And GRACE. Don't forget GRACE. :-)
(Hope the hotlink works).
Posted on 05/13/2014 9:48:15 AM PDT by NYer
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy’s thoughts about her marriage to , their life in the and her reaction to his assassination are revealed in newly discovered letters she wrote to an Irish priest before and after she became first lady of the United States.
The archive of her 14-year-long correspondence with – a Vincentian priest who lived in in in Dublin – will be sold at an auction in Ireland next month.
In the previously unpublished letters, Jackie tells Fr Leonard how Kennedy, who was then a rising star in American politics, was consumed by ambition “like Macbeth”.
In a letter sent in July 1952, she said her time with him had given her “an amazing insight on politicians – they really are a breed apart”.
She described with great excitement how she was in love with “the son of the ambassador to England”, but expressed concern he might prove to be like her father, John Vernou Bouvier.
“He’s like my father in a way – loves the chase and is bored with the conquest – and once married needs proof he’s still attractive, so flirts with other women and resents you. I saw how that nearly killed Mummy.”
‘Men of Destiny’
In a letter written in 1953, when she was still only 23, she confided to Fr Leonard: “Maybe I’m just dazzled and picture myself in a glittering world of crowned heads and Men of Destiny– and not just a sad little housewife . . . That world can be very glamorous from the outside – but if you’re in it – and you’re lonely – it could be a Hell.”
However, after a year of marriage she wrote to him: “I love being married much more than I did even in the beginning.”
After her husband’s assassination in 1963, she confided to Fr Leonard how she became “bitter against God” and struggled to find comfort in her deep Catholic faith.
“I have to think there is a God – or I have no hope of finding Jack again.” She added, with bittersweet humour: “God will have a bit of explaining to do to me if I ever see Him.”
Although her public life has been subject to the most intense scrutiny, Jackie didn’t publish an autobiography and no memoir appeared after her death in 1994 at the age of 64.
Her obituary in the New York Times noted that “her silence about her past, especially about the Kennedy years and her marriage to the president, was always something of a mystery”.
The archive of letters to Fr Leonard has been consigned to in Durrow, Co Laois.
Spokesman Philip Sheppard said the letters were “the dream find of a lifetime for an auctioneer” and they included “simply astounding fresh insights that transform our understanding of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy”.
He said: “They are, in effect, her autobiography for the years 1950-1964.”
Video at above link. Ping!
“I have to think there is a God – or I have no hope of finding Jack again.”
Sorry, Jackie, but Jack may have a lot of women surrounding him, and they will probably all be scantily clad, to match the locale...
She described with great excitement how she was in love with “the son of the ambassador to England”, but expressed concern he might prove to be like her father, John Vernou Bouvier.
“He’s like my father in a way – loves the chase and is bored with the conquest – and once married needs proof he’s still attractive, so flirts with other women and resents you. I saw how that nearly killed Mummy.”
No surprise. Girls grow up to marry a man like dear old daddy.
Yep, I could imagine Jack when Jackie died, going “Oh crap, the party’s over.”
JFK committed adultery two or three times a day. And I think everyone in the White House knew it. That couldn’t have been easy for Jackie to deal with.
Meanwhile, the press covered up for him, and went on and on and on about Camelot. Sickening.
That's called CLASS and DIGNITY, something The New York Times would naturally be unfamiliar with.
Not everyone feels the need to whore out themselves and their personal problems all over the media.
I bet she thought those letters were private.
she was a high priced whore. plain and simple.
It doesn’t seem right to publicize them IMO.
Gee, I can't imagine why! Maybe because the media was protecting her and didn't ask any questions?!
“she was a high priced whore. plain and simple.”
Arguably, one of the few members of what PJ O’ROurke dubbed “the bog trotters circus” who was not a walking, talking example of bad behavior.
Right. Either the church or her kids released them. Its not a good statement about the ones who did.
Exactly!
I dont’ think the letters should have been released. However, nothing quoted reflects poorly on her. She was a young girl reflecting on marriage in a fairly mature way. And the statements after Jack died were appropriate.
judge not.
Nixon thought the tapes were his property and would be kept secret as well
I tend to agree…although not in the context of a confessional it seems that private correspondence with a priest should be kept confidential…I’m sure the priest would be horrified that these personal communications are being “ sold to the highest bidder.”
That being said, Jackie knew the kind of man she was marrying and married him anyway. Jack actually dated her older sister before her and entered the bathroom in her home where he knew she was bathing. He took one look at her and said something to the effect of “ You will do nicely in my bed” Women will always be attracted to powerful men even if they are morally corrupt.
And GRACE. Don't forget GRACE. :-)
(Hope the hotlink works).
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