During her tenure in the White House, Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy rose to become one of the most adored First Ladies in history. For everyone seeing from the outside, the life of the Southampton, New York native and the then-youngest president to assume office—John F. Kennedy—seemed like a perfect love tale.
Everything changed on that dreadful November 1963 day in Dallas, Texas, when John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. Years later, Jacqueline, sometimes known as “Jackie,” would remarry after having to adjust to a completely new life.
Despite her enormous popularity, little was known about Jackie Kennedy’s existence in the White House; even though the people loved her, there were concerns regarding her availability on a daily basis.
New details about Jacqueline and her private life were disclosed by her former bodyguard, Clint Hill, in an interview with the JFK Presidential Library and Museum.
But first, let’s examine Jackie Kennedy’s life in more detail.
On July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York, she was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. Her parents are Janet Lee and John Vernon Bouvier III.
Jackie Kennedy’s formative years
The Bouvier family was well-off, and her father was a stockbroker. At an early age, Jackie showed an interest in writing, painting, and riding. She was sitting on a horse’s back pretty much as soon as she could walk.
Due to her family’s financial stability, Jackie Kennedy attended some of the top private schools available. She spent her early years composing poetry and other stories and creating her own pictures for them while residing in New York City, Hampton, Newport, and Rhode Island. She studied ballet as well.
Jackie enrolled in Miss Chapin’s School on East End Avenue in New York’s first grade. Jackie was considered by Miss Platt, one of her instructors, to be “a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic, and full of the devil,” according to the JFK Library.
By coincidence, Jackie got into a lot of trouble. “Jacqueline was given a D in Form because her disturbing conduct in her geography class made it necessary to exclude her from the room,” a headmistress Miss Ethel Stringfellow said on one of her report cards.
Jackie’s parents separated when she was ten years old, and her mother Janet later wed Hugh D. Auchincloss. Then, the family relocated to his house close to Washington, D.C.
Jackie Kennedy started attending Vassar College in 1947. She returned to George Washington University in 1951 to receive her degree after spending her junior year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris.
worked as a photographer and journalist.
Jackie developed empathy for individuals from other nations, particularly the French, as a result of her stay in France. She was unaware, nevertheless, that one day she would have the title of First Lady of the United States.
“It was the most beloved year of my life.” Of her year in France, Jackie Kennedy remarked, “Being away from home gave me a chance to look at myself with a jaundiced eye.”
“I came home happy to start over here but with a love for Europe that I’m afraid will never go,” the speaker said. “I learned not to be ashamed of a real hunger for knowledge, something I had always tried to hide.”
Jackie started her first employment at the Washington Times-Herald Newspaper after graduating from George Washington University. She adopted the persona of the “Inquiring Camera Girl,” going about the city during work hours, snapping pictures of individuals and posing various inquiries to them based on the topic of the day.
She kept on her column writing for the newspaper, conducting interviews with notable figures including Richard M. Nixon and covering Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first inauguration.
Jackie got to know John F. Kennedy, the man who would become her husband, at work at the Herald. She received an invitation to a dinner party in Georgetown in 1952, sent by Charles Bartlett, a friend and fellow journalist.
How did John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy get together?
John Kennedy was a buddy of his as well. When they first met, Jackie and John clicked right away.
As stated in America’s Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Jackie’s family friend Molly Thayer remarked, “She knew instantly that he would have a profound, perhaps disturbing, influence on her life.”
At her rendezvous with future president John, sparks had already flown, even though Jackie left to go on another date. Ted Kennedy, his younger brother, said that he loved her.
When he first saw her at supper, “my brother really was smitten with her right from the very beginning,” he said.
Thus, it came to pass that Jackie and John F. Kennedy fell in love. The couple wed at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 12, 1953. Kennedy had already been elected to the U.S. Senate by the time they traveled to Mexico for their honeymoon.
JFK had plenty of free time at the same time that his political career was flourishing. During his recuperation from the back surgery, Jackie suggested that he publish a book about US senators who had sacrificed their careers to stand up for causes they supported.
Following the publication of Profiles in Courage, JFK was awarded the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. The birth of Caroline, the Kennedy family’s first child, made it a momentous year for them as well.
The life of Jackie Kennedy in the White House
A triennial later, Kennedy declared his intention to seek the presidency. JFK took over as the country’s next president on November 8, 1960.
Jackie, then thirty-one, was instantly crowned the First Lady of the United States. Her husband became quite upset shortly after the inauguration, and Jackie and JFK had a beautiful moment.
The pair was captured in the now-famous photo by AP photographer Henry Burroughs with Jackie’s palm resting on his chin.
“Why didn’t Jack kiss you after? Everyone asked, knowing full well that he would never do that there. Jackie Kennedy said, “But you had to march out in such an order that I was about eight behind him.”
And I really, really wanted to see him by himself before lunch. And I was just so proud of him when I finally caught up to him in the Capitol.
And there’s a photo where I put my hand on his chin and, you know, he’s just staring at me, and there were actual tears in his eyes,” she continued. I thought there was no one there, and then a flash occurred. The papers stated that his wife had chuckled him beneath the chin. That was so much more poignant than a kiss, in my opinion, because he actually did start to cry.
Jackie had a strong sense of duty to her nation. She was totally committed to their family at the same time, especially because John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., their second child, had been born a few weeks after the inauguration.
After the death of John F. Kennedy, life
The White House grounds were updated to include a swimming pool, a treehouse, and swings to better accommodate a family with young children. As First Lady, Jackie’s primary goal was to preserve and repair the White House.
After this was finished, Jackie Kennedy personally gave a tour of the facility. Over 80 million viewers tuned in to the CBS broadcast, and Jackie Kennedy received an honorary Emmy Award.
Patrick, John and Jackie’s third child, was born on August 7, 1963. Sadly, a serious lung condition claimed his life just two days later.
Then came the notoriously horrific Dallas, Texas, tragedy of November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot and died. At the age of 34, Jackie became a widow, and millions of people worldwide expressed their sorrow.
Jackie was commended for her bravery and decency at the moment. She started working on the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum shortly after her husband passed away.
Jackie quickly stepped back from the spotlight and wed Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1968. In 1975, she experienced her second divorce and made the decision to start a new profession. Jackie started off as an editor at New York City’s Viking Press before moving on to Doubleday as a senior editor.
Cause of death: Jackie Kennedy
She died on May 19, 1994, of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and was buried next to John F. Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery, which is located outside of Washington, D.C.
All those who had known her as the First Lady were particularly hurt by her passing. However, not much is known about Jackie’s personal life, despite the fact that she rose to enormous popularity at the White House.
Clint Hill, her former bodyguard, recently opened up about his life defending Jackie, disclosing a lot of information that most people are probably unaware of.
Clint joined the Department of the Army as a counterintelligence agent and worked for President Eisenhower in Denver, Colorado. He was chosen one day to become an agent and collaborate closely with Jackie Kennedy.
He initially believed that would be a rather uninteresting detail.
“All right, we’ve made up our minds about what to do. You will be paired with Mrs. Kennedy. And I remember being extremely horrified,” Hill said.
“I was not interested in that task. I knew what prior first ladies were capable of. I had no desire to participate in fashion presentations, tea parties, or dance classes.
However, Clint quickly saw that Jackie was different from the other First Ladies who had come before her. The two struck up a wonderful friendship that progressively got better with time.
As previously stated, Jackie prioritized her children above everything else, serving as both a mother and a First Lady. Clint Hill also picked up on that very fast.
Clint Hill, a former bodyguard, describes Jackie Kennedy’s personality.
She desired that the kids grow up to be typical kids. Nothing noteworthy. They were to be handled by the agents as though they were one of their own. The children got back up if they fell. You failed to assist them. All of this has to be learned by them independently. He clarified, “She wanted to keep herself and the kids as anonymous as possible.
Yes, she made a fantastic mother. Her worries were centered around them and their schooling. In order to provide Caroline with an education, she established a school within the White House and invited several young students from various backgrounds to enroll as well. There were two teachers there, and it was located directly on the White House’s third level. He said, “They used to play out on the south grounds.”
Despite their intimate bond, Jackie always addressed Clint as Mr. Hill, while he addressed her as Mrs. Kennedy. He once moved his entire family to Squaw Island, where the Kennedy family was staying, for the duration of the summer.
As the First Lady’s bodyguard, Clint put in a lot of overtime and was frequently away from his family. As a result, his kids were essentially left fatherless.
However, Jackie occurred to observe that Clint’s kids were the same age as hers that summer on Squaw Island.
She asked Clint’s kids to come play with hers.
But as for him, he turned it down.
“She cared about us more than she did about herself.”
At last, I persuaded her by telling her that it wasn’t a good idea. In the government, I work. You are the president’s wife. These are the offspring of the President. Something should happen because I don’t think it would be a good idea for my two kids to play with your two kids. When she eventually realized what was wrong, she said, “Okay.”
Naturally, Clint Hill was there that awful November 1963 day in Dallas, Texas. He is recognizable in photos as the Secret Service operative who got into the automobile after JFK was shot.
Hill accompanied Jackie Kennedy to the hospital, and he was given credit for ensuring that no pictures were taken. He naturally desired to keep Kennedy’s privacy private. But she did something he didn’t anticipate when they got on the plane to return to Washington.
Instead of lamenting the death of her cherished spouse, Jackie Kennedy inquired about Clint Hill’s well-being.
“Oh, Mr. Hill, what’s going to happen to you now?” she exclaimed. Clint noted in the interview that “she was so much more concerned about my well-being and that of the other agents that were involved, that she wanted to make sure that we were going to be okay.”
“And I assured her, Mrs. Kennedy, I would be alright. I’ll be alright. She wasn’t dressed differently. She hadn’t tidy up. She was just shocked; she hadn’t done anything. Furthermore, she cared about us more than she did about herself.
Minutes Before My Wedding, I Learned the Truth—So I Ran
Minutes before I walked down the aisle to marry the man I thought I’d spend my life with, my world crumbled. A truth so devastating unraveled that I couldn’t face him or our guests. So, I fled. Mascara streaking my face, I ran in my wedding dress down the highway.
We’ve all heard stories about runaway brides, but I never thought I’d become one.
There I was, ditching my own wedding. Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t go through with it because minutes before the ceremony, I discovered something about Grant that turned my world upside down.
An upset bride | Source: Midjourney
I’ve always believed life has a way of falling into place when the timing is right.
By thirty, I had everything I ever wanted. A good job in marketing, a beautiful home, and the love of my life, Grant, by my side.
We’d been together for as long as I could remember. We met in high school when I was sixteen, and from that moment, we were inseparable.
A couple holding hands | Source: Pexels
Grant was everything I’d ever dreamed of in a partner. He was perfect, and he had this way of making me feel like the most important person in the world. After all, that’s what all of us want to feel like, right?
“I’ll always be by your side, Sadie,” he once told me during a quiet evening at the beach.
“And I’ll always be by yours,” I replied, squeezing his hand. “No matter what.”
We talked about our future often. We wanted to get married, start a family, and grow old together.
A couple sitting together | Source: Pexels
“You’re my forever,” he whispered one night, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
Those words stayed with me. Even through the ups and downs of life, I believed we’d make it through anything.
So, when he proposed three years ago, I was the happiest woman alive.
It was a perfect day. Grant took me to our favorite spot by the lake, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.
“Yes!” I cried, barely letting him finish his question.
A man holding a woman’s hand | Source: Pexels
We celebrated that night with friends and family, and I couldn’t stop smiling. This was it. My life was finally falling into place.
The next three years flew by in a blur of wedding planning and work. Grant was busy with his job, and I threw myself into making sure our wedding day would be perfect.
To be honest, it was. Until it wasn’t.
I couldn’t have imagined how quickly things would take a turn for the worse.
A woman on her big day | Source: Midjourney
Fast forward to our wedding day.
The church was beautifully decorated with white roses and delicate fairy lights, just as I’d envisioned. Meanwhile, I felt like a princess in my stunning lace gown.
I stood at the back of the church, clutching my bouquet, as my heart raced with anticipation. This was the moment I had been waiting for. Walking down the aisle to the man I loved.
But before I could take a single step, my heart shattered into a million pieces.
A close-up shot of wedding aisle decor | Source: Pexels
“Sadie,” my best friend, Lila, called out. Her face was pale, and her hands shook as she clutched her phone. “I need to talk to you.”
I frowned. “Lila, now? We’re about to start.”
She shook her head fiercely. “No, you need to see this right now.”
I set my bouquet down, confusion turning to dread as I took her phone. The screen showed a Reddit thread.
“Read the post,” Lila urged, her voice trembling. “I found it by accident. It just… popped up.”
A woman using a phone | Source: Pexels
My heart skipped a beat as I scrolled.
The post was titled, When your fiancé celebrates with someone who’s not the bride.
And then my gaze landed on a photo of Grant.
It was taken at his bachelor party two nights before. In the picture, he sat with a woman on his lap. They were kissing.
I stared at the screen, the image burning into my mind.
I could barely process the caption beneath the photo, “Guess she’s not the one walking down the aisle this weekend.”
A bride looking at her friend’s phone | Source: Midjourney
“This can’t be real,” I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief.
“Sadie…” Lila placed a hand on my arm, steadying me. “It is. I double-checked. That’s him. That’s Grant.”
I dropped onto the nearest chair, my legs too weak to hold me.
Grant? The man I’d loved for years? My Grant?
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t digest that a photo of my fiancé kissing another woman was circulating online, being dissected by strangers.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered.
An upset bride on her wedding day | Source: Midjourney
That’s when Lila knelt beside me.
“Sadie, you don’t have to,” she said. “You don’t owe him anything. But you need to decide now.”
I looked at her through tears. “What am I supposed to do? There are 150 people waiting for me out there.”
“Forget them,” she said firmly. “This is about you. What do you want to do?”
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. Every instinct told me to confront Grant, demand answers. But how? In front of everyone?
No. I couldn’t do it. Not like this.
An upset bride thinking about her life | Source: Midjourney
“I’m leaving,” I said while grabbing my things. “I’m done.”
Lila stood, nodding. “I’ll cover for you as long as I can.”
Without looking back, I left the bridal suite. I didn’t know where I was going, but I just kept walking, past the church, past the guests waiting inside.
Cars sped by, honking occasionally at the sight of a bride walking along the highway. My dress dragged through the dirt, and mascara streaked down my face. I must have looked like something out of a sad country song.
Then, a pickup truck pulled over.
A pickup truck | Source: Pexels
I wiped my eyes and glanced up, surprised to see a man leaning out the window.
“Sadie?” he called, his voice unsure. “Is that you?”
I looked at him and immediately recognized him from photos. It was Ethan. Grant’s older brother.
He’d never come to visit while I was with Grant, but I knew who he was. The black sheep of the family, they called him.
“What happened?” Ethan asked, his brows knitting in concern. “Why are you out here like this? Get in. I’ll drive you wherever you need to go.”
A man sitting in his car | Source: Midjourney
I shook my head. “Only if you promise to drive me away.”
His lips twitched into a small smile. “Deal.”
I nodded and climbed into the truck.
As we drove, I finally let it all out. The betrayal, the photo, and the humiliation.
Ethan listened quietly, handing me tissues as I sobbed. “What a jerk,” he muttered at one point, making me laugh through my tears.
It felt good to talk.
But just as I started to relax, Ethan slammed on the brakes.
A man holding a steering wheel | Source: Pexels
“What are you doing, Ethan?” I yelped, my heart racing.
Ethan looked at me, guilt etched across his face. “Sadie, I’m sorry. I have to.”
Before I could ask what he meant, he turned the truck around. We were heading straight back to the wedding.
“I can’t go back there,” I said, my voice cracking. “They’re all going to see me like this and I don’t want that! They’ll think I ran away because—”
“You have nothing to be ashamed of,” Ethan cut me off. “The person who should be humiliated is Grant. Not you. You’ll expose him. Tell everyone what he really is.”
A serious man driving a car | Source: Midjourney
I wanted to argue, to insist he drop me off anywhere but there. But deep down, I knew Ethan was right. The truth had to come out.
“You’ll be there with me?” I whispered.
He nodded. “Every step of the way.”
When we pulled into the church parking lot, the guests were already trickling out. The ceremony had clearly been canceled, but some family members lingered near the entrance, including Grant.
A groom standing in a parking lot | Source: Midjourney
My heart pounded as I climbed out of the truck. Lila spotted me first and rushed over.
“Sadie!” she cried, relief flooding her face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I nodded. “I need to do this.”
Grant’s eyes locked on me as I walked toward him with Ethan by my side. His expression shifted from confusion to anger the moment he saw Ethan.
“Where the heck have you been?” Grant snapped. “What’s he doing here?”
I ignored his questions.
A bride standing in a parking lot | Source: Midjourney
Then, I pulled out my phone, opened the post Lila had shown me, and held it up for everyone to see.
“This is why I left,” I announced. “Grant was with another woman two nights ago at his bachelor party.”
Gasps rippled through the small crowd as they looked at the photo.
“That’s not what it looks like!” Grant argued. “It’s taken out of context!”
“Out of context?” I shot back. “How do you explain kissing another woman while celebrating your bachelor party?!”
A bride looking straight ahead | Source: Midjourney
Grant opened his mouth to speak, but Ethan stepped in front of me, cutting him off.
“Don’t,” Ethan said firmly. “You’ve done enough.”
Grant’s face contorted with fury. “Stay out of this, Ethan! This has nothing to do with you!”
“That doesn’t mean you can get away with this, Grant!” Ethan yelled. “You can’t cheat on Sadie like that!”
At that point, Grant lunged forward and pushed Ethan, but thankfully, Grant’s friends held him back. Their father also came forward and helped Ethan get up.
That day marked the end of my relationship with Grant. I never spoke to him again.
A woman standing near a window | Source: Pexels
But Ethan? We stayed in touch.
Over the following weeks, I learned about his struggles. A failing family farm and a mountain of debt that Grant had refused to help him with.
Ethan was planning to sell his pickup truck, his last possession of value, to stay afloat.
That’s when I had an idea.
I took the money I’d saved for my honeymoon and offered to help Ethan turn his farm into a farm-to-table subscription box business.
It was a risk, but it paid off.
A green field near a house | Source: Pexels
A year later, Ethan invited me back to the farm. The fields were thriving, the business was booming, and for the first time in a long while, I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be.
And standing there, side by side with Ethan, I realized I’d gained something far better than a husband. I’d found a loyal partner and the best friend I never knew I needed.
I’m so grateful to Lila for showing me that Reddit post. Otherwise, I would’ve married Grant without knowing what kind of a person he truly was.
If you enjoyed reading this story, here’s another one you might like: When Emma proposes a daily “8 p.m. rule” to her fiancé, Matt, she expects it to bring them closer. But Matt’s reaction is far from what she’s imagined. Shocked by the idea, he abruptly calls off the wedding, leaving Emma questioning everything she thought she knew about love and commitment.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
Leave a Reply