Editing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (section)

== Life following the assassination (1963–1975) ==
===Mourning period and later public appearances===
{{quote box
| quote = Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot.

There'll be great presidents again ... but there will never be another Camelot.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=T1IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA158 ''An Epilogue''], in ''Life'', Dec 6, 1963, pp. 158–159.</ref>
| source = —Kennedy describing the years of her husband's presidency for ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''
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On November 29, 1963—a week after her husband's assassination—Kennedy was interviewed in Hyannis Port by [[Theodore H. White]] of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine.<ref>Spoto, pp. 233–234.</ref> In that session, she compared the Kennedy years in the White House to [[King Arthur]]'s mythical [[Camelot]], commenting that the President often played the title song of [[Lerner and Loewe]]'s musical recording before retreating to bed. She also quoted [[Queen Guinevere]] from the musical, trying to express how the loss felt.<ref>{{cite magazine | magazine = [[Life (magazine)|Life]] |date=December 6, 1963|volume=55|issue=23 |issn=0024-3019|title=For President Kennedy, an Epilogue| author = White, Theodore H.|author-link= Theodore H. White}}</ref> The era of the [[Kennedy administration]] has subsequently been referred to as the "Camelot Era", although historians have later argued that the comparison is not appropriate, with [[Robert Dallek]] stating that Kennedy's "effort to lionize [her husband] must have provided a therapeutic shield against immobilizing grief."<ref>Tomlin, p. 295.</ref>

Kennedy and her children remained in the White House for two weeks following the assassination.<ref name="nyt12071963">{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/12/07/89986491.pdf|title=Mrs. Kennedy is in new home; declines 3-acre Arlington plot|last=Hunter|first=Marjorie|date=December 7, 1963|work=The New York Times|pages=1, 13|access-date=April 13, 2015|url-access=subscription|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508020718/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/12/07/89986491.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Wanting to "do something nice for Jackie", President Johnson offered an [[U.S. Ambassador to France|ambassadorship to France]] to her, aware of her heritage and fondness for the country's culture, but she turned the offer down, as well as follow-up offers of ambassadorships to [[U.S. Ambassador to Mexico|Mexico]] and the [[U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain|United Kingdom]]. At her request, Johnson renamed the [[Florida]] space center the [[John F. Kennedy Space Center]] a week after the assassination. Kennedy later publicly praised Johnson for his kindness to her.<ref>Andersen, pp. 55–56.</ref>

Kennedy spent 1964 in mourning and made few public appearances. In the winter following the assassination, she and the children stayed at [[Averell Harriman]]'s home in Georgetown. On January 14, 1964, Kennedy made a televised appearance from the office of the Attorney General, thanking the public for the "hundreds of thousands of messages" she had received since the assassination, and said she had been sustained by America's affection for her late husband.<ref name=Spoto239 /> She purchased a house for herself and her children in Georgetown but sold it later in 1964 and bought a 15th-floor penthouse apartment for $250,000 at [[1040 Fifth Avenue]] in Manhattan in the hopes of having more privacy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/1040-fifth-avenue-where-jackie-o-lived/ |title=1040 Fifth Avenue: Where Jackie O. lived |work=Abagond |date=August 27, 2008 |access-date=August 16, 2020 |archive-date=September 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921115816/https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/1040-fifth-avenue-where-jackie-o-lived/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=American Legacy: The Story of John & Caroline Kennedy|author=Heymann, Clemens David|isbn=978-0-7434-9738-1|date=2007|publisher=Atria Books |url=https://archive.org/details/americanlegacyst00heym}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sweet Caroline: Last Child of Camelot|url=https://archive.org/details/sweetcarolinelas00ande|url-access=registration| author = Andersen, Christopher P. |year=2003|publisher=William Morrow| isbn = 978-0-06-103225-7 }}</ref> During the summer of 1964, Kennedy retreated to [[Salutation (estate)|Salutation]] in [[Glen Cove, Long Island]].<ref name="Aristocracy">{{cite web|url=https://americanaristocracy.com/houses/salutations|website=American Aristocracy|title=Salutation|access-date=April 30, 2025|archive-date=January 20, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120122129/https://americanaristocracy.com/houses/salutations|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the following years, Kennedy attended selected memorial dedications to her late husband.{{efn|In May 1965, she, Robert and Ted Kennedy joined Queen Elizabeth II at [[Runnymede]], England, where they dedicated the United Kingdom's official memorial to JFK. The memorial included several acres of meadowland given in perpetuity from the UK to the US, near where [[John, King of England|King John]] had signed [[Magna Carta]] in 1215.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3915.html|title=Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|work=u-s-history.com|access-date=July 19, 2012|archive-date=July 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718042453/http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3915.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1967, she attended the christening of the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|John F. Kennedy|CV-67}}<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Za6sMz-bk_g Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140212225443/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za6sMz-bk_g&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=May 27, 1967 – Jacqueline, Caroline and John at the christening of the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy| date=January 7, 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za6sMz-bk_g|via=YouTube|access-date=November 15, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> in Newport News, Virginia, a memorial in Hyannis Port, and a park near [[New Ross]], Ireland. She also attended a private ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery that saw the moving of her husband's coffin, after which he was reinterred so that officials at the cemetery could construct a safer and more stable eternal flame and accommodate the tourists' extensive foot traffic.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jfks-body-moved-to-permanent-gravesite|publisher=HISTORY.com|title=JFK's body moved to permanent gravesite|archive-date=November 17, 2015|access-date=October 31, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117020523/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jfks-body-moved-to-permanent-gravesite|url-status=live}}</ref>}} She also oversaw the establishment of the [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]], which is the repository for official papers of the Kennedy Administration.<ref>Tracy, p. 180.</ref> Designed by architect [[I.M. Pei]], it is situated next to the [[University of Massachusetts]] campus in Boston.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 7, 2011 |title=AD Classics: JFK Presidential Library / I.M. Pei |url=https://www.archdaily.com/153285/ad-classics-jfk-presidential-library-i-m-pei |access-date=March 2, 2023 |agency=ArchDaily |archive-date=March 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302105054/https://www.archdaily.com/153285/ad-classics-jfk-presidential-library-i-m-pei |url-status=live }}</ref>

Despite having commissioned [[William Manchester]]'s authorized account of President Kennedy's death, ''[[The Death of a President]]'', Kennedy was subject to significant media attention in 1966–1967 when she and Robert Kennedy tried to block its publication.<ref>Mills, p. 363.</ref><ref>Schlesinger, Vol 2., p. 762.</ref><ref>White, pp. 98–99.</ref> They sued publishers [[Harper & Row]] in December 1966; the suit was settled the following year when Manchester removed passages that detailed President Kennedy's private life.

During the [[Vietnam War]] in November 1967, ''Life'' magazine dubbed Kennedy "America's unofficial roving ambassador" when she and [[David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech|David Ormsby-Gore]], former British ambassador to the United States during the Kennedy administration, traveled to Cambodia, where they visited the religious complex of [[Angkor Wat]] with Chief of State [[Norodom Sihanouk]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.devata.org/2010/01/angkor-wat-dreams-jacqueline-kennedys-1967-visit-to-cambodia/ |title=Jacqueline Kennedy Visits Angkor Wat |work=Angkor Wat Apsara & Devata: Khmer Women in Divine Context |date=January 6, 2010 |publisher=Devata.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324002740/http://www.devata.org/2010/01/angkor-wat-dreams-jacqueline-kennedys-1967-visit-to-cambodia/ |archive-date=March 24, 2010 }} November 1967.</ref><ref name=Alam32>Alam, p. 32.</ref> According to historian [[Milton Osborne]], her visit was "the start of the repair to Cambodian-US relations, which had been at a very low ebb".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/jacqueline-kennedys-charm-offensive|title=Jacqueline Kennedy's charm offensive|date=March 21, 2015|first=Harriet Fitch|last=Little|work=The Phnom Penh Post|archive-date=April 2, 2019|access-date=November 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402103907/https://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/jacqueline-kennedys-charm-offensive|url-status=live}}</ref> She also attended the [[funeral services of Martin Luther King Jr.]] in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], in April 1968, despite her initial reluctance due to the crowds and reminders of President Kennedy's death.<ref>Leaming (2014), pp. 237–238.</ref>

=== Relationship with Robert F. Kennedy ===
After her husband's assassination, Jacqueline Kennedy relied heavily on her brother-in-law [[Robert F. Kennedy]]; she observed him to be the "least like his father" of the Kennedy brothers.<ref>Thomas, p. 91.</ref> He had been a source of support after she had suffered a miscarriage early in her marriage; it was he, not her husband, who stayed with her in the hospital.<ref>Hersh, p. 85.</ref> In the aftermath of the assassination, Robert became a surrogate father for her children until eventual demands by his own large family and his responsibilities as attorney general required him to reduce attention.<ref name=Spoto239>Spoto, pp. 239–240.</ref> He credited her with convincing him to stay in politics, and she supported his 1964 run for United States senator from New York.<ref>Tracy, p. 194.</ref>

The January 1968 [[Tet offensive]] in Vietnam resulted in a drop in President Johnson's poll numbers, and Robert Kennedy's advisors urged him to enter the upcoming presidential race. When [[Art Buchwald]] asked him if he intended to run, Robert replied, "That depends on what Jackie wants me to do".<ref name="FlyntEisenbach"/><ref>Heymann, p. 141.</ref> She met with him around this time and encouraged him to run after she had previously advised him not to follow Jack, but to "be yourself". Privately, she worried about his safety; she believed that Bobby was more disliked than her husband had been and that there was "so much hatred" in the United States.<ref>Thomas, p. 361.</ref> She confided in him about these feelings, but by her own account, he was "fatalistic" like her.<ref name=FlyntEisenbach>Flynt and Eisenbach, p. 216.</ref> Despite her concerns, Jacqueline Kennedy campaigned for her brother-in-law and supported him,<ref>Ford, p. 273.</ref> and at one point even showed outright optimism that through his victory, members of the Kennedy family would once again occupy the White House.<ref name=FlyntEisenbach/>

Just after midnight [[Pacific Time Zone|PDT]] on June 5, 1968, an enraged Jordanian gunman named [[Sirhan Sirhan]] [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|mortally wounded]] Robert Kennedy minutes after he and a crowd of his supporters had been celebrating his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary.<ref name="NYTjune61968">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/05/archives/kennedy-claims-victory-and-then-shots-ring-out.html|title=Kennedy claims victory; and then shots ring out|last=Morriss|first=John G.|date=June 6, 1968|work=The New York Times|page=1|access-date=December 29, 2015|archive-date=July 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705094518/https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/05/archives/kennedy-claims-victory-and-then-shots-ring-out.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Jacqueline Kennedy rushed to [[Los Angeles]] to join his wife Ethel, her brother-in-law [[Ted Kennedy|Ted]], and the other Kennedy family members at his bedside in [[Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles)|Good Samaritan Hospital]]. Robert Kennedy never regained consciousness and died the following day. He was 42 years old.<ref name="NYTsirhan">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0605.html|title=Kennedy is Dead, Victim of Assassin; Suspect, Arab Immigrant, Arraigned; Johnson Appoints Panel on Violence|last=Hill|first=Gladwin|date=June 6, 1968|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126172532/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0605.html|archive-date=January 26, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Marriage to Aristotle Onassis ===
After Robert Kennedy's death in 1968, Kennedy reportedly suffered a relapse of the depression she had suffered in the days following her husband's assassination nearly five years prior.<ref>Pottker, p. 257.</ref> She came to fear for her life and those of her two children, saying: "If they're killing Kennedys, then my children are targets ... I want to get out of this country."<ref name="jfkjr">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/19/us/john-f-kennedy-jr-heir-to-a-formidable-dynasty.html|title=John F. Kennedy Jr., Heir to a Formidable Dynasty|author=Seely, Katherine|date=July 19, 1999|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=November 8, 2009|archive-date=October 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023085116/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/19/us/john-f-kennedy-jr-heir-to-a-formidable-dynasty.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 20, 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy married her long-time friend [[Aristotle Onassis]], a Greek shipping magnate who was able to provide the privacy and security she sought for herself and her children.<ref name="jfkjr" /> The wedding took place on [[Skorpios]], Onassis's private Greek island in the [[Ionian Sea]].<ref>Spoto, p. 266.</ref> After marrying Onassis, she took the legal name Jacqueline Onassis and consequently lost her right to Secret Service protection, which is an entitlement of a widow of a U.S. president. The marriage brought her considerable adverse publicity. The fact that Aristotle was divorced and his former wife [[Athina Livanos]] was still living led to speculation that Jacqueline might be [[excommunicated]] by the Roman Catholic church, though that concern was explicitly dismissed by [[Boston's archbishop]], Cardinal [[Richard Cushing]], as "nonsense".<ref>{{cite news |title=Cardinal Claims Excommunication Idea 'Nonsense,' in Talk about Jackie Kennedy |date=October 23, 1968 |work=The Southeast Missourian |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19681023&id=MM5QAAAAIBAJ&pg=4712,2143422 |via=Google News |archive-date=May 18, 2021 |access-date=October 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518073105/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19681023&id=MM5QAAAAIBAJ&pg=4712,2143422 |url-status=live }}</ref> She was condemned by some as a "public sinner",<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Roman Catholics: The Cardinal and Jackie|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839610,00.html|magazine=Time|access-date=May 12, 2014|date=November 1, 1968|archive-date=May 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519075105/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839610,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and became the target of [[paparazzi]] who followed her everywhere and nicknamed her "Jackie O".<ref>Tracy, p. 211.</ref>

In 1968, billionaire heiress [[Doris Duke]], with whom Jacqueline Onassis was friends, appointed her as the vice president of the [[Newport Restoration Foundation]]. Onassis publicly championed the foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Colacello|first=Bob|date=March 1994|title=Doris Duke's Final Mystery|url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/share/8e9a9c8a-592e-413c-b470-46346122c32a|access-date=September 5, 2020|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|archive-date=August 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829052250/https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/share/8e9a9c8a-592e-413c-b470-46346122c32a|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Duke, Doris {{!}} Learning to Give|url=https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/duke-doris|access-date=September 5, 2020|website=Learning to Give|archive-date=October 31, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031111417/http://www.learningtogive.org/resources/duke-Doris|url-status=live}}</ref>

During their marriage, Jacqueline and Aristotle Onassis inhabited six different residences: her 15-room [[1040 Fifth Avenue|Fifth Avenue apartment]] in Manhattan, her horse farm in [[Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Valerie |title=Peapack a Refuge For Mrs. Onassis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/25/archives/peapack-a-refuge-for-mrs-onassis-pattern-of-activity.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 25, 1973 |archive-date=December 1, 2021 |access-date=December 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201125019/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/25/archives/peapack-a-refuge-for-mrs-onassis-pattern-of-activity.html |url-status=live }}</ref> his Avenue Foch apartment in Paris, his private island [[Skorpios]], his house in Athens, and his yacht ''[[Christina O]]''. Onassis ensured that her children continued a connection with the Kennedy family by having [[Ted Kennedy]] visit them often.<ref>Heymann, p. 90.</ref> She developed a close relationship with Ted, and from then on he was involved in her public appearances.<ref>Hersh, p. 512.</ref>

Aristotle Onassis's health deteriorated rapidly following the death of his son [[Alexander Onassis|Alexander]] in a plane crash in 1973.<ref>Spoto, p. 282</ref> He died of respiratory failure aged 69 in Paris on March 15, 1975. His financial legacy was severely limited under Greek law, which dictated how much a non-Greek surviving spouse could inherit. After two years of legal wrangling, Jacqueline Onassis eventually accepted a settlement of $26&nbsp;million from [[Christina Onassis]]—Aristotle's daughter and sole heir—and waived all other claims to the Onassis estate.<ref>Tracy, p. 232.</ref>