‘The reaction here is anger, shock and dismay,’ declared the New York Times as Jackie wed Aristotle Onassis, a wealthy Greek shipping tycoon
She was the world’s most beloved widow. And then that widow was gone. Fifty years ago, the world mourned the end of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.
“The reaction here is anger, shock and dismay,” declared the New York Times.
“The gods are weeping,” read a quote in The Washington Post.
A German newspaper announced: “America has lost a saint.”
But Mrs. Kennedy hadn’t died. She had only become Mrs. Onassis.
On October 20, 1968, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy stunned the public by marrying Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, becoming “Jackie O.” The path to this union began years before the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
During the Kennedy presidency, Onassis, a wealthy businessman known for his shipping empire and high-profile affairs, including a rumored relationship with Jackie’s sister Lee Radziwill, was already a prominent figure. In 1963, Lee invited Jackie on Onassis’ yacht to help her recover from the death of her third child. Despite President Kennedy’s concerns about propriety, he agreed, hoping it would aid her recovery.
Tragedy struck with Kennedy’s assassination. Jackie, just 34, famously wore her blood-stained pink Chanel suit, refusing to change to show the world the horror of what had happened. This act became a symbol of her resilience.
“The country had idolized her, and now the country needed her to hold all people together,” wrote biographer Donald Spoto. Jackie Kennedy, transitioning from First Lady to widow, moved from the White House to the Upper East Side, struggling between her past and her constrained future.
Her admirers saw her as a brave, dedicated mother and resisted any change. Onassis, already entwined in a complex web involving Jackie, her sister Lee Radziwill, and the Kennedys, emerged as a controversial suitor. After Robert Kennedy’s assassination in 1968, Jackie’s relationship with Onassis became public.
Despite friends’ disapproval and rumors that she was after Onassis’s wealth, Jackie’s personal assistant, Kathy McKeon, noted her deep loneliness. Jackie, 39, sought companionship and stability for herself and her children, leading to her marriage to Onassis.
“A lot of people said, ‘Oh, my God, what did she marry that guy for?’” remembered Kathy McKeon, Jackie Kennedy’s assistant. “But he was a good father to John and Caroline.” Despite his age, Aristotle Onassis paid attention to the children, and they loved him. McKeon accompanied Jackie to Greece, to Onassis’s private island, Skorpios, for the intimate wedding.
Jackie wore a lace-trimmed beige chiffon dress and flat-heeled shoes to balance Onassis’s shorter stature. The candlelit ceremony had no flowers, and guests later celebrated on Onassis’s yacht. Despite public backlash and speculation about excommunication from the Catholic Church, Jackie felt Onassis rescued her during a dark period.
Their marriage appeared independent, with Onassis frequently traveling and Jackie maintaining her social life. They enjoyed quiet evenings together when he was home. In 1973, Onassis’s son died in a plane crash, and his health declined until his death in 1975. Jackie, then 45, became a widow again.
Jackie later became a book editor, avoided the press, and met diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman, but never remarried. She died in 1994 at 64, after a battle with cancer, and chose to spend her final days at home.
Jackie was buried beside President Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery, with her gravestone reading, “Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.” During her funeral, the name “Onassis” was never mentioned, reaffirming her identity as a Kennedy.
