Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of our country’s most stylish and elegant icons for decades, but she was no empty, aloof beauty. As Natalie Portman takes on the role of the legendary former First Lady in Jackie, let’s take a look at five things you might not have known about Jackie O.
1. SHE ALMOST DIDN’T BECOME JACKIE KENNEDY.
Jacqueline Bouvier came to international prominence when JFK became president, but she very nearly had a different husband. In December 1951, she became engaged to another man, John G. W. Husted. Husted was a Yale grad, a stockbroker, and a member of the same upper class of New York society as the Bouvier family.
The engagement didn’t last long, though. By March of 1952, Jackie had called it off. It’s not exactly clear why she gave Husted the ax, but there’s been lots of speculation. Some biographers think that Jackie’s mother, Janet, felt that Husted didn’t make enough money to support her in style. (His salary of $17,000 a year was roughly equivalent to $100,000 today.) Other biographers have recounted stories of Jackie confiding to friends that Husted was immature and a little on the dull side.
Whatever the reason, the relationship ended, and Jackie Bouvier was soon dating John Kennedy; the couple would marry on September 12, 1953.
2. SHE ACCIDENTALLY APPEARED IN HUSTLER.
