The Chance of France

[From Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History Of The Kennedy Years, by Barbara Leaming]

> > > > Power, it has been argued, was the single theme in the life of Charles de Gaulle. From young manhood he studied, contemplated, and actively sought power, not simply for himself but for a nation whose destiny he identified with his own. For two days, starting with the motorcade to Paris and continuing through the meals and meetings at the Elysée Palace, de Gaulle had staged a vast pageant of power that made a tremendous impression on both Kennedys.

People excited Jack, as a friend once observed, but it was color and form that thrilled his wife.

In the sheer extravagance of its effects Thursday night's spectacle, conceived by de Gaulle as the visit's climax, would dwarf everything that had gone before. The dinner in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles would also be an episode of signal importance in the Kennedys' marriage, as well as one of the great nights of Mrs. Kennedy's life.

It was 8:15 when, with flags fluttering, the eleven-car Kennedy Motorcade arrived at the palace of the Sun King, which someone once described as

"the greatest expression of absolute monarchy in the world."

Jackie, who had come to lunch the previous day in the guise of a child, then to dinner as a sexy woman of the world, had saved the ultimate seduction for this evening. When she emerged from her car, she was a Frenchwoman. Though Jackie had vowed to wear American clothes as First Lady, tonight she was the embodiment of French fashion. In homage to her hosts, she wore a beaded and embroidered white satin evening gown and matching coat designed by Givenchy, her favorite Paris couturier. Her hair was swept up with leaf-shaped diamond clips to create the glittering suggestion of a small tiara, and her Palm Beach tan, in evidence the previous day, had vanished under pale and beautiful makeup.

Minister of State for Cultural Affairs André Malraux, a well-known romantic adventurer, dashing war hero, and prize-winning novelist whom Jackie had long idolized, escorted the President and First Lady inside. Minutes later, de Gaulle himself, courtly and elegant in white tie, led Jackie up the famous, richly decorated Queen's Staircase to the second floor. As he walked her through the chateau, Jackie was transported to the terrain of her daydreams. France, emblem of

a larger world that both attracted and frightened her,

had long been a focal point of her fantasy life. These were the very rooms she had read and dreamed about. These were the scenes pictured and described in the cherished books where she had sought escape from reality. Since childhood, she had been an observer. Tonight, as her reveries of France's illustrious past sprang to life, she was the star of the spectacle.

...Jackie began to reinvent herself in France.