Jackie Kennedy was unhappy that journalists were beginning to write assessments of his presidency, deciding for themselves how his time in the White House would be remembered. In fact, she had her own idea of what his legacy should be— so she took matters i...

  • The Dark, Lonely Winter

    The Kennedy era began with such high hopes— no one could have predicted that it would have ended with Jackie burying two of her four children alongside their murdered father. It was time to leave the White House— but where would Jackie and her kids go next?

  • Jackie's Private Hell

    Jacqueline Kennedy was not doing well six months after the assassination: the endless loop of crying, drinking, nightmares, reliving those fateful seconds in Dallas over and over in her mind… Americans had no idea had bad it was, nor did they know how isolated she was. And so the president’s wido...

  • Farewell to All That

    Jacqueline Lee Bouvier had arrived in the nation’s capital in the Fall of 1950 as an anonymous college student. Now, less than 14 years later— the most famous woman in the world— she decided to flee DC and its now painful memories for her hometown of New York City.

  • A New Love

    Election night 1964 was a huge landslide for Lyndon Johnson as the Kennedy White House receded further into the rear view mirror. As Jackie settled further into her life in New York, she was determine to stay out of the limelight. This, in essence was her philosophy as she strove to get on with l...

  • Jackie Emerges

    Jackie’s priorities in the mid-1960s were often in conflict: she yearned to move on from her once-Presidential life, but had a duty to memorialize and honor her husband. Still only in her mid-30s, culture was changing all around Jackie, and inspired her to continue to break free of her own past i...

  • The Lioness

    Writing The Death of a President had been exhausting and heartbreaking. When he was finished, author William Manchester thought his troubles were over. In fact, they were only just beginning. And for Jackie, the book’s looming publication would bring new troubles... and the first dent in her once...

  • A Brush With Death

    By 1966, Jackie wasn’t ON the A-list— she WAS the A-list. But it wasn’t all fun and games: between public scandal over “The Death of a President” and shifting national priorities during the Vietnam War, Jackie became more of a tabloid celebrity than an immaculate national icon. But that didn’t st...

  • Shattered Again

    As 1967 wound down, Jackie remained wildly popular with the American public, and seemed to be enjoying herself— and why not? The assassination was now four years in the rear view mirror and she was in a new relationship. She was happy and life was good... but not for long.

  • Mrs. Onassis

    After yet another tragic loss, Jackie was ready to live life on her own terms. She was through with shouldering the burden of living as others thought she should— of leading a life that they, and not she, deemed suitable. She knew what she wanted to do.