No one might ever have guessed from her outward appearance- the soft voice seldom getting loud - that beneath this facade she concealed a character that at times could be as strong as that of a lioness. Though her life was dominated by incessant trials and tribulations with the abyss never far away she did not let life shatter her.  With John F. Kennedy she had in common that strong ability to gradually gain strength in times of crises. Her father once told her not to disclose her true thoughts and feelings - always to be a mystery so that no one can ever hurt her - and she learned her lesson well and lived by that rule. The events of November 22, 1963 laid incredible strains upon her and her mental sanity - but she locked her grief deep inside her heart and soul and "gave the world an example of how to behave" as Charles de Gaulle put it. She was truely America´s Queen - she took a step and the nation followed united in grief welded together by the iron will of the first lady who betrayed no sign of the storm raging inside herself. In moments of soilitude her surpressed emotions surfaced - sobbing unconsolably being nearly swallowed up by her grief - to deep had the dagger been driven. "Such a big part of me died with him [Jack Kennedy]" she said about the President. 

 
Born into a rich family in Southampton on Long Island, Jacqueline Bouvier as later in her life let the people wait - six weeks later than expected on July 28, 1929 she saw the light of day . Her father John Vernou Bouvier III. a stockbroker on Wall Street and her mother Janet Lee on weekends took her to Lasata her grandfather´s estate in East Hampton where she learned to ride and experienced the grandeur of a family pretending to be deeply rooted in the French aristocracy. The harmony of her early childhood was soon to come to an end as in July 1940 her parents divorced - Jackie was ten years old. Her father repaired to a hotel room in New York whereas Janet took Jackie and her younger sister Caroline Lee Bouvier (called Lee) to live with her in their apartment on Park Avenue -owned by Janet´s father James T. Lee - a multi-millionaire and strong adversary of Joseph Patrick Kennedy, who as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission had cracked down on Lee and many others in his attempt to regulate Wall Street for the Roosevelt administration - making matters worse also for Jackie´s father - but who in contrast to Lee never bore a grudge against Jack Kennedy.

 

 

In June 1942 Janet Lee was married to Hugh D. Auchincloss jr. and became mistress of Merrywood the Auchincloss´ estate in McLean Virginia overlooking the Patomac. The family also owned Hammersmith Farm high above Narangansett Bay in Newport, Rhode Island. In a letter to her stepbrother Yusha she expressed her feelings about her homes:

"I always love it so at Merrywood - so peaceful - with the river and the dogs - and listening to the victrola. I will never know which I love best - Hammersmith with its green fields and summer winds - or Merrywood in the snow - with the river and those steep hills. I love them both - whichever I am at - just as passionately as I loved the one behind. I began to fell terribly homesick as I was driving - I started thinking of things like the path leading to the stables at Merrywood, with stones slipping as you ran up it - and Hammersmith with the foghorns blowing at night - all the places and feelings and happiness that bind you to a family you love - something you take with you no matter how far you go."

Jacqueline was drawn between her parents unable to take sides and to reveal her strong preference for her father. After his divorce and his business on the downgrade Jacqueline was all he had - focussing his attention completely on the only woman he had ever truly loved - his eldest daughter. He was living in constant fear of losing her since the Auchincloss relations tried to drive a wedge between them. In September 1944 Jacqueline enrolled at Miss Porter´s School in Farmington, Connecticut - her father was a frequent visitor - glad to have her out of the direct grip of Merrywood. Her father who was often mistaken for Clark Gable was a great success with her schoolmates and often took her and the other girls out for lunch.

  "All my Farmington friends loved Daddy. He´d take batches of us out to luncheon at the Elm Tree Inn. Everybody ordered steaks and two desserts. We  must have eaten him broke."