page_title: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
section_title: Assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy
hierarchical_section_title: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis / Assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy
caption_attribution_description: President John F. Kennedy motorcade, Dallas, Texas, Friday, November 22, 1963. Also in the presidential limousine are Jackie Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie.
context_page_description: Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was an American journalist who became First Lady of the United States as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. During her lifetime, Jacqueline Kennedy was regarded as an international fashion icon. Her ensemble of a pink Chanel suit and matching pillbox hat that she wore in Dallas, Texas, when the president was assassinated on November 22, 1963, has become a symbol of her husband's death. Even after her death, she ranks as one of the most popular and recognizable First Ladies in American history, and in 1999, she was listed as one of Gallup's Most-Admired Men and Women of the 20th century.
  Kennedy was born in 1929 in Southampton, New York, to Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III and his wife, Janet Lee Bouvier. In 1951, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in French literature from George Washington University and worked for the Washington Times-Herald as an inquiring photographer. The following year, she met then-Congressman John Kennedy at a dinner party in Washington. He was elected to the Senate that same year, and the couple married on September 12, 1953, in Newport, Rhode Island.
context_section_description: On November 21, 1963, the First Lady and the President embarked on a political trip to Texas with several goals in mind; this was the first time that she had joined her husband on such a trip in the U.S. After a breakfast on November 22, they took a very short flight on Air Force One from Fort Worth's Carswell Air Force Base to Dallas' Love Field, accompanied by Texas Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie. The First Lady was wearing a bright pink Chanel suit and a pillbox hat, which had been personally selected by President Kennedy. A 9.5-mile (15.3 km) motorcade was to take them to the Trade Mart, where the president was scheduled to speak at a lunch. The First Lady was seated to her husband's left in the third row of seats in the presidential limousine, with the Governor and his wife seated in front of them. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife followed in another car in the motorcade.
  After the motorcade turned the corner onto Elm Street in Dealey Plaza, the First Lady heard what she thought to be a motorcycle backfiring and did not realize that it was a gunshot until she heard Governor Connally scream. Within 8.4 seconds, two more shots had rung out, and one of the shots struck her husband in the head. Almost immediately, she began to climb onto the back of the limousine; Secret Service agent Clint Hill later told the Warren Commission that he thought she had been reaching across the trunk for a piece of her husband's skull that had been blown off. Hill ran to the car and leapt onto it, directing her back to her seat. As Hill stood on the back bumper, Associated Press photographer Ike Altgens snapped a photograph that was featured on the front pages of newspapers around the world. She would later testify that she saw pictures "of me climbing out the back. But I don't remember that at all".
  The President was rushed for the 3.8 mile trip to Parkland Hospital. At the First Lady's request, she was allowed to be present in the operating room. President Kennedy never regained consciousness. 
  He died not long after, aged 46. After Jacqueline's husband was pronounced dead, she refused to remove her blood-stained clothing and reportedly regretted having washed the blood off her face and hands, explaining to Lady Bird Johnson that she wanted "them to see what they have done to Jack". She continued to wear the blood-stained pink suit as she boarded Air Force One and stood next to Johnson when he took the oath of office as president. The unlaundered suit was donated to the National Archives and Records Administration in 1964 and, under the terms of an agreement with her daughter Caroline, will not be placed on public display until 2103. Johnson's biographer Robert Caro wrote that Johnson wanted Jacqueline to be present at his swearing-in in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of his presidency to JFK loyalists and to the world at large.
  Jacqueline took an active role in planning her husband's state funeral, modeling it after Abraham Lincoln's service. She requested a closed casket, overruling the wishes of her brother-in-law, Robert. The funeral service was held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington D.C., with the burial taking place at nearby Arlington National Cemetery. Jacqueline led the procession on foot and lit the eternal flame—created at her request—at the gravesite. Lady Jeanne Campbell reported back to the London Evening Standard: "Jacqueline Kennedy has given the American people ... one thing they have always lacked: Majesty."
  A week after the assassination, new president Lyndon B. Johnson issued an executive order that established the Warren Commission—led by Chief Justice Earl Warren—to investigate the assassination. Ten months later, the Commission issued its report finding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone when he assassinated President Kennedy. Privately, his widow cared little about the investigation, stating that even if they had the right suspect, it would not bring her husband back. Nevertheless, she gave a deposition to the Warren Commission. Following the assassination
caption: The President and First Lady in the rear seat of the Presidential limousine minutes before the assassination
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