THE SURVIVOR




Part 5 of 5. Shattering The Jackie Myth.
The popular perception of Jackie of a queen above it all seems to be as much a creation of the media as anything else. Magazines would have a writer prepare a story without much factual basis of an idyllic White House akin to some French Court or Camelot because it sold magazines to the average reader. Thus extending and reinforcing the myth. Nobody before Ms. Smith has looked too closely at Mrs. Kennedy or the true facts. A lot has been said about Jack and his medical problems, philandering and his political mistakes but Jackie has always been placed on a pedestal. This book identifies her as a spoiled, self absorbed young woman devoted to her pastimes like clothes and fashion, horses or entertaining the glitterati and not much interested in her duties as First Lady or her husbands political life or his private life for that matter. This was not a close marriage if anything it was a marriage for her to a wealthy and powerful man that was also advantageous in it gave her access to the upper strata of society. The author suggests Jackie saw it as a typical patrician marriage in the European sense, where after an heir and a spare are produced the partners are free to pursue their own private interests. Jackie may have seen it that way, but I doubt that Jack did.



This book is one of the best on the relationship between Jack and Jackie and worth reading. The Author has taken a look at the White House and its inhabitants with out the benefit of rose colored glasses

Labels: Book Review: Jack and Jackie.