Pres. and Jacqueline Kennedy: France

[From JackieStyle, by Pamela Clarke Keogh]
> > > > While the president and first lady's official trip to France was initially seen as a fashion show for Jackie (Tish Baldrige recalls that it was quickly dubbed "the Jackie French Trip"), there were bigger stakes at hand. And Jackie knew it.

At the time of his election, Kennedy was not well known in Europe. As an isolationist or, worse, an appeaser during World War II, his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, had not helped to further our European alliances. In the eyes of world leaders like de Gaulle and, more important, Khrushchev, whom the Kennedys would be meeting in Vienna after France, JFK was a lightweight with a rich father and a good haircut who had ambled into the White House. This European trip was meant to prove them wrong.

France was a perfect stage on which to present President and Mrs. Kennedy to the world. ... < < < < <