Jackie started her first job in the fall of 1951 as the "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the Washington Times-Herald newspaper. Roving around the city, she took pictures of people she encountered, asked them questions on the issues of the day, and wove their answers into her newspaper column. Among those she interviewed for her column was Richard M. Nixon, whom her future husband would beat in the 1960 election. She also covered the first inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
During this time, Jacqueline met John F. Kennedy, who was a congressman and soon to be elected a Senator from Massachusetts. When they were courting, Jackie flew to London where she was report on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. While she was staying at the apartment in Mayfair with her Times Herald college, she received a telegram.
"What does it say?" Asked her college.
"It's from Jack" Jackie replied. "He's asked me to marry him".
On September 12, 1953, Jackie married Jack at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island. After their honeymoon in Mexico, the Kennedys returned to Washington D.C., where they took residence.
Two years into marriage, Senator Kennedy suffered crippling pain in his back from football and war injuries after the collision with a Japanese destroyer while he was the Commander of his PT boat; PT 109. The Senator had two operations.
While recovering from surgery, Mrs. Kennedy encouraged him to write a book about several U.S. senators who had risked their careers to fight for the things they believed in. The book, called Profiles in Courage, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957. That same year, the Kennedys’ first child, Caroline, was born.
YOU ARE READING
Biography: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Non-FictionA biography dedicated to a woman who changed the course of American history, fashion and culture. Written and edited by MissDKennedy