Jackie joined John Kennedy on the campaign trail in 1960 until she learned she was pregnant again, after which she remained home, conducting interviews and writing the syndicated newspaper column, “Campaign Wife.” Two weeks after John was elected president (following a close race against Richard Nixon), John F. Kennedy, Jr. was born. This photo is the first official White House photograph of Jackie as First Lady, and the warmth that comes across may be a function of the then-31-year-old’s new motherhood. It’s been said Jackie’s first priority as FLOTUS was to be a good wife and mother.
The photograph was taken by Mark Shaw in the West Sitting Hall in the family quarters on the Second Floor of the White House. Shaw was a famed photographer of the time, with work published in LIFE magazine, among others.
One of the youngest of America’s first ladies, Jackie became an icon of the era. Her beauty, fashion, beguiling family, and the cultural and historical sense she brought to the White House –– at a time when television began to shape politics –– changed how America and the world viewed the role of the first lady. “Everything about her seemed different,” said Kennedy biographer Barbara Perry.
The tragedy of Dallas and the days that followed also changed how the world viewed the former Jacqueline Bouvier and her family’s tragic loss.
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