Jackie Kennedy Stayed With JFK Until His Death Despite Being ‘Well Aware’ Of His Affairs

Sep 06, 2022 by apost team

Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis, better known as Jackie Kennedy, was an American socialite, writer, and photographer who became a prominent figure in the public eye when she became the First Lady of the United States. At just 31 years old, Jackie was the third-youngest first lady at the time of her husband's inauguration. As the wife of President John F. Kennedy, Jackie's main cause she focused on was White House restoration and emphasis on the arts and culture. Her impeccable fashion sense, fondness for children, and charming personality made her a favorite among the general public. Unfortunately, their relationship was marred by several affairs and unfaithfulness.

After her husband was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, Jackie and her children withdrew from the public eye as they mourned the president's death. After a few years, it was revealed that Jackie had married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in October 1968, causing major controversy. Onassis had been invited to Kennedy's funeral and even stayed at the White House afterward.

Prior to their marriage, the two were friends, and Onassis was actually a former partner to Jackie's own sister Carolina Radziwill, who went by the name Lee. The two sisters used to be close during their younger years, but their relationship grew rocky as they got older on account of some scandals surrounding their relationships with each other's partners. On top of this, Radziwill always felt like she was living in her sister's shadow, as Jackie had been the center of attention for quite some time, furthering their rivalry. After Radziwill had an affair with Kennedy, Jackie found her revenge years later when she married her sister's former flame.

With the perfect image that John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie upheld as the first couple, many Americans regard them as the epitome of the ideal, all-American marriage. Yet many forget that the president had several extra-marital affairs –– even while in office.

Actually, John F. Kennedy became notorious for his multiple love affairs while in office. According to Express, the president had even been involved with big names like Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, and Judith Campbell Exner. One of his affairs even included his wife's sister, Radziwill.

In 2018, the Daily Mail reported that the sisters' complicated relationship seemingly played out with Radziwill having an affair with Jackie's husband and Jackie marrying the man her sister was desperately in love with. The authors, Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, detailed their tumultuous relationship in their book "The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters: The Tragic and Glamorous Lives of Jackie and Lee." The authors explained how Jackie used to keep a list of her enemies and never forgot anything, including the time her sister betrayed her.

The Daily Mail reported that Radziwill wasn't even included in Jackie's 38-page will after she died in 1994, although she expressed having "great affection" for her sister. While still alive, Jackie sought revenge against her sister and "stole" Onassis away from her, according to the Daily Mail. Radziwill had fallen in love with him and hoped to become his next wife, despite his current marriage to his wife, Tina, and his simultaneous involvement with an opera singer.

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Radziwill's wish stayed just a dream as her sister went on to marry Onassis. Jackie had tricked her sister into inviting the man to Kennedy's funeral and staying at the White House, to which the sister happily obliged, thinking she would get to rekindle her romance with the "Golden Greek," according to the Daily Mail. 

Unfortunately, things did not play out that way. Jackie went on to marry Onassis, and the sisters' relationship never recovered.

While the reason for the sisters' fallout was widely known for a long time, it was not sure how much Jackie knew about her husband's infidelity. In 2018, well-known celebrity biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli published his book "Jackie, Janet and Lee," which dealt with exactly this question. Speaking to PEOPLE, Taraborrelli explained that Jackie was well aware of her husband's affairs:

"There were many senators and people who worked for the president who were really well aware of the conversations that Jackie had with JFK, in which she made it really clear that she knew what was going on. She wasn't naïve to it. They did have many conversations about it, and she did tell him that she was sick of it and she didn't like it."

He went on to explain that she had considered divorce at least two times while married to President Kennedy. The first time was when she gave birth to their stillborn daughter – an event for which Kennedy was not at her side, preferring to spend time on a Mediterranean cruise while his wife was enduring and recovering from this hardship. 

When Jackie broached the topic with her family, so Taraborrelli, her sister Lee was vehemently against the idea:

"Lee wasn't convinced. She said she wished she had a spouse like Jack, someone who would do something big with his life, and by extension, hers. It didn't matter that Jack was unfaithful."

The reasoning behind Lee's stance was that, according to Taraborrelli, Lee and the sisters' mother were of the opinion that men of power would inevitably cheat and that enduring their affairs was part of being married to them. And apparently, the former president agreed with their opinions:

"You must have known when you married me I can never be faithful," Express quoted Kennedy. "I can't help myself. It's a compulsion."

Despite how troubled their marriage was, Jackie and JFK’s relationship was commonly recalled as “a marriage of its time,” as a family friend described to PEOPLE. The friend continued, “At the end of the day, Jack came back to Jackie – and that was it. They loved each other.”

The source added, “It was kinetic between them. She wasn’t trying to change him.” However, the president found himself “consumed with almost daily sexual liaisons,” and the golden couple’s relationship found itself continuously on a rocky path. But “Jackie Style” author Pamela Keough said that this wasn’t unusual for the Kennedy family, as Jackie “came from a world where that is what men did, and it was accepted.”

Cornelia Guest added, “It was all just, you turn the other cheek.” She added, “For these women, if they ever did discuss (their husbands’ infidelities), it was more like, ‘This is what’s going on; let’s go out and get the kids and get on a horse.’ They were much more pragmatic about the whole thing.”

Did you know about Jackie Kennedy Onassis's difficult relationship with her sister and that she knew of her husband's infidelity? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your friends and family, too.