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Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg
- Thread starter alicia753
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wild roses
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I know who Diane Sawyer is, but I didn't recognize her at all. She looks different! (Then, again, I haven't paid attention to her in years. She's not someone who pings my radar: I watch CNN and MSNBC for news. So I could just be imagining that she looks different.)
the kennedy family forums
Q&A Caroline Kennedy by Maria Shriver
Q&A with Caroline Kennedy on "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy"
By MariaShriver.com
In 1964, just six months after the assasination of President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy sat down with historian Arthur Schlessinger, Jr. and recorded more than eight hours of recollections, insights, observations and lessons about her life with the President, all to preserve his legacy. The tapes of those sessions were then sealed and stored at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.
This never-before-heard conversation and historical record -- captured in an illustrated book and 8-CD set -- is being released today by Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's Inauguration.
In this Q&A with Caroline Kennedy, one of the few interviews she granted, she recalls her mother's intellectual curiosity and love of reading, discusses her mother's initial apprehension about becoming First Lady, and marvels at how far women have come.
Q. Why did your mother choose to record an oral history?
Caroline: My parents shared a love of history, and after my father’s death, my mother believed it was important to preserve as much about my father’s administration as she could. She wanted future generations to be able to learn what an extraordinary man he was, and to be inspired to serve their country as he had. So as part of that effort, our family undertook the most extensive oral history project ever conducted at the time, in which more than 1,000 people interviewed about my father‘s life and work.
My mother thought it was important that she participate even though it was only a few months after my father’s death. She chose to be interviewed by Arthur Schlesinger because she felt she was doing this for history – and Arthur was a Pulitzer prize winning historian. He also had a deep knowledge because he had served as a Special Assistant to the President.
I know Maria's mother was so close to my father and she talked about him a lot – I would love to listen to her oral history – and that of Maria's father who worked so closely with my father on the transition, and the Peace Corps.
Q. Why are you bringing this forward now?
Caroline: This year marks the 50th anniversary of my father’s Presidency. Our family and the Kennedy Library have tried to use this anniversary to encourage people to see politics as a way of solving problems we face today, and to encourage the study of history. These interviews give a lot of insight into both of those issues - they show history being made, and tell us a lot about the people that made it. And I thought it was important that my mother’s perspective be part of this anniversary commemoration.
Q. I think its remarkable that your mother assumed the role of First Lady when she was so young. What did she think about that?
Caroline: As you can probably relate to, after my father won the election, my mother was very apprehensive about the change that was going to come to her life. She was afraid she would never see her husband, she was only 31 and she had a three-year old, (an adorable three year old) and was about to have another baby. My brother John was born a month prematurely – and was only two months old when my father became President. So she had a lot to cope with. One of her best friends tells the story that Mummy called her up after election day and said, “The most awful thing has happened – Jack is going to be President. We have to live in that huge house, with all those curtains. What am I going to do?”
But as we hear on these tapes, the years in the White House were the happiest of her life. She felt that she was able to help my father which was her top priority, she found that they spent more time together than they had during the years of campaigning when he was away all the time, and she found the work of being First Lady immensely rewarding.
Its hard to imagine what a giant transition it was and then again when it ended and her life was shattered. President Johnson was extremely kind to us, but she had lost her husband and had to move out of the White House in about ten days – and she had nowhere to go. At that time, she was only 34.
Q. Do you think these tapes will change the way people think of your mother?
Caroline: Everyone has an image of my mother, but they really don’t know her at all. When they think of my mother, they tend to think of her style or her sunglasses. But my mother had a real intellectual curiosity, which helped to shape and influence my father and his administration. She read a great deal, she introduced my father to many of the authors and poets he quoted in his speeches. She was a smart, insightful person with a sense of the ridiculous. And she had lots of opinions! But all in all, I think these tapes and book will give people a better understanding of how she felt about being First Lady, and the devotion she felt to both my father and the country.
Q. Your mother has quite a bit to say about her roles as First Lady, wife, and mother. How do you view those varying roles she ascribes to herself?
Caroline: My mother was brought up in an era when very few women worked outside of the home. She was somewhat unusual in that she had a job after college working on a newspaper, but typical in that she quit when she got engaged. She was raised to be a traditional wife and many of the views she expresses seem hopelessly old-fashioned. As First Lady, her top priority was to help my father in any way she could, and to make his family life as happy and easy as possible. I think many First Ladies feel the same way even today when they see the strain of being President. Beyond that, she expresses doubts about the ability of women to succeed in politics, which she certainly changed her mind about later in her life. Reading this reminds me how much our society has changed for women in the past 50 years, despite all the inequalities and unfairness that remains. It is pretty remarkable that she was able to carve out such a visible and independent identity as First Lady in spite of the fact that the White House was, and remains, such a man’s world.
Reading these interviews brought me back to my childhood in other ways as well and I wonder if you feel the same way – I am struck by the number of strong, independent women that dominated our lives, starting with our Grandmother, Rose Kennedy, and especially Maria's mother, Eunice, who brought home the issues of intellectual disability in ways that were truly unique, especially at that time. I think we were very fortunate to have so many different models to learn from. I bet Maria's daughters feel the same way about her.
Q. How did she become involved in the White House restoration?
Caroline: My mother understood that the White House itself was a powerful symbol of our democracy, and wanted to make sure it projected the best of America to students and families who visited, as well as to foreign heads of state who were entertained there. She worked hard to restore the public rooms of the White House so that the legacy of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln would be visible and hoped it would inspire visitors to take pride in our heritage.
Q. What do you hope people will take away from these interviews?
Caroline: I hope they will give people an understanding of history that is personal and exciting. I hope that they will also understand a little more about how difficult it is to be President, and to think of our leaders as human beings. Most of all, I hope they will be inspired to think about how they can make a difference, and work to make our country more fair, more inclusive and more tolerant. And I hope that women will see life as my mother saw it – as a great adventure to be lived to the fullest on their own terms.
Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy goes on sale today. You can pick up your copy at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or wherever books are sold.
Q&A Caroline Kennedy by Maria Shriver
Q&A with Caroline Kennedy on "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy"
By MariaShriver.com
In 1964, just six months after the assasination of President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy sat down with historian Arthur Schlessinger, Jr. and recorded more than eight hours of recollections, insights, observations and lessons about her life with the President, all to preserve his legacy. The tapes of those sessions were then sealed and stored at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.
This never-before-heard conversation and historical record -- captured in an illustrated book and 8-CD set -- is being released today by Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's Inauguration.
In this Q&A with Caroline Kennedy, one of the few interviews she granted, she recalls her mother's intellectual curiosity and love of reading, discusses her mother's initial apprehension about becoming First Lady, and marvels at how far women have come.
Q. Why did your mother choose to record an oral history?
Caroline: My parents shared a love of history, and after my father’s death, my mother believed it was important to preserve as much about my father’s administration as she could. She wanted future generations to be able to learn what an extraordinary man he was, and to be inspired to serve their country as he had. So as part of that effort, our family undertook the most extensive oral history project ever conducted at the time, in which more than 1,000 people interviewed about my father‘s life and work.
My mother thought it was important that she participate even though it was only a few months after my father’s death. She chose to be interviewed by Arthur Schlesinger because she felt she was doing this for history – and Arthur was a Pulitzer prize winning historian. He also had a deep knowledge because he had served as a Special Assistant to the President.
I know Maria's mother was so close to my father and she talked about him a lot – I would love to listen to her oral history – and that of Maria's father who worked so closely with my father on the transition, and the Peace Corps.
Q. Why are you bringing this forward now?
Caroline: This year marks the 50th anniversary of my father’s Presidency. Our family and the Kennedy Library have tried to use this anniversary to encourage people to see politics as a way of solving problems we face today, and to encourage the study of history. These interviews give a lot of insight into both of those issues - they show history being made, and tell us a lot about the people that made it. And I thought it was important that my mother’s perspective be part of this anniversary commemoration.
Q. I think its remarkable that your mother assumed the role of First Lady when she was so young. What did she think about that?
Caroline: As you can probably relate to, after my father won the election, my mother was very apprehensive about the change that was going to come to her life. She was afraid she would never see her husband, she was only 31 and she had a three-year old, (an adorable three year old) and was about to have another baby. My brother John was born a month prematurely – and was only two months old when my father became President. So she had a lot to cope with. One of her best friends tells the story that Mummy called her up after election day and said, “The most awful thing has happened – Jack is going to be President. We have to live in that huge house, with all those curtains. What am I going to do?”
But as we hear on these tapes, the years in the White House were the happiest of her life. She felt that she was able to help my father which was her top priority, she found that they spent more time together than they had during the years of campaigning when he was away all the time, and she found the work of being First Lady immensely rewarding.
Its hard to imagine what a giant transition it was and then again when it ended and her life was shattered. President Johnson was extremely kind to us, but she had lost her husband and had to move out of the White House in about ten days – and she had nowhere to go. At that time, she was only 34.
Q. Do you think these tapes will change the way people think of your mother?
Caroline: Everyone has an image of my mother, but they really don’t know her at all. When they think of my mother, they tend to think of her style or her sunglasses. But my mother had a real intellectual curiosity, which helped to shape and influence my father and his administration. She read a great deal, she introduced my father to many of the authors and poets he quoted in his speeches. She was a smart, insightful person with a sense of the ridiculous. And she had lots of opinions! But all in all, I think these tapes and book will give people a better understanding of how she felt about being First Lady, and the devotion she felt to both my father and the country.
Q. Your mother has quite a bit to say about her roles as First Lady, wife, and mother. How do you view those varying roles she ascribes to herself?
Caroline: My mother was brought up in an era when very few women worked outside of the home. She was somewhat unusual in that she had a job after college working on a newspaper, but typical in that she quit when she got engaged. She was raised to be a traditional wife and many of the views she expresses seem hopelessly old-fashioned. As First Lady, her top priority was to help my father in any way she could, and to make his family life as happy and easy as possible. I think many First Ladies feel the same way even today when they see the strain of being President. Beyond that, she expresses doubts about the ability of women to succeed in politics, which she certainly changed her mind about later in her life. Reading this reminds me how much our society has changed for women in the past 50 years, despite all the inequalities and unfairness that remains. It is pretty remarkable that she was able to carve out such a visible and independent identity as First Lady in spite of the fact that the White House was, and remains, such a man’s world.
Reading these interviews brought me back to my childhood in other ways as well and I wonder if you feel the same way – I am struck by the number of strong, independent women that dominated our lives, starting with our Grandmother, Rose Kennedy, and especially Maria's mother, Eunice, who brought home the issues of intellectual disability in ways that were truly unique, especially at that time. I think we were very fortunate to have so many different models to learn from. I bet Maria's daughters feel the same way about her.
Q. How did she become involved in the White House restoration?
Caroline: My mother understood that the White House itself was a powerful symbol of our democracy, and wanted to make sure it projected the best of America to students and families who visited, as well as to foreign heads of state who were entertained there. She worked hard to restore the public rooms of the White House so that the legacy of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln would be visible and hoped it would inspire visitors to take pride in our heritage.
Q. What do you hope people will take away from these interviews?
Caroline: I hope they will give people an understanding of history that is personal and exciting. I hope that they will also understand a little more about how difficult it is to be President, and to think of our leaders as human beings. Most of all, I hope they will be inspired to think about how they can make a difference, and work to make our country more fair, more inclusive and more tolerant. And I hope that women will see life as my mother saw it – as a great adventure to be lived to the fullest on their own terms.
Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy goes on sale today. You can pick up your copy at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or wherever books are sold.
getty
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wild roses
Active Member
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I disagree with Caroline here. The general public who only know Jackie through her image don't know those things, but those of us who have been Jackie fans for years have long appreciated Jackie's intelligence. Her wit is seldom focused on, but that is partly Jackie's fault given that how much she controlled her media image (and she always pushed the dignified, polished self) but her biographers have mentioned it.
I'm still debating whether or not to buy the book. I'm glad Caroline sped up the release date, but I don't think there are any major revelations in it, whether about Jackie (for obvious reasons), the Kennedy family or the White House years. (Now, when the Kennedy family is as irrelevant as the Roosevelts 100 years from now, and Jackie's personal letters are available for study, I'm sure we'll find out something Jackie didn't want us to know.)
Is it just me, or is Caroline's face "puffy" in those pictures? Aging seems to have "thinned" down her cheeks.
getty
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WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 26: Caroline Kennedy speaks during a discussion at George Washington University on September 26, 2011 in Washington, DC
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WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 26: Caroline Kennedy speaks during a discussion at George Washington University on September 26, 2011 in Washington, DC
newscom
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wild roses
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That photo is very striking in that it reveals how anti-glamour, anti-jet set the Kennedy clan are as a whole. They could be the family next door, where it not for their millions.
That said, Caroline does look far more polished these days.
That said, Caroline does look far more polished these days.
I feel the same. Her mother's influence, probably... Do you know the shiny lamé jacket she wore at a TV show recently belonged to Jackie?
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the kennedy family forums
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