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Karen Dunak discusses the story of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis through her evolving public persona, from campaign wife to First Lady to fallen idol to treasured national icon

Image courtesy of interviewee. September 6, 2024

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The speaker expresses a long-standing interest in 20th-century U.S. history, particularly concerning women’s roles in politics, media, and celebrity. They reflect on Jacqueline Kennedy, whom they view as a pivotal figure, embodying a unique intersection of public and private life during her time as First Lady and beyond. The speaker notes that much of the existing scholarship overlooks her individual contributions, often reduced to her relationships with prominent men.

Through extensive research, including newspaper archives and the JFK Presidential Library, the speaker discovered a wealth of material about Kennedy, leading to insights into her role as a public woman and the expectations placed upon her. They argue that media and societal narratives frequently emphasize her affiliations rather than her autonomy, portraying women primarily as supporters of men rather than as independent individuals.

The speaker highlights Kennedy's savvy political awareness and desire to live life on her own terms, which they regard as radical. Despite her significant cultural and political presence, she has often been misrepresented as apolitical.

Ultimately, the speaker aims to convey Kennedy's multidimensionality and her impact as a political asset, drawing parallels to contemporary political dynamics. They emphasize the unpredictability of public reception to media and individual personalities, underscoring that genuine public interest does not always align with political predictions.

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Here are 5 key points from the video:

1. **Jacqueline Kennedy's Influence**: The speaker reflects on Jacqueline Kennedy as a significant figure in understanding women's roles in public life, particularly how she defied traditional expectations through her education, poise, and public presence, contrasting with the norms of her time.

2. **Lack of Scholarly Attention**: Despite her prominence, the video notes a surprising lack of academic research on Jacqueline Kennedy's individual contributions and legacy, which typically focus on her connections to the Kennedy and Onassis families rather than her own agency and identity.

3. **Media Representation**: The speaker discusses how media representation historically evaluates women in relation to the men they are connected to, often overshadowing their individual accomplishments and personal narratives. This trend persisted even as societal norms evolved.

4. **Jacqueline Kennedy's Life Post-Presidency**: The video highlights that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis continued to have a vibrant life beyond her time as First Lady, indicating her capacity for independence and personal fulfillment that went largely unacknowledged by the media.

5. **Fascination and Complexity**: The author emphasizes the public's ongoing fascination with Jacqueline Kennedy, suggesting that her life was multifaceted and politically engaged, challenging the stereotype of her as apolitical and emphasizing her ability to live authentically on her own terms without needing to justify her choices to society.

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Here are some of the key quotes from the video:

1. **Interest in Intersection of Politics and Entertainment:**
- "I became increasingly interested in the ways that politics and entertainment and media were intersecting."

2. **Influence of Jacqueline Kennedy:**
- "Jacqueline Kennedy to her was a one woman revolution... she was educated and unafraid of showing that she was educated."

3. **Lack of Scholarly Attention:**
- "It was very surprising to me that people who do US women's history... had really not done much with her."

4. **Media Representation of Women:**
- "There is this sense of like a woman's primary objective should be to serve others... the idea that a woman would operate based on her own desires or her own interests just seems a very difficult concept for those orchestrating American media to comprehend."

5. **Jacqueline Kennedy’s identity:**
- "She is often evaluated based on the man to whom she is wed... Jacqueline Kennedy slash Onassis in her own right is often overlooked."

6. **Perception of First Ladies:**
- "Even when right in front of you there is an obvious... a life beyond the domestic."

7. **Jacqueline Kennedy's Radical Independence:**
- "I did what I wanted to because I wanted to, and you know, take it or leave it."

8. **Political Savvy:**
- "She is incredibly savvy and incredibly interested in the world."

9. **Impact of Media on Public Perception:**
- "The public was wild for her... the organic attraction to her is really fascinating."

10. **Reflection on historical narratives:**
- "The media became the CoStar... even with all these changes to understand the consequence of those changes and challenges."

These quotes encapsulate the author's exploration of Jacqueline Kennedy's role and representation in American history, media, and feminism, highlighting the ongoing challenges women face regarding public perception and identity.

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Here are summaries of articles that are thematically similar to the video you've , which focuses on women in 20th-century U.S. history, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's public persona, and the intersection of celebrity and media with politics:

1. **"The Celebrity Politics of Jacqueline Kennedy: Redefining the Role of First Lady"**
- This article examines Jacqueline Kennedy’s influence as First Lady during the 1960 election, focusing on the media's portrayal of her and how she redefined the expectations for women in political roles. It analyzes her educational background, public image, and advocacy in the cultural landscape of the time.

2. **"Women in Politics: The Media’s Role in Shaping Public Perception"**
- This piece discusses the broader convideo of how women's roles in politics are often shaped by media representation. It includes a historical perspective on various political women, highlighting the complexities they face in being recognized for their individual contributions versus their relationships with powerful men.

3. **"Public Womanhood: The Evolution of Female Representation in the Media"**
- The article traces the evolution of women’s representation in U.S. media and politics, detailing key figures from the 20th century, including Jacqueline Kennedy. It emphasizes the duality of women being portrayed primarily through their familial roles while striving for individual recognition and agency.

4. **"The Cultural Impact of Celebrity Women: A Study of Media Narratives"**
- This study analyzes how celebrity women, like Jacqueline Kennedy, navigate their public lives and the media's portrayal of them. It reflects on how their roles as cultural icons influence societal perceptions of femininity and public service.

5. **"Jacqueline Kennedy: The Voice of a Generation"**
- This article focuses on Jacqueline Kennedy's impact on American culture and politics during and after her time in the White House. It highlights her contributions to art and culture, her personal challenges, and how her legacy continues to influence contemporary discussions on women in leadership.

6. **"The Interplay of Gender and Politics in American Media"**
- This article discusses the systematic challenges women face in political convideos, focusing on media portrayals that often sideline female agency in favor of narratives centered on their male counterparts. It includes case studies of various political women, with a special focus on historical figures like Jacqueline Kennedy.

7. **"Redefining Femininity: Political Spouses and Media Narratives from the 1960s to Today"**
- The paper examines the roles of political spouses in shaping public opinion and political campaigns, using Jacqueline Kennedy as a pivotal example. It discusses the complexities of their lived experiences and media portrayals, as well as the societal expectations placed on them.

These articles connect to the themes you by exploring issues of female representation, the influence of media on public perception, and the historical convideo of women's roles in politics, particularly regarding Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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I have long been interested in 20th century US history

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and issues related to women

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and celebrity and media.

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And I became increasingly interested in the ways

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that politics and entertainment

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and media were intersecting.

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And as I was thinking about a book project,

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I remembered a book I had read when I was a graduate student

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called, where the Girls Are by Stu Susan Douglas.

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And she writes about growing up as a baby boomer

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and what she read and what she listened to

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and what she watched and what that communicated her

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to her about what it meant to be a woman.

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And she referenced the 1960 campaign

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and how Jacqueline Kennedy to her was a one woman revolution

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and just that she was unlike anything else she had seen,

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that she was educated

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and unafraid of showing that she was educated,

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that she was not in the background to her husband,

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that she often out shown this wildly charismatic man.

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And I went looking to see

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what other scholars had written about Joly Kennedy.

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And it was very surprising to me that people

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who do us women's history from an academic

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or scholarly perspective had really not done much with her.

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That she's very much in like the Kennedy cannon

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and these sort of like tell all, biographies

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of the family that I think are speculative or gossipy

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or like are either love letters

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or diatribes against the Kennedys.

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But in the world of evaluating her in her own

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right, there was very little.

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Um, and to me, I was very interested in her

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and what had happened in the aftermath of her time

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as First Lady and that she had had this whole life.

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And in the 1960s and 1970s,

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she was the most famous woman in the world.

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So I knew there would be like an embarrassment

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of riches when it came to sources.

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And I thought, what a way to talk about expectations

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of public womanhood in the United States,

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then Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

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So it just seemed like my interest,

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I suspected other people would be interested in this.

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And also the availability of the sources

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made me think this would be a good project for me.

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I started out, and I,

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I should say I don't work at a research one institution.

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Um, I'm at a small college in Appalachian, Ohio.

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I teach four four, so I don't have the luxury of a lot of

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resources or money or a big library or lots of time off.

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Um, so I was really thinking about

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what sources I could get here.

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Um, so I was spending time on newspaper archive.

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I was spending time on the New York Times archive,

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when I could go places.

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I went to the John F. Kennedy public

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or presidential library.

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And then it was wonderful as I did this project,

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they digitized a lot of things, so that was very useful.

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Um, then I just was sort of looking at

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what was out there very broadly

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and a lot of interlibrary loan about biographies

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or tell alls whatever I could get I got

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and I just dove in.

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And it definitely was a project where

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I did start at the beginning

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that I went chronologically over time

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and just sort, sort of started mapping

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what newspapers, what television, what the campaign

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had to say about Jacqueline Kennedy

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and started connecting the dots

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for what those things would be.

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I would say a representation of her in her role as wife

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and mother was really at the heart

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of the early representations.

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And I think over the course of her life,

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she is often evaluated based on the man to whom she is wed,

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that she is Kennedy, or she is Onassis,

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and that Jacqueline Kennedy slash Onassis

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in her own right is often overlooked

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or is not really considered an individual capacity.

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It's very much in her role as allied with these two men.

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Um, yeah, and I think that's true even

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after John Kennedy is assassinated,

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she is very much of the Kennedy.

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She is not granted any sort

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of autonomy really of her own.

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And then with Onassis, she's associated with his wealth

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and his excess and like in ways that he is unscrupulous.

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Um, that I think that when she really,

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and even when John Kennedy is assassinated, Aristotle,

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an essis has died, there is still this propensity

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to connect her to either one of these two men,

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even though she's living a life

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of her own design based on her own interests must,

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there's a reluctance to grant her that personhood.

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I, I think it is to the heart of the book

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that there is this sense of like

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a woman's primary objective should be to serve others,

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that it should be the husband or the family

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or the children or the nation.

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And the idea that a woman

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would operate based on her own desires

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or her own interests just seems a very difficult concept

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for those orchestrating American media to comprehend.

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I think the frame of women just as always, to tie them

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to someone else that they should be doing for others.

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And I think in that capacity, it over the media,

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and I would say this about the New York Times,

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I would say this about tv, radio mirror,

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I would say this about the range of media that exists.

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It's very challenging.

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Um, and I mean sometimes seemingly impossible

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for these sources to evaluate her on her own

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as we're going from the 1950s into the book goes into the

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1990s, even

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as there is this changing landscape for women.

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And you know, when I first wrote the book, I was like,

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the, the CoStar is going to be Women's liberation,

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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

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and Women's Liberation and how they intersect.

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And that ended up like being

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around pegan a square hole that didn't work together.

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The media became the CoStar.

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And I think even with these dramatic changes

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and social movements and political advances

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and changes in the culture, the ongoing expectation is

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that there is this domestic role that women serve.

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Even, even when right in front of you there is an obvious,

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a life beyond the domestic,

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but the, I think that there just is a real difficulty even

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with all these changes to understand the consequence

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of those changes and challenges.

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I really think, you know, people I think are fascinated

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by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

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Like when I, when I am out

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and about, people are like,

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what a fascinating life she led.

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Can you imagine being there for the assassination?

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Do you think she loves John Kennedy?

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Do you think she like that there is just this interest in

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her and I, I hope the book communicates like

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what a multidimensional figure she was in her own right.

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Um, and I think, you know, there is this propensity

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to talk about her as an apolitical person,

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and that is wildly untrue, that she is incredibly savvy

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and incredibly interested in the world.

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And I think also the fact that she lives a life

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and does what she wants

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and never feels compelled to explain

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or to justify, I think is wildly radical that she's like,

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I did what I wanted to because I wanted to,

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and you know, take it or leave it.

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And just, I think that capacity,

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I try not to be like a biographer who loves too much,

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but I'm so impressed with that component of her.

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I think it is the capacity in which a political spouse

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or a political first lady can really be an asset

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to a campaign and to an administration.

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I think if we're, if I'm going back

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to the 1960 campaign,

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and I'm also thinking about 2024, the idea

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that people were like, God,

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the public is not gonna like Jackie Kennedy,

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how maybe we should hide her.

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And then the public was wild for her.

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So I think the idea that like pollsters know

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or like, I don't know, the political leaders are like,

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we know what the people want.

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Maybe not that, that it feels, even

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with the Kennedy's team's attention to media,

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like the organic attraction to her is

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really fascinating.

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And I think there is this capacity in which

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you never know when the tide is gonna turn and this new

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and untested image or brand

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or personality that you have,

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who knows what's gonna stick when.

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