Remembering Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis 30 years after her passing

It was a sad day at the projects when Jackie on Assistance went over the rainbow bridge.

I always felt that the death of Jackie, and the beginning of the OJ Simpson murder saga a few weeks later, is the point when American culture really shifted towards trash.

She hated the photographer Ron Gallela (who obsessively stalked her around NYC), but he did take one of the best, if not the best, unposed photographs of Jackie ever.

She is Beauty and She is Grace.

She is Queen of 50 States.

She is Elegance and Taste.

She is Miss United States.

R2 Interesting perspective - I completely forgot that OJ's murder spree was just weeks after Jackie's death. What a summer that was back then. Imagine if we had the internet ?

I have said this many times before on these threads But I will say it again: Jackie was sitting right next to her husband when he got his head b lown off. She had brain matter, bone and blood all over her. She cradled his dead body in her lap all the way to the hospital and would not release him until one of his aides covered his head with a jacket. She was actually in the trauma room while medical personnel worked feverishly to get a pulse or a heartbeat. But he was DOA. She was right there. Refused to leave. And somehow, she got the whole world through the next four or five days. She planned an historic funeral, and was there every step of the way. As far as I am concerned, that experience put her above reproach in my eyes. I have always admired her but never more than during those moments. At a time when First Ladies were simply props, she carved out a role for herself and applied her interests in history and art to raise up the level of our culture. Jackie Kennedy Onassis will, IMO always be one of the finest First Ladies we've ever had. Her afterlife was her own and she tolerated our interest with grace and managed to raise to fine human beings.

Her funeral was at the church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Park Ave.

She was a doll.

Jackie bummed cigarettes off me at the Chilmark General Store and NYC galas. I was in my 20s and always smoked pretentious or exotic cigarettes so she'd make a joke about that.

R6 - MARY.

I went down to the A&P and dented a few cans of peas and corn in her memory.

r6 - MARY!

She wash one of my bessht friendsh!

^r13 - She's only sitting next to you to bum ciggies, Liza.

Her hearse went past my building. I heard one of those short “whoop” sirens that cop cars make that means they’re “Look out. Don’t cross the street or anything. We’ve got with more than one car coming”….the same whoop they make when the mayor or governor is in a small motorcade. I looked out the window and saw the hearse. I thought “Weird, a cop whoop for a funeral?” Then I remembered Jackie O died and they had her funeral at St Iggy. It was a very quiet day. Nice, sunny, quiet. That was long ago, when there was hardly any traffic in my neighborhood.

She was only 64. Thirty years ago, that seemed old to me. Not anymore.

We lost her, Audrey Hepburn and Liz Montgomery that year. All iconic women in their own right.

^Audrey Hepburn died Jan. 20, 1993, the day Clinton was inaugurated.

When she was dying, Jackie was said to have regretted having done so many pushups.

I remember reading a story that after Jackie was diagnosed with the cancer, she was out to lunch with a friend.

When the question of dessert came up (I think there was a tray of different desserts offered to the diners) she supposedly told the waiter to line one of each dessert in front of her.

She had no more need or desire to watch her calories.

I can't remember where I read this story, but I like to think that it's true.

Lee Remick died at 55 on July 2, 1991

Self-involved snot.

I recall visiting DC that following Columbus Day Weekend and Arlington Cemetery, and being surprised that out of all people, the grave for Jackie beside the late President’s at Arlington would still be bearing only a little 6” high stick marker with a wooden square holding a plastic laminated tab containing a piece of paper with her name scrawled in black being the sole indicator she was interred there.

At least her death meant one less welfare queen on the dole.

I was a senior in high school when Jackie died. A month later OJ murdered Nicole. The Bronco chase was on the day of my graduation. It was an interesting way to end my high school years.

You'd see out and about in NYC in the 70s. Jogged around the Reservoir. Was up and down Madison. Everyone pretended not to notice. She was tall. With the hair, the sunglasses she was a big lady. That surprised me the most about her.

^ You'd see her....

[quote]I recall visiting DC that following Columbus Day Weekend and Arlington Cemetery, and being surprised that out of all people, the grave for Jackie beside the late President’s at Arlington would still be bearing only a little 6” high stick marker with a wooden square holding a plastic laminated tab containing a piece of paper with her name scrawled in black being the sole indicator she was interred there.

I was there three days after her burial and I was amazed that they had her stone (with dates) already in place - it was an engarved slate slab - and had even put the moss back between the cobble stones surrounding it so you could not tell the interment had just happened.

Where the hell did you go to visit her 5 months later?

R27, They used stone from the same quarry where JFK’s marker was made so they would match.

I believe the quarry is in Vermont.

Stillborn Arabella and baby Patrick are also buried with JFK and Jackie.

April 1994 - Richard Milhous Nixon died.

May 1994 - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died.

June 1994 - Orenthal James Simpson committed double murder(on the same night as the 1994 Tony Awards).

She died the day I moved into my first Manhattan apartment. I've only had 2 in 30 years.

She passed, OP? What did she pass?

She inspires me to get a fish tank.

She DIED r31. In polite society it's called "passing." Got back to your barn.

Big social climber, major money-hound.

I’m sure she was missed by a few misguided homosexuals when she died. Jacks always drew a largely faggot crowd.

I think I read somewhere that at a certain point she decided she had enough medical treatment. I remember when John came outside to announce her death he said something about how she left "on her own terms, surrounded by the people and the things that she loved." She was very young to die and I have to wonder if she might have lived longer with more treatment?

R36, Her doctors told her there was nothing more they could do for her, so she said she wanted to go home and requested a morphine drip, which she was given.

Gayest question ever: Did Little Edie go to the funeral?

. . .

R3...without looking, I knew the photo you were talking about...OMG we should all look so spectacular in an unposed, unfiltered photo.Jackies body was great, too

R31 Jackie passed gas. In a polite society we dont say she farted, hence, “she passed"

[quote]Jackies body was great, too

The ciggies kept her nice and thin.

Jackie worked out. After she moved to NYC she went to the gym, baby! And let's don't forget those "vitamin" shots she and her late husband the POTUS get from "Dr. Feelgood." Jackie was never overweight. Even as a child. And she was physically active before it was in style. She rode horse and probably could have competed. Lee is the one who looked sick, emaciated. I was sad when I found out Jackie smoked. But I think back then in the 50's and 60's smoking was considered chic and for her it was a prop.

[quote] I was sad when I found out Jackie smoked. But I think back then in the 50's and 60's smoking was considered chic and for her it was a prop.

Who would be on the list of current female celebrities who are smokers?

All of the other surviving First Ladies sat together at an event just days before Jackie's death. She was invited, but was too sick to attend. Hillary Clinton wrote in her memoir that all six of them could talk of nothing but Jackie, and they seemed to understand that they wouldn't see her again.

[quote]Did Little Edie go to the funeral?

She remained in Florida as she had just returned from her last brother's funeral in Long Island two weeks earlier.

Well, four of them talked about Jackie while Nancy and Babs traded non-stop bitchslaps.

Jackie liked Lady Bird and Hillary. Nancy kept sucking up to her so she was wary of het. Never heard what she thought of Bar or Betty.

She despised Carter because he kissed her on the cheek at the JFK Library opening-and NOBODY did that to Jackie. Sam Donaldson said Jackie was pissed and looked like she wanted to punch him.

Carter did the same thing to the Queen Mother and she had the same reaction as Jackie.

[quote] All of the other surviving First Ladies sat together at an event just days before Jackie's death. She was invited, but was too sick to attend. Hillary Clinton wrote in her memoir that all six of them could talk of nothing but Jackie, and they seemed to understand that they wouldn't see her again.

Ill or not, Jackie wasn't coming. And, unlike Lady Bird & Hillary, it's not like they were going to see her again whether she lived or not.

Didn't Jackie take Ari from her sister?

Ted Kennedy hated Jimmy Carter and ran against him in the 1980 primary.

[quote] Ted Kennedy hated Jimmy Carter and ran against him in the 1980 primary.

The rest of the family - or at least most of them - followed his lead & did not vote for Carter. Jackie voted for Anderson. And we got Reagan.

[quote]Who would be on the list of current female celebrities who are smokers?

Most of them.

Hillary and Jackie

And that last vote is what made all the difference😵‍💫

I cried buckets when she died.

[quote] Who would be on the list of current female celebrities who are smokers?

Most of them are now vapers, like Julia Louis Dreyfus.

Unfortunately, it turns out vaping is even worse for you than smoking is.

R16 Liz Montgomery died one day short of a year after Jackie. Jackie died on May 19, 1994 and Montgomery died on May 18, 1995.

R31 She passed from this life to eternal life.

Did Hilary get a nose job at some point?

Jackie's preffered cigarette brand was apparently Salem. I used to smoke, years ago, and tried a few Salems. They were strong and harsh AF.

R60, Like smoking a peppermint Lifesaver.

Who?

[quote]The rest of the family - or at least most of them - followed his lead & did not vote for Carter. Jackie voted for Anderson.

R52 Oh, please. No one knows how anyone votes except the voter.

R63, it's been the subject of much - uncontroverted - reporting over the many years.

Back when I smoked I smoked Cools, but I tried Salems and they were horrible. I also tried Virginia Slims menthol, and Marlboros and Benson Hedges. Jesus I was so terribly addicted. Haven't smoked in 18 years. But honestly? IMO it was the worst decision I ever made. A filthy habit. It stunk up my clothes, my h ouse, furniture, everything. I used to babysit for my sister and she raised hell when she got home because my 3 yr old niece's hair stunk of cigarettes. And they got so expensive. I pray I don't develop cancer but I already have COPD.

While the other former First Ladies in R 45 picture seem engrossed in conversation, Madame Nancy is taking inventory of the men in the room who had deposited a load in her golden neck and the men in the room who had let been given the honor…….probably like 2 men and one of them was of the homosexual persuasion.

Jackie was born 95 years ago today.

Jackie should be on our money.

I remember when she turned 50 in 1979. It was on the nightly news, in the newspapers and she was on a few magazine covers that week with simple titles like "Jackie Turns Fifty". To think she wouldn't live to see her 65th birthday.

I'm certain had Diana lived past 36, she would've gotten the same media attention: "Diana at 50".

I recall Grand Central Station had a tribute to Jackie in the days following her passing. They had a journal (in Vanderbilt Hall?) where people can sign their name and add their thoughts. It was a nice gesture to the person most responsible in helping save GCS from demolition by raising awareness to the public and lobbying with politicians to push for landmark status. I signed the book and wrote some nice comments. I believe there ended up being dozens of such books filled over the course of several days.

[quote] I was sad when I found out Jackie smoked. But I think back then in the 50's and 60's smoking was considered chic and for her it was a prop.

Former smoker here (smoked for 15+ years). IMO, she smoked to keep her weight down. And, my understanding was that she didn't like to be photographed smoking. There are relatively few photos of her smoking. In life, I am guessing she smoked throughout the day.

People back then discounted the science that smoking caused lung disease and cancer, and wrongly assumed the odds of them getting a serious illness were minimal. I knew so many people like that, who only had regrets after they got emphysema, heart disease or cancer.

She smoked during her pregnancies too. Her last child was born premature and I don’t doubt that her smoking played a role in his death.

DEATH, not “passing.”

[quote] People back then discounted the science that smoking caused lung disease and cancer, and wrongly assumed the odds of them getting a serious illness were minimal.

My mom would be a bit younger than Jackie, but my mom knew smoking caused cancer (and smoked anyway).

Inimitable.

Doctors didn't begin warning expectant mothers not to smoke until about 1980.

Don't forget Jackie also got those "energy shots" from that Dr. Feelgood, I forget his name. No one knew at the time what kinds of side effects would come from them. It was more than B12 shots it was something else.

I'm sure they included amphetamines.

Jackie O bummed cigarettes off me many times over two decades. This is my perennial contribution to Jackie threads on DL.

JFK Jr also smoked if I recall, but only one cigarette a day. He would have cigars when he was with friends.

R80, oh, no, you don't. IF you're really sincerely telling the truth, I want to know more gossip. Tell.

Jackie bummed cigarettes off me when I was in college and worked at the Chilmark General Store on the Vineyard. I asked her if she knew the song, below, she said no so I said I would play it for her next time she stopped in. I had the cassette for a couple of weeks but she finally came and laughed. Then she recognised me at a society party in the mid 80s when I was in my mid 20s and we chatted and she knew I loved that "Jackie O" bummed cigarettes so she always asked me for cigs the couple times I ran into her at parties. Then I dated a young relative of Jackie's who took me to cocktails at her apartment and she of course bummed a cigarette. The last time I saw her was a funeral in the early 1990s and she was on the other side of the Meeting House and we only nodded to each other. No cigs. The end.

She despised Carter because he kissed her on the cheek at the JFK Library opening-and NOBODY did that to Jackie.

WELL, at least he didn't sniff her hair.

She stole my coupons from me in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot, in Florida. I believe it was about 1977.

I decided to eat like she did and in the course of the experiment discovered vegan caviar. It’s actually really good on a baked potato that’s been slathered with sour cream. But if that one potato really is all she ate some days, her slenderness is sure no mystery.

Summer 1985: As a young intern in the Reagan administration, I recall when she had lunch with Nancy Reagan in the White House, and purposely threw a pitcher of Lipton iced tea in Nancy's face. Nancy told the press it was totally 'unprovoked' and she believed Jackie was off her rocker. In her defense, Jackie said she did it on a dare from Nancy's daughter Patti.

Thank yuo,R83. It's a charming story and it captured a very human moment between the two of you. Since we usually only see or read about the public person and the speculation, it's nice to glimpse her unguarded, intimate moments. It may not be much to you, but I enjoyed it.

Now stop lyin' on that po' woman! She dead.

r73 Smoking did not kill Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, a lack of surfactant in his lungs (and no proper trestment at the time) did.

His death was responsible for the money and research poured into the treatment of neonatal respiratory syndrome, a condition I also had because I was born 10 weeks earlier than Patrick. I survived my bout with it because a Baby Bird respirator tube held my alveoli open.

What did she pass? Gas?

R91 Bad checks. She was notorious for passing bad checks on innocent small business owners on Martha's Vineyard.

Bunny Hopp, owner of The Bunny Hopp of Edgartown, recalled selling a beautiful sunflower-printed sundress to Jackie on July 28, 1989. Jackie was going to wear it at her upcoming 60th birthday luncheon. The dress was $480, and Jackie said she'd take it in a size 10. She also wanted the lemon colored pumps in a size 6 which matched the dress. The shoes were on sale for $140. Jackie wrote out a check for $620, and wished Bunny a lovely weekend. Bunny was so happy she would have enough money to pay her August rent in a few days. "I'll be back, I'm sure", she told Bunny.

When Bunny went to the Edgartown Bank to deposit the check, Mr. Harkford, the bank manager, brought her aside and told her the check was no good - Jackie didn't have nearly enough funds in her account to cover it. He said Jackie was passing bad checks around Edgartown's small businesses all summer long. He whispered that 'rumor has it, she's paying for John-John's sex addiction treatments out of pocket'.

She was short $620 for her August rent, and Bunny had no choice but to close her shop for good on July 31, 1989 after 22 years in business. Her longtime middle-aged customers laid floral bouquets outside the sea-blue front door, sharing memories of shopping at The Bunny Hopp. Bunny will be 91 in September, and still sheds a tear when she walks by her old store front, which is now a Lululemon.

When she died, she bacame Jackie Off Assistance.

"A Bouvier till her wedding day" Tori

R92, I believe everything that you posted. Except for the size 6 shoes. She was a size 10 at the least.

R83 Great story. Recall reading a member of band "Human Sexual Response" was a college pal of Caroline Kennedy's. She had told her that her mother's favorite catch phrase was "Oh Yeah" which became the chorus verse. Jackie also attended a performance of the band with her kids. Song was a bit of an inside joke.

Jackie had a wry self awareness. She viewed her public persona of JBKO in the 3rd person as a character she had created who had nothing to do with the "real" her. She would send her housekeeper out to buy the scandal rags. Jackie would say "lets see what she's up to today" reading while laughing and sipping coffee. Her daughter in law would have benefited by that type of detachment. Pity they never met.

[quote] Pity they never met.

At least here on this earth. Who knows if they met in the after-life ?

If Jackie had ever met Carolyn Bessette she never would have been her daughter- in- law. Jackie knew a neurotic narcissistic druggie social climber when she met one. After all her sister was Lee Radziwill.

Why did John-John have such questionable taste in women?

The sky was so blue...

Cause he preferred men.

R102 R104 I know he was at least bi.

Wasn’t Jackie On Assistance something of a homophobe?

No. there's not been the slightest of indications she ever said or did anything homophobic.

[quote] Wasn’t Jackie On Assistance something of a homophobe?

She was born in 1929. So of course she was by the standards of today.

[quote]Wasn’t Jackie On Assistance something of a homophobe?

That was Lee, who was also a fag hag.

Jackie's right hand man was a dyke, and she had to suffer not only Jack's parade of bimbos but also his obvious attachment to Lemmy.

Jackie would have never approved of Caroline Bessette. Ugh. Nothing special.

Jackie probably would've pushed John-John towards Diana, once Diana's divorce was final. By physical appearances, they would've made a breath-taking couple.

she NEVER would have pushed him towards a divorced woman with kids. What kind of a man wants to roll around in another man's garbage?

But she was royal wealthy garbage, and that would've impressed Jackie.

Jackie had a bunch of gay friends (Capote, Nureyev and William Walton come to mind); and like most women of her generation and class had longtime associations with gay men who advised her on fashion/decoration/style (the decorator Billy Baldwin; Valentino; her hairstylist, Kenneth).

Onassis said that “all her friends are fags.”

But she would not have wanted her son, the heir to Camelot, to turn out gay-she told a friend when he was a kid that she was “afraid he would turn out to be a fruit.”

When he was a teenager, Jackie sent JFK Jr: on multiple Outward Bound style expeditions to butch him up.

Jackie would have wanted her son to marry a socially prominent woman from a good family who could help his career and ground him with a family. She would not have approved of his cokewhore wife, or Madonna, or Princess Diana….

Jackie did love reading the tabloids. Supposedly she was obsessed with the Mia/Woody/Soon-Yi story.

R107 " I don't want John to be a hairdresser"..JBKO

Jackie would have wanted stability for John. I think she was hoping at some point he would outgrow the need for the glitzy life of fashion entertainment and celebrity he was drawn into with his magazine project and his personal fame. The life Caroline has is the kind she would have wanted for John.

I *really* don't think she would have wanted JFK Jr. to marry Diana. It's hard to believe they were around the same age.

Diana had too much baggage and was too much drama. I do think Jackie wanted a quiet life for JFK Jr. but it was never to be.

R117 I agree. Way too much drama and way too much fame. I read somewhere that John was dating Darryl Hannah and they were serious and Jackie nixed it. Killed the relationship. Darryl was already a bit "eccentric" and after that she went for a full meltdown. Not because of JFK, Jr. I mean she was already heading that way and Jackie could tell. I think a high maintenance girlfriend or wife was something Jackie would definitely not want for John. In spite of everything, John seemed like a very decent, good-hearted guy.

Daryl Hannah was always "eccentric" with Aspergers. She was always high maintenance and problematic.

[quote]She would not have approved of his cokewhore wife, or Madonna, or Princess Diana….

No, course not. Diana Spencer, before her marriage to Prince Charles, might have been OK, but she was pretty obviously neurotic even at that point, and Jackie would likely have thought her insipid anyway. After the divorce, when Diana was soiled by scandal and an even bigger tabloid figure than Jackie herself? Never. Not to mention that Jackie and Diana would never have gotten along. In fact, I think they would have hated each other. Diana's endless emotion-drenched nonsense was the opposite of what Jackie and most upper-class women of her generation considered good behavior. Those were the days ...

JFK Jr. might have been able to pull off a quiet life had he not been so very handsome and sexy.

R33, no one with any respect for language uses "pass" as a euphemism for die. R31 was rightly mocking this silly usage.

Your barn is waiting for your speedy return.

[Quote] And we got Reagan.

Because of 20 votes?

Can you imagine Harry and Markle if they had to compete, not only with William and Kate, but with the dazzling offspring of Diana and John John?

[quote] Can you imagine Harry and Markle if they had to compete, not only with William and Kate, but with the dazzling offspring of Diana and John John?

Let's hope they would have gotten their looks from John. I never thought Diana looks were wildly overrated.

There's a random fact I Remember from 1980. Ronald reagan was elected by 26% of those eligible to vote. 26%. Not those who were registered, but those who were eligible which is a broader pool. Our turn out was shit back then.

Yes, R126, there was lots of support for John Anderson then. But I assume you weren't politically conscious back then. Carter was seen with great disfavor among liberals. His presidency would not have been embraced by the DL community.

[quote] Let's hope they would have gotten their looks from John. I never thought Diana looks were wildly overrated.

Compared to Charles, Diana was very good-looking. Also, now that Charles, Camilla, William, and Kate are photographed together so often, you can see that Diana's genes must've brought some height into the gene pool. Kate is taller than Charles. Yes, Charles is shrinking as older people do and Kate is wearing heels, but William and Kate seem to tower over Charles and Camilla.

Diana's nose was too large for prettiness, but most of her other features were such that you'd love to have the genes passed down to you. Teenaged/early 20s William was her Mini-Me and he was gorgeous. On top of that, she had that star quality that makes you unable to take your eyes off a Broadway diva even when a much prettier girl is on the stage. Sophie had very similar looks to Diana's, but she never had IT.

Plus Diana wasn’t shapely at all. But her clothes were well tailored at least.

Back in the 80s when it was trendy to "get your colors done" I bought a book on the subject, which in addition to advising you what colors were going to suit your coloring, also said there were several different Types when it came to dressing. These were Dramatic, Natural, Romantic, Ingenue and Classic. You could, of course, vary the way you dressed according to the occasion, but there would be one type you were most comfortable with.

The book pointed out that Jackie, though most people thought of her dressed Classic in the First Lady period, was a Natural by inclination. The author thought she looked constrained in the tailored suits, pillbox hats and gloves, whereas photos of her in jeans and a sweater with her hair blowing in the wind (see pic above) allowed us to see "the real Jackie". I think of this every time her style is discussed. She also looked better in browns and neutrals than in those vibrant 60s colors. (The book said Grace Kelly was the opposite, always seeming most comfortable when classically soignee.)

I always felt Diana was mannish and yes, her clothes were well tailored.

Jackie would have been repulsed by Diana, her oversharing and her whiny need for love.

And Jackie didn’t have a problem with a philandering husband. When Joan came to her to complain about Ted and his cheating, Jackie told her “all Kennedy men are like that.”