A letter, offering a unique and candid glimpse into Jackie Kennedy's world after the tragic assassination of her husband, is currently open to bids in an online auction.
The letter, written to Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr, disputes his conclusions that Adlai Stevenson, the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and 1956, was "Greek" and her late husband John F. Kennedy "Roman."
"[Stevenson] may be Greek too - in the derogatory sense - I do not mean to denigrate him - I realise what he brought to American politics in 1952," began Jackie Kennedy's letter.
"But he certainly showed many weaknesses & sad deficiencies of character," she writes.
 Jackie Kennedy's letter to Professor Schlesinger, Jr after JFK's assassination |
According to Dr. Barbara A Perry, author of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier, the Kennedy men - Joe, Jack, and Bobby - had little regard for Adlai Stevenson.
The worst sin in their competitive world was to be a loser, and Stevenson had failed to achieve the presidency twice.
Jackie soon reconsidered her harsh stance and composed a less offensive draft of the letter, tearing the original note in two to dispose of it.
Ironically, she need not have worried about Adlai Stevenson's feelings; just six weeks after her letter to Schlesinger, Stevenson collapsed on a London sidewalk and suffered a fatal heart attack.
 Page two of the letter |
Antiques Roadshow appraiser and RR Auction consultant Jasmani Francis believes the letter reminds us all of the tragedy in Dealy Plaza.
"Jackie's grief and poignant memories of her martyred husband leap from the page," said Francis.
"The letter gives great insight into her still-fragile state of mind fewer than two years after her husband's horrific assassination."
Bidding on the letter is ongoing, and ends on November 11 at 10 pm EST.
