Heavily pregnant with her son she became all too aware that from now on every action she took and every word she spoke would be analysed and could invoke criticism.

The period between the election and the inauguration did nothing to allay her fears as scores of tourists camped outside her house hoping for a glimpse of the young and now famous family. She gave birth prematurely to her son John after undergoing an emergency Caesarean section. Though she and Jack were overjoyed she could not help but worry about the life her young children would have thereafter. This was a busy period for Jack as he began the work of assembling his cabinet. He was frequently caught up with his staff in meetings and had little free time. Jackie meanwhile spent her time convalescing at Joe Kennedy's Palm Beach house attempting to recuperate while the business of government went on all around her.

The Inauguration loomed closer and events were set in motion for the couple to attend the five inaugural balls that were being held in the capital. The new President was also happily looking forward to the Inaugural parade of which he intended to watch every moment. On the morning of the inauguration Washington was covered with a thick blanket of snow and the temperature was well below freezing. Despite this the new President insisted on taking his oath without either a hat or coat, further enhancing his image of a new and exciting young leader.

Jack Kennedy had been determined to make an impact and his beautifully crafted inaugural speech did just that. No inaugural speech before or since has been so widely recognised as the words 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country' reached out to millions across the United States.
Just as determined to make a statement Jackie had chosen her clothes carefully, wanting to remain aloof and different from the other women around her and instead of wearing fur she chose a beige wool suit with a sable collar and a matching pillbox hat looking elegant and poised as she watched her husband fulfilling his life's ambition.

Leaving the platform after taking his oath Jack neglected to kiss his wife and it would be several minutes before they met in the Rotunda of the Capitol officially as President and First Lady. Uncomfortable with intimacy they still did not show any affection although both felt deep pride on this special day. Each of them with their great love of history understood the significance of the moment and seemed content to absorb the atmosphere around them.

Despite the fact that the temperatures were still below freezing the new President and First Lady sat to begin watching the parade. Jackie still feeling unwell decided to return to the White House after an hour leaving her excited husband to watch the remainder of the parade with his guests. She returned to the White House to rest determined not to attend the lunch that was being held for both her family and Jacks. Aware that the guests would be disappointed her not to see her, she was adamant that she would be unable to attend any of the inaugural balls that evening if she were to entertain her guests all afternoon.

Emerging from the White House on the arm of her husband later that evening she looked radiant in her beautiful white silk gown that had been designed by Oleg Cassini. Exhausted by the day's events she felt unable and had to retire early leaving Jack to continue on to the remaining balls by himself.

Jackie's gown for the Inaugural Ball was to be the first sign of how she would impact the Presidency. From here onwards every item of clothing she wore became newsworthy and both the public and the media scrutinized each design and the accessories that went with it. Jackie was determined to dress stylishly and elegantly but wanted to keep her look simple. She was responsible for changing the fashion of the day almost overnight. Though she loved French haute couture she wanted to ensure her clothes were American made and compromised by having her designer Oleg Cassini make copies of the latest Paris fashions. She accessorised her elegant suits with pillbox hats, white gloves and neat handbags. Magazines everywhere covered her look and entire department stores changed the face of their ladies fashion departments to ensure that they could sell her image to the housewives of the day in what became known as 'The Jackie Look'.

Her next focus became the White House, shocked and dismayed by what she had seen on her official tour with the previous First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower she had decided that immense change was needed and set about restoring the mansion to be a place of culture and history.
She was ruthless in her endeavours leaving nothing sacred. She insisted that all reproduction furniture be removed and be replaced with original pieces that would add to the sense of history in the house. She hired a New York decorator called Sister Parrish who would help and advise her with her ideas for the interior decorating. She formed a board and hired curators who in turn helped her solicit donations and convince private donors to allow her the use of furniture and art from their private collections.

She ensured that the Press were involved in covering the restoration as she realised that the publicity generated would aid the project in financial terms. She was merciless in her demands ensuring that each room was finished one by one and each stayed true to a historic theme. She resurrected paintings and furniture as well as dishes and glassware from the White House basement whose historical significance had been lost on previous occupants. She wanted the White House to rival other great buildings such as Versailles in France and Buckingham Palace in England.
Aware that the public had a right to see the house she compiled a guidebook, which took each visitor through the significance and history of each room and its contents. She also undertook a televised tour of the mansion for CBS where she described the changes made to each of the rooms, thanking the contributors and donors of each piece individually.

Americans had never seen anything like this before and they were captivated by her elegance and beauty. She was an enigma at once seeming seemed young and childlike in her role as the mother of two small children, she was often captured on film with them in the playground of the White House only to emerge chameleon like on the arm of her husband later that evening, a vision of grace and style looking as serene as a royal princess.

Despite her obvious pride in her husbands achievements and her delight in the successful restoration project she still worried for her children. She ordered bushes planted around the perimeter of the grounds ensuring that her children would have some privacy when they were at play. She disliked seeing pictures of her children in the papers and would instruct the Secret Service to confiscate any film taken by unauthorised people. While Jack realised that the public had a real affection towards his children and enjoyed seeing pictures and anecdotes about them he realised that Jackie would not submit to the many requests and had to limit any photo opportunities he wanted to the times when she was away from the White House. Jackie understood his pride in the children but she insisted that be allowed to live normally and made it very clear to both the White House spokespeople and the Press Corp that this was non-negotiable.

She took to her role as First Lady on her own terms. She rejected the traditional role refusing to attend meetings with the female reporters, saying that answering questions on her clothes and hair was tedious and boring. She disliked political events and tended to avoid them as much as possible. She made few appearances domestically during her tenure as First Lady but it was the trip to Europe in 1961 that would see her finally begin to enjoy her role for the first time.

Jackie had agreed to travel to Europe with Jack for what was to be a dazzling state visit. As a young girl she had fallen in love with Paris during her time at the Sorbonne and was looking forward to the return journey. Arriving at Orly airport she was aware that this would be a difficult visit for her husband as he was concerned about meeting General Charles De Gaulle after the debacle that had been the Bay of Pigs. However, De Gaulle seemed genial at the official welcome and she allowed herself to relax and enjoy the ceremony of the motorcade into Paris. The crowds had turned out in their thousands along the streets of Paris and were shouting her name excitedly. They appreciated her love of France and all things French and had taken her as one of their own. Her reception was unique, never before had a First Lady been so well received. Jack was at first amused and then admiring of the attention directed at his wife.

For Jack it was a trying time as he worried about his impending discussions with De Gaulle. But for Jackie the visit was like a dream, as she prepared herself for lunch at the Elysee Palace she realised for the first time the historical significance of her role.
Seated beside De Gaulle at lunch Jackie became immersed in conversation about French history, arts and culture. Speaking beautifully fluent French she charmed De Gaulle who was quite amazed at the breadth of her conversation. Jack and his aides looked on in wonder. Disappointed at home that she refused to engage in the daily duties of First Lady they were amazed at the impact she was having only hours into the visit. De Gaulle had barely touched his food and seemed quite enchanted with the young First Lady.

Resuming his talks with De Gaulle in the afternoon Jack realised that Jackie's influence had helped him enormously as De Gaulle was less hostile than he had anticipated. He began to appreciate for this first time the gifts his wife could bring to the Presidency. Jackie too had successfully managed a tour of a clinic that afternoon with Madame De Gaulle with both grace and style and was receiving considerable admiration and attention from the press.

The climax of the visit was the State Dinner at Versailles. Jackie emerged wearing a white satin gown by Givenchy, her hair held in place by diamond clips and her face beautifully made up. She was a sensation; taking her place beside De Gaulle at the table she at once played two roles, that of First Lady and secondly the role of translator between her husband and his counterpart. It was to be the first time in the Presidency the couple would work as a partnership. Jack Kennedy incredulous but proud of his wife's accomplishments stood to make his speech beginning with the words 'I do not think it altogether inappropriate to introduce myself to this audience. I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it'.

The visit had heightened Jackie's profile and from there onwards she had become a national and worldwide figure in her own right, an Icon. Their visit had been successful due in no small way to her contribution and realising this gave Jackie her first taste of the power of the Presidency. They flew on to Vienna for the summit meeting with Khruschev who himself was looking forward to meeting Jackie.
The initial meeting between Jack and Khrushchev did not go well with the Soviet Premier belittling the young President in front of both sets of advisers.
At the State Dinner that night Khruschev focussed all his attentions on Jackie determined to find out what had so intrigued De Gaulle. Once again she set out to captivate and charm and Khrushchev bowled over by her intelligence and wit succumbed to her as had De Gaulle.
Despite Jackie's success with Khrushchev the meeting between the Soviet Premier and Jack the following morning fared no better and Jack left Vienna feeling shaken and disturbed while Jackie left at the very moment of her greatest success.

From this time on Jackie's goal as First Lady was to ensure that each of her State Dinners or functions would be organised with the same elegance and taste as the functions she had been part of during her trip to Paris. She set about organising events that were cultural and unique. She invited Robert Frost to recite poetry, organised The American Shakespeare Company to perform the bard's great works, and achieved a coup when she persuaded the famous Cellist Pablo Cassals to perform at a State Dinner. One of her most ambitious projects as First Lady was organising a State Dinner at Mount Vernon, George Washington's plantation on the banks of the Potomac River. She supervised every detail including the transportation of furniture, china, glassware and guests down the river to the site of the dinner. It was to be a startling success.

Although these triumphs meant a lot to Jackie she was often still bored at the White House. Trying to help Jack through his many crisis's she would hold small dinner parties to both entertain and distract him but she did not get involved in talk of the problems he faced feeling that he needed a respite from the days troubles. Following her triumphant visit to Europe she made a trip to India and Pakistan taking along her sister Lee where once again she was feted as though she were a royal princess. She grew to like the attention of her hosts but not the scrutiny of the press.

Later that summer while Jack visited Germany, England and Ireland, Jackie spent her time at Hyannisport awaiting the birth of her baby. Jackie had always been very close to Joe Kennedy who had been her ally since marrying into the family. Debilitated now by a stroke that had left him completely incapacitated she ensured she spent time with him, sitting beside him, holding his hand and reading to him. She enjoyed the summer months where her children could play with their cousins and friends in total privacy.

Conscious that the new baby would be the first child to be born to a sitting President in over a hundred years she was taking extra precautions to look after herself given her poor history of child bearing. Despite all this she went into labour prematurely and once more gave birth by emergency caesarean section. The baby, a boy named Patrick was very ill having been born with serious respiratory problems. Jack flew down immediately to be with her and the baby, leaving only to transfer Patrick to the special children's unit in Boston. For three short days the baby lived as his father watched over him but he was to weak to continue fighting and he slipped into a coma and died. Jack was completely undone by the death of his little son and it was to be a defining moment in their marriage as the sadness of their loss brought them closer together.

Jackie very depressed after the loss of her baby accepted an invitation from Aristotle Onnasis to take a cruise on the Christina, his yacht. Surrounded by friends and her sister Lee she began to put herself back together, writing long letters to her husband each night telling him of her love for him and her hopes for their future together. For the first time in their marriage Jack was to contact her each day of her trip to ensure she was well. She returned home to a marriage that was beginning to repair itself and out of the terrible sadness had come hope.

For Jackie, though she would never have believed it at the time, the years in the White House were the happiest with her husband. Though he continued to have affairs and dalliances, he was more considerate of her feelings and became more discreet for her sake limiting himself to the occasions when she was away from the White House. Through their children they had built a remarkable bond that had seen them through the most difficult times.

They had just completed building their first family home together in Virginia, a large weekend home which Jackie had called Wexford in honour of Jacks ancestry and they looked forward to watching their children grow. Each weekend for the remainder of his life Jack would travel either to Hyannisport, Hammersmith Farm or Wexford to spend his time with Jackie and the children.

At the time of the trip to Dallas the couple were beginning to relish the success of the Presidency and look forward to the next five years confident that Jack would win his re-election campaign. They had found happiness through compromise and would surely have gone on to even greater success in the future.

Dallas robbed them of these opportunities leaving two small children without a father to grow up in a country that was fascinated by both of them and their mother, creating a stifling atmosphere that was difficult to endure.

In the aftermath of the assassination Jackie was to reflect on her time in the White House as a period of family unity from which both she and Jack had both gained much. More sure at that time of his love for her and the children, this strength allowed her to move on with her life and make the difficult choices and decisions that were to come.