New Tell-All Book Claims Jackie Kennedy Did Not Marry J.F.K. Out Of Love

Celebrity

New Tell-All Book Claims Jackie Kennedy Did Not Marry J.F.K. Out Of Love

aishtiblog.com

Former president John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, have been dead for decades, but many people are still fascinated by their story.

The couple met at a dinner party in 1952, back when J.F.K. was a congressman, and Jackie, a socialite, went by her maiden name, Bouvier. The couple, who had a lot in common, including wealth and religious beliefs, only dated for a year before tying the knot on September 12, 1953.

Today.com

For a while, the couple lived in bliss, and welcomed four children, but over time, rumors about the 35th president's womanizing ways began to run amok (he allegedly had an affair with multiple women, including Marilyn Monroe), and Jackie threatened to leave him.

Mila Kunstgalerie/Mark Shaw

According to reports, J.F.K.'s father, Joe, offered Jackie one million dollars so she would stay married to his son. But as per a new book, "Jackie, Janet and Lee" by J. Randy Taraborrelli, that wasn't the only time that money influenced Jackie's decisions.

Amazon.com

Taraborrelli's book reveals new details about how the former first lady and her sister, Lee Radziwill, were strongly influenced by their mother, Janet Auchincloss, who loved money and power. She was a driving force behind every decision the sisters made, and this shaped the women they became later in life.

Taraborrelli went as far as claiming that Janet convinced her daughters that money mattered when it came to men, and that's why none of them actually married for love.

She recounted a story dating back to 1951 as an example of what Janet's relationship with her daughters was like. According to the author, during one of the trio's "Mother Daughter Teas," Janet asked her daughters, "Do you know what the secret to "˜Happily Ever After' is?"

Before they could offer a reply, she said: "Money and Power." This was a lesson that she instilled in Jackie and Lee from a very young age.

People.com

"Jackie watched the way her mother comported herself which had to do with money being equated with power," said Taraborrelli. "Where the Bouviers and the Auchinclosses are concerned, they lived their lives with a strategy to make sure they were taken care of."

The tell-all author added that while Jackie may have loved J.F.K. and her second husband, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, in her own way, "if they were not well off, she would not have been with them."

IEyeNews

To further drive her point, Taraborrelli touched on an earlier relationship Jackie had before meeting J.F.K.

In the early 1950s, Jackie became engaged to a stock broker named John Husted Jr. However, she called off the engagement three months later, citing that John was too "immature and boring."

John later spoke out saying Jackie "was ice cold" and acted "like we never knew each other" when she ended their relationship. But it turns out, that's a far cry from the real reason why she left him. According to Taraborrelli, Jackie's mother found out that her then-fiance was only making $17,000 per year, so she told her to dump him at their engagement party.

"Janet told her "˜That was less money than your father made when I married him,'" recalled Taraborrelli. "When Jackie asked her "˜How could I not know this?' She answered, "˜You tell me.'"

mojeh.com

"Jackie was not a mercenary person," added Taraborrelli. "Whenever she had to make one of those decisions, it was usually her mother behind it."

The book also discussed Jackie's complicated relationship with Lee right until the former first lady's death in 1994.

Do you believe Taraborrelli's claims? Let us know in the comments!

Blair isn't a bestselling author, but she has a knack for beautiful prose. When she isn't writing for Shared, she enjoys listening to podcasts.