Inside John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy’s relationship, from their courtship to his assassination

However, an editor apparently made “condescending remarks” to her when she arrived, and she left on her first day, The New York Times reported.

The pair were introduced by a mutual friend, journalist Charles Bartlett, at a dinner party in Washington, DC. John was apparently instantly interested in pursuing Bouvier.

“My brother really was smitten with her right from the very beginning when he first met her at dinner,” John’s younger brother Ted Kennedy told author Sarah Bradford in “America’s Queen,” People reported.

“I’ve never met anyone like her,” Kennedy said at the time, The Washington Post later reported.

The wedding was one of the most high-profile celebrations of the decade, largely due to Kennedy’s rising political star and the fact that both Kennedy and Bouvier came from influential families, Life Magazine reported. 

They were married in front of 600 guests, while 2,000 “society fans” gathered outside to cheer on the newlyweds after they had left the church. 

Kennedy had recently won reelection and was serving as a junior Democratic senator, according to Biography.

Upon his election, President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie Kennedy became a powerhouse political couple.

“We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom — symbolizing an end as well as a beginning — signifying renewal as well as change,” Kennedy said in a speech at his inauguration, according to the Kennedy Library. “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.”

Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, who helped stage a gala the night before to pay off the campaign’s debts, performed over inauguration weekend.

It was said that while taking a tour of the White House as a child, Jackie wasn’t impressed by the home.

“From the outside, I remember the feeling of the place,” she told Life Magazine, according to the Kennedy Library. “But inside, all I remember is shuffling through. There wasn’t even a booklet you could buy. Mount Vernon and the National Gallery and the FBI made a far greater impression.”

When she and her husband moved in 20 years later, she made it her mission to re-do the furnishings. According to the Kennedy Library, she focused on collecting antiques and incorporated heirloom pieces to emphasize the home’s history and restore the White House — not just “decorate” it. 

According to the Kennedy Library, Kennedy had already spent the entire $50,000 budget allotted to the project just on furnishing the family’s private quarters. However, she was able to finish the project by sourcing antiques on a loan.

“It was really the happiest time of my life,” she once said of living in the White House, according to the Kennedy Library. “It was when we were the closest — I didn’t realize the physical closeness of having his office … in the same building and seeing him so many times a day.”

He suffered from a lung condition and died two days later on August 9, 1963, according to the Kennedy Library.

Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on his son John’s third birthday.

After his death, Jackie worked diligently to carry on his legacy and preserve his memory. She created and oversaw the building of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum as a memorial to her husband, and carried on raising her young family. 

According to Time, she remarried Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968, though their marriage was more for security than a great love story.

“The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship,” Kennedy was once quoted as saying, according to Forbes.

When Onassis died in 1975, she said, “Aristotle Onassis rescued me at a moment when my life was engulfed with shadows…We lived through many beautiful experiences together…for which I will be eternally grateful.”

She was buried beside her husband a few days later in Arlington Cemetery.