Summary of Jackie By J. Randy Taraborrelli: Public, Private, Secret

By Willie M. Joseph

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This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

Summary of Jackie By J. Randy Taraborrelli: Public, Private, Secret

 

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Jackie, a biography by J. Randy Taraborrelli, offers a fresh perspective on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, based on interviews and unreleased material from the JFK Library. The book explores Jackie's flaws and contradictions, including her cold feet before her wedding to Jack Kennedy, her secret plan to avoid moving into the White House, her plan to meet Maria Callas, the truth about nude photos scandalizing her in the 1970s, her unusual relationship with Maurice Templesman, and her last-ditch efforts to save her life with experimental cancer treatments. The book is a Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willie M. Joseph
• Release date: Jul 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223110927

Willie M. Joseph

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INTRODUCTION

In January 1983, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, an editor at Doubleday & Company in New York, asked a young newspaper reporter about writing a biography about Diana Ross. Jackie had been known for guarding her own secrets, and she had trouble balancing her editorial mandate to demystify celebrities with her natural instinct to protect them. Jackie ended up doing so for Diana Ross with her first of two books about her, Diana Ross: A Celebration of Her Life and Career, published by Doubleday in 1985. Four years later, in 1989, she authored another book about her, Call Her Miss Ross, which became a New York Times bestseller.

During a lunch with its editor, Hillel Black, Jackie compared the two Diana Ross books and observed that the second one worked so well because it was very revealing. Jackie confirmed that Doubleday did an ambitious edit on the first book, which was their big mistake. In February 1983, Jackie and Doubleday's president, Sam Vaughan, had a meeting with Diana Ross and her literary agent, Irving Swifty Lazar. She sought to stop publication of Jackie's first book, offering her autobiography, but with a caveat that it would include no personal details, whatsoever. Jackie passed on Diana's book but offered to send an advance copy of mine to Diana and Swifty for their review.

Years later, Jackie concluded that it was her book that ended up with no personal details whatsoever, and she was proud of her decision. Her surprising deal with Diana Ross makes sense when one considers how diligently Jackie worked to maintain her own privacy. She had always been careful not to reveal much about herself, other than the few interviews she gave after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963. Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was a famous woman who was open, candid, and available. Her trusting nature made her feel as if she could ask her anything, but she wouldn't dare.

Her great secret weapon was her basic trust in humanity. She believed people to be essentially good and had faith that no one would ever be so unkind as to quiz her about her painful past. This is the first fullscale biography of Jackie, and the biggest surprises came from placing well-known stories into their proper context.

The author's research revealed that Jackie's marriage to Aristotle Onassis was transactional, and her departure from Viking Press was due to prioritizing family over career. She also had an unusual relationship with Maurice Tempelsman, making the same choices with him as her mother had made with her second husband, Hugh Auchincloss. Jackie's half brother, Jamie, told the author that her mother used to say, Sometimes it feels to me like Jacqueline is completely unknowable.

The author has written about the Kennedys for the last 25 years, conducting hundreds of interviews with family members, friends, and associates who are now gone. They have reviewed many letters from family sources, diaries, calendars, and other important mementos. The author is honored to have known Jackie in the small way she did, not as a friend but as someone whose path somehow managed to cross my own.

In the rare instances when she was maybe not her best self, the author hopes this book brings you a bit closer to her, especially those rare instances when she fell prey to anger, insecurity, or jealousy. It's in those unguarded moments that we can recognize that she really was just human like the rest of us, not that she ever tried to be anything else.

HOW REMARKABLE

FEBRUARY 22, 1994

John Warnecke, a prominent New Yorker, visits his close friend and former lover, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in a luxurious, elegant apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue. The apartment is filled with French antiques, oil paintings, and other fine art, offering stunning views of Central Park, the Hudson River, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Jackie, who had been with Warnecke for nearly thirty years, is seated in a dark and quiet room, surrounded by a telescope. Warnecke, who had been close to Jackie for nearly thirty years, had been inspired by her on Valentine's Day to send a note reaffirming his affection for her.

Jack notices a telescope in the corner, which he had once told Jackie to see how the other half lived as they walked about the park. Jackie, leaner and with a dull complexion, is now diagnosed with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Despite the disease, Jackie's presence remains powerful, and she asks Jack not to reveal what is about to happen while either of them is alive.

Jack is given a stack of envelopes filled with letters from friends, family, and dignitaries, which she keeps. She reads each letter and places it on the fire, revealing that it was not her own letters but those of her loved ones. She believes it is unfair to have their private words made public after her death, and she decides to take matters into her own hands while she is still able to do so.

As Jack leaves, he notices their reflection in an enormous Louis XV-style giltwood mirror hanging above the fireplace. This mirror had been gifted to Jackie by her stepfather, Hugh, thirty years earlier when she moved from a Georgetown home to the apartment. Jackie moves the mirror to this more prominent place, tilting it slightly downward to honor her changed reflection. Jackie pulls a manila envelope from the stack and reads a note from Uncle Hughdie, which reads To live in prison is to live without mirrors. Jackie leaves the Georgetown house due to the crowds that gather daily for a glimpse of her after her husband's assassination. Jack gives her the envelope and a few photographs, including a picture of her as an infant and her sister standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Jackie hesitates to keep the envelope, but Jack agrees. As she gazes at the flames, Jackie reflects on her father's advice to never look backward, a quote from English journalist Rudyard Kipling. She recites Kipling's poem If— in a soft, almost hypnotic voice, stating that if a person can do everything as he described, they will be a man, her son. However, Jackie's father always replaces the last line with And which is more, you'll be the woman you've always been meant to be, my darling daughter.

Becoming Jackie

NOBODY KNOWS THE REAL JACKIE

NOVEMBER 22, 1963

Some said it sounded like a crack. Others, a pop or a firecracker. Maybe a cherry bomb. Jackie Kennedy thought it was the backfire of a motorcycle. Confused, she watched as Jack grabbed his throat and lurched to the left.

ThenOn January 20, 1961, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy addressed the nation for the first time, addressing the nation's thirty-fifth president. Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, America's new First Lady, was so proud that she could feel her heart swell. She emphasized the importance of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger and the energy, faith, and devotion that we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. Jackie's speech was considered one of the most moving in history, with her eyes being the most spectacular feature.

Jackie, at just thirty-one, was a rarified kind of person, having lived a rarified kind of life, especially in the last seven years as the wife of a senator and then president. She learned a lot about herself, being tougher than she knew and more charismatic. People gravitated to her, and she welcomed it. She felt as worried as she was and as nervous as she was about what would happen to her family, but she was happy for Jack, too, because, my God, how he deserved it.

Jackie still wasn't well after giving birth to her and Jack's second child, John Jr. Bone-tired and headachy, she was in a sort of daze after taking heavy doses of Dexedrine for her nerves. Her mother-in-law, the everstoic Kennedy matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was overheard saying Jackie was taking too long to recover. She had had nine children, and she proudly noted that she bounced back quickly after each one.

Family tensions were not unusual in heightened moments, but when the stakes were as great as they had been on that day, it was only natural that nerves would be frayed. Jackie's half brother, Jamie Auchincloss, watched the inaugural proceedings seated directly in front of his brother-in-law, the new president. All of them were in choice seats near Eleanor Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson, all of them except for Jamie's parents, Jackie's mother and stepfather. The inauguration of the Kennedy administration was marked by a series of events, including the inauguration of Jackie Kennedy's mother, Janet. Janet, who had been Jackie's biggest champion since her birth, was shocked to see her stripped of the privilege of looking at her shining face as she became the nation's third-youngest First Lady.

Her mother, Janet, had been Jackie's biggest champion since the day her daughter was born. The Kennedy administration's tragic beginnings were fueled by bruised feelings over something that might seem trivial. The Kennedy administration's tragic ending seemed unfair, as they had always cared deeply for her and thought of her as their own. Hugh, who had a rapport with Jackie, was often baffled by her behavior, as she was a woman of contrasts and a total enigma. Hugh told Adora, Kiddo, you may think you know Jackie, but take it from me, nobody knows the real Jackie. The events that led to the inauguration of the Kennedy administration were a testament to the power of friendship and the power of love.

THAT BOOK

ONE MONTH EARLIER

Jackie, a former journalist, was given the idea to write a book about her daughter, which would be published in six weeks. She was reluctant to accept the idea, as she cherished her privacy and believed a book would only have value if it was revealing. She spent weeks with Molly, selecting stories she felt comfortable seeing in print, but found the process difficult due to her private memories of her late father, Jack Bouvier.

Jackie's campaign with Jack was grueling, and she had to rise to the occasion. She was busy on the campaign trail, speaking Spanish, French, Italian, and