My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy Book Reviews

My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy by Mary Barelli Gallagher Book Summary

Few books in publishing history created such excitement in advance of publication as did "My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy." It was originally published in September, 1969, though a small portion of the book had been released in magazine serial form upwards of two months prior, which produced a wave of press speculation throughout the world and whetted the anticipation of readers everywhere for the whole story. Only by reading the complete book can the complexities of Jacqueline Kennedy's personality and life be fully understood.

This book covers my twelve year tenure as secretary to both our beloved President John F. Kennedy and Mrs. Jacqueline B. Kennedy that began in November, 1952. As newly-elected Senator from Massachusetts, he personally appointed me in Boston to serve as one of his first four secretaries in his Capitol Hill office of the United States Senate, Washington, D.C. I was sworn in on January 3, 1953.

My tenure with Mrs. Kennedy began at her Georgetown home in early 1957 and continued for nearly eight years until the fall of 1964. As Mrs. Kennedy's personal secretary, I was privy to the daily, behind the scenes life in The White House, able to work with her in the Family Quarters and interact with her on a personal basis, competely out of the public eye, thus being allowed a unique perspective to witness history firsthand. It is a factual account of our daily life at The White House, as well as on our various travels to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Palm Beach, Florida and Dallas, Texas.

As First Lady, the legacy of her brilliant restoration of The White House itself would include, as well, the idelible mark of elegance and style that captured the entire fashion industry as never before. It was with the same, careful, painstaking attention to detail that she dealt with her various "clothes scouts," both here and abroad, the most notable being her favorite fashion designer, Oleg Cassini.

The unexpected, tragic event in Dallas, Texas in November, 1963, where I accompanied Mrs. Kennedy on the trip, was to result in the eventual culmination of my secretarial career with her, a year later. In our final year together following the assassination, as she tried to adjust to widowhood, she found it much too difficult and unpleasant to remain in her newly purchased Georgetown home, mostly due to the endless curiosity seekers, tourists by the bus loads, press/media, etc.

Intent on curtailing these disruptions, as well as leaving behind all the painful memories of the Washington, D.C. area, she moved to New York City to start life anew with her two children, Caroline and John, Jr., in October, 1964, a year following the President's assassination.

My book is now being re-issued during its 45th year since the original publication, for placement in the annals of history for the benefit of all future generations of interested, Kennedy-era, readers and others, as well.

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