As Wednesday marks the^{<\/sup>60th anniversary of the tragic assassination of John\u200c F. Kennedy, historians and pundits\u2063 will no doubt be evaluating his legacy. While the political \u200csuccesses and failures of his administration \u2063can be debated, much of what people love and remember about \u201cCamelot\u201d was directly influenced by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, including the image of \u201cCamelot\u201d itself. While our \u2064era urges women to compete\u2064 directly with men, it is interesting to note \u200cthat Jackie was not sitting at home discussing policy with her husband or even trying to influence policy.<\/p>\n}

The word \u201chomemaker\u201d often\u2064 brings to \u2063mind sewing curtains and baking bread out on the prairie. Yet this narrow view of homemaking leaves out the innumerable other things\u2063 that go into making a house a \u200dhome. From restoring the\u200c White House and \u200dhosting state dinners<\/a> \u2062to \u200bdressing stylishly and playing \u2064with her young children, Jackie Kennedy modeled a more appealing,\u200c and certainly more glamourous, type \u200cof homemaking. <\/p>\n

During her brief tenure as first\u200b lady, she\u200c used her many strengths and talents to \u2063make a home not only for her family but for all of America in ways that were \u2064both traditional\u200d and aspirational. \u2063In an era starved for real culture and beauty, Jackie shows us \u2063how a woman can influence \u200bboth her family and \u2063the nation in ways that go beyond just baking and sewing.<\/p>\n

Creating\u200b a Living Museum<\/h2>\n
When the Kennedys moved \u200binto the White House\u200d in\u2063 early 1961, \u200cJackie\u2064 set out to do what most women do when moving\u200d into a new house: make it \u2063a home. While most of \u200cus do that \u200cby visiting Home Goods and scouring Facebook \u200dmarketplace for deals, Jackie\u2062 assembled a team to help her turn \u2062the White House into a \u2062presidential palace. Her passion for history informed her work, and she told a reporter for Life magazine, \u201cEverything in the White House must \u200chave a reason for being there. It would be sacrilege merely to redecorate \u200dit \u2014 \u200ca word I hate. It must be \u2063restored, and that has nothing to do with\u200b decoration. That is \u200ba question of\u200b scholarship.\u201d\u2063 <\/p>\n
She formed a Fine Arts Committee to oversee the restoration, had Congress designate the White House as a museum, and raised millions of dollars in donations and gifts, including priceless portraits of Benjamin Franklin<\/a> and Thomas Jefferson<\/a>. She scoured storage rooms and the National Gallery herself,\u200d finding treasures like James Monroe\u2019s\u2064 gold French flatware and Teddy Roosevelt\u2019s drinking mugs. She \u200cgave a guided <\/a>tour \u2064of the White House restoration for television cameras in 1962, and it became \u200cone of the most-watched specials in television history with 80 million viewers and earned her\u2064 an honorary Emmy. <\/p>\n
The White House, she said,\u2063 was not only a \u2064place for the president to work and\u2064 live, but also a destination for every\u200c American who visited Washington,\u2062 D.C., a showcase for art and culture, \u2063and a \u200dplace of national \u200cpride. The popularity of Pinterest and\u200b HGTV attests to women\u2019s continued interest in home renovations and decorations. Jackie\u2019s\u2063 restoration\u2063 of the White House is this on a grand \u200dscale. She didn\u2019t want a\u200d lifeless museum \u2064but \u200ca home where people were entertained, important meetings were held, and a family lived; \u200ba place her family could be comfortable and a nation\u2062 could be proud.<\/p>\n
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Iconic Kennedy-Style Dinner Parties<\/h2>\n
In addition to renovations, Jackie applied \u200cher good taste\u200b to entertaining. Before the election\u200c in 1960, Jackie gave an interview<\/a> where she said entertaining \u200bat the White House \u201cshouldn\u2019t be a drudgery, it should be a joy and done as graciously as possible.\u201d The Kennedy administration soon became \u200bknown for its parties, particularly the culture they provided. \u200bState dinners might include a Shakespeare performance or concert by an accomplished cellist. Jackie regularly arranged elaborate dinner parties and \u200cinvited \u201cstimulating people\u201d such as \u2063diplomats, artists, and writers. She believed these were \u200cawfully valuable, saying<\/a>, \u201c[M]en can talk to each other afterwards. \u2026\u2063 The French know this. \u2026 \u2063If you put busy men in an \u200battractive atmosphere where the surroundings are comfortable, the food is good, you \u200drelax, you unwind, there\u2019s some stimulating\u2062 conversation. \u2026 It\u2019s part of the art of living\u200b in Washington.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jackie saw to the details of all these dinners\u2062 personally, working on seating \u2064arrangements, planning entertainment, and studying menus. The Kennedys also hosted small dinners with intimate friends with plenty of\u2063 cocktails and Italian \u200dmusic playing \u2062on the\u200c Victrola.\u2063 In our lonely age\u200d that is starved for culture, the idea of classy dinner parties is intriguing. While most of us don\u2019t know\u2063 any cellists or have any writers or diplomats on speed dial, we can all add some elegance and culture to our lives in different ways. Have family dinners with a \u200bset table, lit candles, and Alexa playing classical music. \u200dInvite friends for cocktails, and dress \u200bup and discuss some good books. Kennedy-style dinner parties\u200b could\u200b be the all-in-one antidote \u200cto our loneliness, social media \u200daddictions, and falling\u2062 birth rates!<\/p>\n
But more than, \u201crestorations\u201d and entertainment, \u200cthe most endearing thing about Jackie\u2019s White House years is her devotion<\/a> \u200bto\u2063 her family.\u200c \u201cMy life here which I dreaded & which \u200dat first overwhelmed me \u2014 is now under control and the happiest time I have ever known \u2014\u2062 not for the position \u2014 \u2063but for the closeness of one\u2019s family,\u201d Jackie wrote\u200c to her friend William Walton in mid-1962. \u201cThe last thing I expected\u2063 to find in the W. House.\u201d <\/p>\n
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