WORKSHOPS

Kepler's, Fox Theatre, and Cargill present this special event at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, as Caroline Kennedy discusses Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy’s voice has been absent from the numerous books written about her, John F. Kennedy’s presidency, and their life together. Now, in seven never-before-heard interviews conducted in 1964 with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., this extraordinary woman gives us her story in her own words.

In early March of 1964, still deeply grieving the loss of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy sat down with historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. to record seven interviews totaling eight and a half hours. These previously sealed tapes provide a fresh narrative of John Kennedy's life as a senator, presidential candidate, president, and Mrs. Kennedy's experience during those years, providing details of their private conversations, her role in his political life, and her thoughtful and original views about the cast of characters who surrounded them both.

In conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's Inauguration, Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family are now releasing these beautifully restored recordings on CDs with accompanying transcripts. Introduced and annotated by renowned presidential historian Michael Beschloss, these interviews will add an exciting new dimension to our understanding and appreciation of President Kennedy and his time and make the past come alive through the words and voice of an eloquent eyewitness to history.

The interviews reveal Mrs. Kennedy’s previously private thoughts on a wide range of subjects, from political figures to personal issues, including state visits abroad and her insights into the world leaders of the time, including Charles de Gaulle, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Nikita Krushchev.

Milestone events such as the presidential campaign of 1960 are discussed, as well as Richard Nixon, the selection of Lyndon Johnson as vice president, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Mrs. Kennedy also touches upon more private matters such as President Kennedy's Catholicism, the love between the Kennedy brothers, and her own evolving sense of herself as First Lady and family life in the White House.