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Modern First Ladies
Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier
In a mere one thousand days, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy created an entrancing public persona that has remained intact for more than a half-century. Even now, long after her death in 1994, she remains a figure of enduring—and endearing—interest. Yet, while innumerable books have focused on the legends and gossip surrounding this charismatic figure, Barbara Perry’s is the first to focus largely on Kennedys’ White House years, portraying a First Lady far more complex and enigmatic than previously perceived.
Noting how Jackie’s celebrity and devotion to privacy have for years precluded a more serious treatment, Perry’s engaging and well-crafted story illuminates Kennedy’s immeasurable impact on the institution of the First Lady. Perry vividly illustrates the complexities of Jacqueline Bouvier’s marriage to John F. Kennedy, and shows how she transformed herself from a reluctant political wife to an effective, confident presidential partner. Perry is especially illuminating in tracing the First Lady’s mastery of political symbolism and imagery, along with her use of television and state entertainment to disseminate her work to a global audience.
By offering the White House as a stage for the arts, Jackie also bolstered the president’s Cold War efforts to portray the United States as the epitome of a free society. From redecorating the White House, to championing Lafayette Square’s preservation, to lending her name to fund-raising for the National Cultural Center, she had a profound impact on the nation’s psyche and cultural life. Meanwhile, her fashionable clothes and glamorous hairdos stood in stark contrast to the dowdiness of her predecessors and the drab appearances of Communist leaders’ spouses.
Never before or since have a First Lady (and her husband) sparkled with so much hope and vigor on the stage of American public life. Perry’s deft narrative captures all of that and more, even as it also insightfully depicts Jackie’s struggles to preserve her own identity amid the pressures of an institution she changed forever.
Grounded on the author’s painstaking research into previously overlooked or unavailable archives, at the Kennedy Library and elsewhere, as well as interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy’s close associates, Perry’s work expands and enriches our understanding of a remarkable American woman.
Noting how Jackie’s celebrity and devotion to privacy have for years precluded a more serious treatment, Perry’s engaging and well-crafted story illuminates Kennedy’s immeasurable impact on the institution of the First Lady. Perry vividly illustrates the complexities of Jacqueline Bouvier’s marriage to John F. Kennedy, and shows how she transformed herself from a reluctant political wife to an effective, confident presidential partner. Perry is especially illuminating in tracing the First Lady’s mastery of political symbolism and imagery, along with her use of television and state entertainment to disseminate her work to a global audience.
By offering the White House as a stage for the arts, Jackie also bolstered the president’s Cold War efforts to portray the United States as the epitome of a free society. From redecorating the White House, to championing Lafayette Square’s preservation, to lending her name to fund-raising for the National Cultural Center, she had a profound impact on the nation’s psyche and cultural life. Meanwhile, her fashionable clothes and glamorous hairdos stood in stark contrast to the dowdiness of her predecessors and the drab appearances of Communist leaders’ spouses.
Never before or since have a First Lady (and her husband) sparkled with so much hope and vigor on the stage of American public life. Perry’s deft narrative captures all of that and more, even as it also insightfully depicts Jackie’s struggles to preserve her own identity amid the pressures of an institution she changed forever.
Grounded on the author’s painstaking research into previously overlooked or unavailable archives, at the Kennedy Library and elsewhere, as well as interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy’s close associates, Perry’s work expands and enriches our understanding of a remarkable American woman.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2004
About the author
Barbara A. Perry
20 books22 followersBarbara A. Perry is the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, where she co-directs the Presidential Oral History Program. She has authored or edited 16 books on presidents, First Ladies, the Kennedy family, the Supreme Court, and civil rights and civil liberties. Perry has conducted more than 120 interviews for the George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama Presidential Oral History Projects; participated in the Bill Clinton interviews; directed the Edward Kennedy Oral History Project; and co-directs the Hillary Rodham Clinton Oral History Project. She served as a U.S. Supreme Court fellow and has worked for both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Perry earned a PhD in government from the University of Virginia; an MA degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University; and a BA degree in political science, with highest honors, from the University of Louisville.
Perry is a frequent media commentator for national and international news sources. She is prepared to discuss American presidents, especially FDR through Obama, with particular expertise on JFK and the Kennedy family. Perry has taught all aspects of American government/politics and can respond to media questions on most topics related to presidential campaigns and elections, public policy, and presidential communications. In addition to the American presidency (including First Ladies), her research, writing, and commentary have covered the U.S. Supreme Court, particularly presidential appointments, as well as civil rights and civil liberties.
Perry has been a commentator for such outlets as CBS, PBS, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, NPR, PRI, Fox News, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Swiss TV, HuffPost Live, The Morning Rundown, The Andrea Mitchell Report, The NewsHour, 1A, The Diane Rehm Show, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Sunday Times of London, USA Today, Bloomberg News, POLITICO, the Daily Beast, and the Associated Press. She regularly contributes to UVA’s blog, Thoughts from the Lawn.
Previously, Perry was the Carter Glass Professor of Government and founding director of the Center for Civic Renewal at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. In 1994-95, she received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award as the outstanding Supreme Court Fellow that year. In addition to providing research for Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s speeches, she briefed more than 3,000 visitors to the court from 70 different countries. She was the Senior Fellow for Civics Education at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center in 2006-07, where she is currently a Non-Resident Fellow. From 1996 through 2008, she taught in the Supreme Court Summer Institute, co-sponsored by the Supreme Court Historical Society and Street Law. In 2012, Perry received the Virginia Social Science Association’s Scholar Award in Political Science. The Sons of the American Revolution, Virginia Society, awarded her their 2013 Silver Good Citizenship Medal for “her outstanding achievements in the study, writing, and teaching of American history.” The University of Louisville’s College of Arts and Sciences named her the 2014 Alumna Fellow of the Year.
Perry has participated in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs and lectures for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, for which she taught a 2015 online graduate course on the Kennedy presidency and offers a teacher institute on JFK. From 2010-14, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, providing seminars to senior federal executives on the Kennedy presidency, the U.S. Supreme Court, and leadership.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Perry earned a PhD in government from the University of Virginia; an MA degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University; and a BA degree in political science, with highest honors, from the University of Louisville.
Perry is a frequent media commentator for national and international news sources. She is prepared to discuss American presidents, especially FDR through Obama, with particular expertise on JFK and the Kennedy family. Perry has taught all aspects of American government/politics and can respond to media questions on most topics related to presidential campaigns and elections, public policy, and presidential communications. In addition to the American presidency (including First Ladies), her research, writing, and commentary have covered the U.S. Supreme Court, particularly presidential appointments, as well as civil rights and civil liberties.
Perry has been a commentator for such outlets as CBS, PBS, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, NPR, PRI, Fox News, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Swiss TV, HuffPost Live, The Morning Rundown, The Andrea Mitchell Report, The NewsHour, 1A, The Diane Rehm Show, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Sunday Times of London, USA Today, Bloomberg News, POLITICO, the Daily Beast, and the Associated Press. She regularly contributes to UVA’s blog, Thoughts from the Lawn.
Previously, Perry was the Carter Glass Professor of Government and founding director of the Center for Civic Renewal at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. In 1994-95, she received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award as the outstanding Supreme Court Fellow that year. In addition to providing research for Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s speeches, she briefed more than 3,000 visitors to the court from 70 different countries. She was the Senior Fellow for Civics Education at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center in 2006-07, where she is currently a Non-Resident Fellow. From 1996 through 2008, she taught in the Supreme Court Summer Institute, co-sponsored by the Supreme Court Historical Society and Street Law. In 2012, Perry received the Virginia Social Science Association’s Scholar Award in Political Science. The Sons of the American Revolution, Virginia Society, awarded her their 2013 Silver Good Citizenship Medal for “her outstanding achievements in the study, writing, and teaching of American history.” The University of Louisville’s College of Arts and Sciences named her the 2014 Alumna Fellow of the Year.
Perry has participated in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs and lectures for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, for which she taught a 2015 online graduate course on the Kennedy presidency and offers a teacher institute on JFK. From 2010-14, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, providing seminars to senior federal executives on the Kennedy presidency, the U.S. Supreme Court, and leadership.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 15, 2020
If this had not been required reading for a class, I would not have read it but I am glad it was required. Although I have read a lot about the other Kennedy's, I had not read a biography of Jackie. It is well written, well documented, and very interesting. She was a very smart, complex women and an excellent First Lady. Her contributions to White House history have been invaluable. I recommend.
June 23, 2026
Barbara A. Perry’s Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier presents Jacqueline Kennedy as a First Lady whose influence cannot be reduced to fashion, charm, or “Camelot” mythology. By concentrating on Kennedy’s White House years, Perry shifts attention away from scandal-driven popular narratives and toward the institutional and cultural work through which Kennedy helped redefine the public meaning of the First Lady role. Across the study, Kennedy emerges as a figure who aligned domestic presentation with national symbolism: a supportive political partner, a protective mother, and a cultural advocate whose projects shaped both the material environment of the presidency and the public’s expectations of it. One of the book’s major strengths remains in its documentation. Perry draws from a wide range of primary and secondary sources, and the endnotes demonstrate a sustained commitment to evidentiary transparency. The source base includes public statements, memoirs, and newspapers, alongside a substantial engagement with prior scholarship. At the same time, the prominence of mainstream media outlets as source material raises an interpretive challenge. Consequently, Mrs. Kennedy’s public meaning was produced through modern publicity, popular sources are indispensable; however, the book’s frequent reliance on them sometimes risks reproducing the very media framings the analysis seeks to contextualize. This tension is most visible when the narrative leans heavily on well known chroniclers of the Kennedy circle, whose proximity to the administration shaped what could be seen, recorded, and later remembered. Perry’s central claim, that Jacqueline Kennedy modernized the First Lady role becomes most persuasive when the book connects persona to practice. Kennedy’s political value is shown not only in her visibility but also in her ability to deploy cultural fluency and language skills in public settings. Perry highlights how Kennedy’s multilingual competence and cosmopolitan ease strengthened the administration’s public presence and helped her connect with diverse audiences, including appearances that brought her into direct contact with Spanish-speaking communities. Such examples underscore that “soft” qualities, taste, language, poise functioned as forms of political capacity when translated into public encounters and mediated images.
Equally important in Perry’s account is Kennedy’s approach to motherhood and privacy. Rather than treating family life as separate from politics, the book suggests that Kennedy’s protective strategies were part of how she managed the new visibility attached to the presidency. Perry describes Kennedy’s efforts to shield her children from intrusive publicity and to preserve a sense of normalcy through controlled access and tightly managed educational arrangements, including the formation of a private instructional environment frequently described by the press as a “White House School.” In this reading, privacy is not merely personal preference; it is a deliberate boundary-setting practice that defined what the White House would and would not make available to the public. Perry’s strongest chapters, however, focus on cultural institutions and preservation, where modernization becomes tangible and traceable. Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier argues that Kennedy’s influence went beyond décor and into the larger terrain of cultural nation-building: restoring historic rooms, professionalizing curatorial decision-making, building partnerships, and cultivating public interest through media. Perry links Kennedy to wider legacies of cultural infrastructure and memorialization, including efforts that shaped the performing arts and presidential memory after 1963 Importantly, these initiatives are presented not as isolated personal passions but as projects requiring organization, fundraising, publicity, and negotiation work that helped reimagine the White House as both home and historical repository. Perry also connects these cultural undertakings to broader public engagement, including the ways restoration and programming drew attention, visitors, and institutional support.
Simultaneously, Perry does not claim that Jacqueline Kennedy invented every element of White House modernization. One of the book’s more productive interventions is its insistence on historical continuity: earlier presidents and First Ladies also renovated, refurnished, or otherwise shaped the executive mansion and its symbolic presentation. Perry notes precedents ranging from nineteenth-century refurbishments to twentieth-century efforts that were driven by structural necessity, including renovations undertaken when the building’s deterioration required major intervention. The book also identifies First Ladies who participated in historical preservation and décor as meaningful public practice. Kennedy’s distinctiveness, in Perry’s account, lies less in novelty alone than in the scale of public attention and the effectiveness with which youth, glamour, cultural literacy, and media conditions combined to make her efforts resonate widely.
Even with the book’s many strengths, there are structural features that may frustrate some scholarly readers. The early chapters provide extensive background that, while valuable, can slow the momentum of the modernization argument. At points, the book’s line between analytical thesis and comprehensive biography blurs, creating stretches where narrative accumulation outweighs interpretive payoff. A tighter organizational emphasis particularly earlier, could have made the modernization framework more consistently visible, helping readers track how each chapter advances the larger claim. As previously demonstrated, Perry offers a well-researched, readable, and evidence-rich study that contributes meaningfully to scholarship on First Ladies, political image-making, and cultural governance. The book is especially useful for readers interested in how cultural work, restoration, arts patronage, curated publicity, and boundary-setting around family life, while functioning as political labor. While the argument would be strengthened by a more streamlined structure and a more explicit critical engagement with how media sources shape the story being told, Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier remains a substantial account of how Jacqueline Kennedy helped redefine the public expectations and institutional possibilities of the First Lady role.
Equally important in Perry’s account is Kennedy’s approach to motherhood and privacy. Rather than treating family life as separate from politics, the book suggests that Kennedy’s protective strategies were part of how she managed the new visibility attached to the presidency. Perry describes Kennedy’s efforts to shield her children from intrusive publicity and to preserve a sense of normalcy through controlled access and tightly managed educational arrangements, including the formation of a private instructional environment frequently described by the press as a “White House School.” In this reading, privacy is not merely personal preference; it is a deliberate boundary-setting practice that defined what the White House would and would not make available to the public. Perry’s strongest chapters, however, focus on cultural institutions and preservation, where modernization becomes tangible and traceable. Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier argues that Kennedy’s influence went beyond décor and into the larger terrain of cultural nation-building: restoring historic rooms, professionalizing curatorial decision-making, building partnerships, and cultivating public interest through media. Perry links Kennedy to wider legacies of cultural infrastructure and memorialization, including efforts that shaped the performing arts and presidential memory after 1963 Importantly, these initiatives are presented not as isolated personal passions but as projects requiring organization, fundraising, publicity, and negotiation work that helped reimagine the White House as both home and historical repository. Perry also connects these cultural undertakings to broader public engagement, including the ways restoration and programming drew attention, visitors, and institutional support.
Simultaneously, Perry does not claim that Jacqueline Kennedy invented every element of White House modernization. One of the book’s more productive interventions is its insistence on historical continuity: earlier presidents and First Ladies also renovated, refurnished, or otherwise shaped the executive mansion and its symbolic presentation. Perry notes precedents ranging from nineteenth-century refurbishments to twentieth-century efforts that were driven by structural necessity, including renovations undertaken when the building’s deterioration required major intervention. The book also identifies First Ladies who participated in historical preservation and décor as meaningful public practice. Kennedy’s distinctiveness, in Perry’s account, lies less in novelty alone than in the scale of public attention and the effectiveness with which youth, glamour, cultural literacy, and media conditions combined to make her efforts resonate widely.
Even with the book’s many strengths, there are structural features that may frustrate some scholarly readers. The early chapters provide extensive background that, while valuable, can slow the momentum of the modernization argument. At points, the book’s line between analytical thesis and comprehensive biography blurs, creating stretches where narrative accumulation outweighs interpretive payoff. A tighter organizational emphasis particularly earlier, could have made the modernization framework more consistently visible, helping readers track how each chapter advances the larger claim. As previously demonstrated, Perry offers a well-researched, readable, and evidence-rich study that contributes meaningfully to scholarship on First Ladies, political image-making, and cultural governance. The book is especially useful for readers interested in how cultural work, restoration, arts patronage, curated publicity, and boundary-setting around family life, while functioning as political labor. While the argument would be strengthened by a more streamlined structure and a more explicit critical engagement with how media sources shape the story being told, Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier remains a substantial account of how Jacqueline Kennedy helped redefine the public expectations and institutional possibilities of the First Lady role.
October 25, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - especially since the author Dr. Barbara Perry was my professor and advisor at Sweet Briar College. It was well-researched and well-written, and it made me nostalgic to sit in her classes again. Worth the read!
December 28, 2018
A comprehensive, fairly concise although somewhat unbalanced look at Jackie as First Lady. A substantial overview of her upbringing and how it would influence her role in the White House is given and then a focus on her actions and rejuvenation of the interior design of the White House makes up much of this book. It got a bit tedious with a focus on some of the details of her impact on rejuvenating the White House and DC neighborhoods, but the importance of her is not lost on one. Naturally, she will be a yardstick by which to measure future First Wives and Husbands.
February 5, 2020
I knew very little about Jacqueline Kennedy before reading this book. To this book's credit, I appreciated how informative it was. It certainly packs a lot of information, but gets bogged down in the middle by including lots of details about former and future First Ladies to better mark and give context to Jackie's place in history. It also felt a little cold and impersonal. I learned a lot, but was left preferring to read a biography by someone who knew her more personally.
March 7, 2025
This book is a wonderful look at the years Jacqueline Kennedy spent in the White House. A few pages at the beginning of the book describe her early life, and a few pages at the end of the book briefly detail her post-White House years. This book mainly discusses Jacqueline Kennedy in the role of first lady, how the job shaped her and how she shaped the job.
It's very easy to read, very engaging, and a worthwhile effort from Barbara A. Perry.
It's very easy to read, very engaging, and a worthwhile effort from Barbara A. Perry.
June 25, 2020
Nice summary of her life and easy to read
January 15, 2014
I'm totally hooked on the C-Span First Ladies: Influence and Image series. Since history normally focuses on the "great men", this is a rare chance to glimpse the evolving role of women in society, as well as the unique personalities, passions and accomplishments of individual First Ladies, from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. Some of their stories are delightful -- some tragic. Some, like Jacqueline Kennedy's, are both.
Biographer Barbara Perry and historian Michael Beschloss are the two panelists on the Jacqueline Kennedy program, which is, predictably, fascinating. Well researched, Perry's book is especially interesting from the standpoints of process and personality -- how she accomplished what she did, from her own legacy including the landmark renovation of the White House, creation of the White House Historical Society and the classification of the White House as a museum, to her influential patronage of the arts, international diplomatic and fashion successes, exemplar parenting, support of her husband and shaping her husband's legacy. The writing doesn't flow very well, but the content is interesting.
I'll no doubt be doing more first lady reading! And btw, the whole series is archived online at http://firstladies.c-span.org/ and some are available as podcasts via C-Span radio.
Biographer Barbara Perry and historian Michael Beschloss are the two panelists on the Jacqueline Kennedy program, which is, predictably, fascinating. Well researched, Perry's book is especially interesting from the standpoints of process and personality -- how she accomplished what she did, from her own legacy including the landmark renovation of the White House, creation of the White House Historical Society and the classification of the White House as a museum, to her influential patronage of the arts, international diplomatic and fashion successes, exemplar parenting, support of her husband and shaping her husband's legacy. The writing doesn't flow very well, but the content is interesting.
I'll no doubt be doing more first lady reading! And btw, the whole series is archived online at http://firstladies.c-span.org/ and some are available as podcasts via C-Span radio.
November 17, 2015
This is an honest book about Jacqueline Kennedy. The author, Barbara Perry, appeared on the C-Span series about the first ladies.
September 19, 2013
Nothing here that you won't find elsewhere
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews