Fans pick 47 books like Mrs. Kennedy and Me

By Clint Hill, Lisa McCubbin Hill,

Here are 47 books that Mrs. Kennedy and Me fans have personally recommended if you like Mrs. Kennedy and Me. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

A few months after President Kennedy’s assassination, Mrs. Kennedy sat down for a series of interviews with the historian and family friend Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Her eight hours of tapes, which remained sealed until a few years ago, are riveting and full of intimate, powerful details.

It is most rewarding to hear her whispery voice as she offers often pointed observations about the people and events that shaped her husband’s presidency.   

By Caroline Kennedy, Michael Beschloss,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Jacqueline Kennedy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

To mark John F. Kennedy's centennial, celebrate the life and legacy of the 35th President of the United States.

In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy recorded seven historic interviews about her life with John F. Kennedy. Now, for the first time, they can be read in this deluxe, illustrated eBook.

Shortly after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, with a nation deep in mourning and the world looking on in stunned disbelief, Jacqueline Kennedy found the strength to set aside her own personal grief for the sake of posterity and begin the task of documenting and preserving her husband's legacy. In January of…


Book cover of Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

I love how Smith tells the intimate story of Jack and Jackie’s relationship in the White House. Plenty of accounts describe how JFK exercised power during his brief tenure as president. That is not what interests Smith. She highlights how the pressure of the office impacted the relationship between the First Lady and the President.

There are plenty of juicy tales about JFK’s womanizing and his abuse of prescription medication. What I found most fascinating was how Jackie coped with it all. The Kennedys in Smith’s account are complicated and complex, talented and flawed, but above all else, very human. 

By Sally Bedell Smith,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Grace and Power as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In GRACE & POWER: THE PRIVATE WORLD OF THE KENNEDY WHITE HOUSE, New York Times bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleled access and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates, including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on letters and personal papers made available for the first time, Smith paints a richly detailed picture of the personal relationships behind the high purpose and poiltical drama of the twentieth century's most storied presidency.
At the dawn of the 1960s, a forty-three-year-old president and his thirty-one-year-old first lady – the youngest couple…


Book cover of The Kennedy Baby: The Loss That Transformed JFK

Barbara A. Perry Author Of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier

From my list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for the Kennedy family dates to seeing JFK in person as a young child. Shortly after his death, my mother purchased a children’s book about the 35th president, which I read repeatedly and still have in my extensive “Kennedy library.” It led me to pursue a professional career as a political scientist, specializing in the presidency and First Ladies. I now direct Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, am a member of the Advisory Board of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, and serve on the Board of the White House Historical Association, founded by Mrs. Kennedy in 1961.

Barbara's book list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic

Barbara A. Perry Why did Barbara love this book?

This e-book by The Washington Post’s book editor is the moving account of Jackie’s heartbreaking loss of her and the president’s baby, Patrick, in August 1963. Always plagued by problematic pregnancies, resulting in a miscarriage and stillborn daughter in the 1950s, as First Lady Mrs. Kennedy hoped to give birth to her and the president’s third child (to join five-year-old Caroline and two-year-old John Jr.) in September 1963. But the baby arrived more than a month early, suffering from undeveloped lungs, and died within two days. Jackie and Jack were devastated. As they clung to each other in grief, the First Lady told her husband that she couldn’t bear to lose him. She would just three months later.

By Steven Levingston,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Kennedy Baby as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A sensitive portrait of how a profound tragedy changed one of America's most prominent families.

Their marriage is the subject of countless books. His presidency has been pored over minute by minute by historians. They lived their lives in the public eye and under a microscope that magnified all of their flaws, all of their scandals, all of their tragedies. Now Steven Levingston, nonfiction editor at the Washington Post, presents a devastating story in unprecedented detail, about a child John and Jackie Kennedy loved and lost. On August 7, 1963, heavily pregnant Jackie Kennedy collapsed, marking the beginning of a…


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest By Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Book cover of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story

Barbara A. Perry Author Of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier

From my list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for the Kennedy family dates to seeing JFK in person as a young child. Shortly after his death, my mother purchased a children’s book about the 35th president, which I read repeatedly and still have in my extensive “Kennedy library.” It led me to pursue a professional career as a political scientist, specializing in the presidency and First Ladies. I now direct Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, am a member of the Advisory Board of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, and serve on the Board of the White House Historical Association, founded by Mrs. Kennedy in 1961.

Barbara's book list on Jacqueline Kennedy’s creation of Camelot’s magic

Barbara A. Perry Why did Barbara love this book?

Many books have been written about Mrs. Kennedy’s post-White House life, especially her 1968 marriage to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, her jet-set lifestyle, and her second widowhood as a successful New York book editor, but I find Leaming’s deeply researched look at how JFK’s horrific assassination may well have afflicted the former First Lady with PTSD to be as credible as it is moving.

By Barbara Leaming,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For almost six decades, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has fascinated people worldwide. The subject of numerous books and thousands of articles, her life has probably been documented in millions of words. And yet, there has always remained something mysterious, something private about this very public woman. With extraordinary skill and great sensitivity, Barbara Learning explores the seemingly magical world of Jackie's youth, her fairy-tale marriage to a wealthy and handsome Senator and Presidential candidate and her astonishing transformation into a deft political wife and unique First Lady. This spirited young woman's rejection of the idea of a safe marriage" as the…


Book cover of White House by the Sea: A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

I love this book because it offers an intimate glimpse into the place that the Kennedys called home, where they felt most comfortable, and where they went to celebrate their triumphs and mourn their tragedies.

Storey is a terrific writer who makes the reader feel as if they are on the Cape with the family as they engage in various (and often strenuous) activities. She manages to capture the family's life away from cameras and reporters.  

By Kate Storey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked White House by the Sea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Impeccably researched...captivating!" -Elin Hilderbrand * "A well-paced history." -The New York Times Book Review * "Fascinating...with new details and well-sourced reporting." -Associated Press

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The intimate, multigenerational story of the Kennedy family as seen through their Hyannis Port compound on Cape Cod-the iconic place where they've celebrated, mourned, and bonded-based on more than a hundred in-depth interviews by a Rolling Stone editor and journalist Kate Storey.

Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is synonymous with the Kennedy family. It is where, for a hundred years, America's most storied political family has come to celebrate, bond, play, and grieve. It is…


Book cover of The Kennedy Men: 1901-1963

Steven Gillon Author Of America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

From my list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in the topic is both professional and personal. I spent four decades teaching about modern American history and the Kennedy presidency at Yale, Oxford, and the University of Oklahoma. A chance encounter with John F. Kennedy, Jr., at Brown University in the spring of 1981 led to a friendship that lasted until his tragic death in 1999. 

Steven's book list on the private lives of the Kennedy Family

Steven Gillon Why did Steven love this book?

Few people know more about the Kennedy family and are as fair-minded in telling their story as Leamer. (He also wrote a companion book on The Kennedy Women.)

What I really like about Leamer’s work is that he does his homework. Not only are his books deeply researched, but he has also clearly earned the trust of family members who share personal stories not found in other published accounts. 

By Laurence Leamer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Kennedy Men as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this triumphant new work already hailed as a powerful American epic, Laurence Leamer chronicles the Kennedy men and their struggle to create the most powerful family in the United States. The Kennedy Men is the first volume in a multi-generational history that will forever change the way America views its most famous family. Beginning in 1901 with twelve-year-old Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. delivering hats to Boston's social elite and ending in 1963 with the assassination of his son, President John F. Kennedy, Leamer seamlessly unites the complex strands of their economic, political, and social rise.

This magnificent new volume…


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Book cover of The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower

The Chomsky Effect By Robert F. Barsky,

Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chávez and attacked by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Groundbreaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter—voted “most important public intellectual in the world today” in a 2005 magazine poll—Chomsky inspires fanatical devotion and fierce vituperation.

In…

Book cover of Just Being Jackie

Natasha Wing Author Of When Jackie Saved Grand Central: The True Story of Jacqueline Kennedy's Fight for an American Icon

From my list on fabulous First Ladies.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I learned that Jackie Kennedy Onassis had helped save Grand Central I had to know more about her! This lead to being curious about other First Ladies and how they served America during and after they were in the White House. Often their contributions were overshadowed by their husbands, so with this list, I’m shining a light on little-known facts about these well-known women.

Natasha's book list on fabulous First Ladies

Natasha Wing Why did Natasha love this book?

This is the perfect companion book to my book When Jackie Saved Grand Central. Both books fill out the story of two important buildings that she restored - The White House and Grand Central Terminal. In this story, you learn more about Jackie as a child. And I’m IN LOVE with the illustrations! Denos captured Jackie’s beauty and strength in drawings that remind me of fashion sketches.

By Margaret Cardillo, Julia Denos (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Just Being Jackie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A stunning and inspirational nonfiction picture book about the life and style of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis from Margaret Cardillo and Julia Denos, the team that created Just Being Audrey. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.

Jackie Kennedy was an American icon of style and grace-but there was steel under that style. Her poise under fire, intelligence, and tireless work as First Lady earned her the respect of leaders worldwide…


Book cover of America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

William Kuhn Author Of Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books

From my list on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Why am I passionate about this?

Many of my books have been on the British monarchy. Jackie was the only figure who came close to being an American queen. Her clothes drew me to her at first. Later, her decision to have an editorial career after her children were grown gave me the idea for a new biographical approach to her. I still admire Jackie for that, as well as for her low-key regality, about which she had a sense of humor.

William's book list on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

William Kuhn Why did William love this book?

Sarah Bradford also wrote one of the best biographies of Queen Elizabeth II. Her Jackie biography is authoritative. It covers everything from her parents' troubled marriage to Jackie’s own disappointing liaisons with powerful men. The life she built in New York after the death of Onassis is proof of what an extraordinary woman she was, perhaps the most important of America’s former first ladies. She was in a league with Eleanor Roosevelt and Abigail Adams. She had an intelligence and discernment equal to theirs but with style all her own.

By Sarah Bradford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked America's Queen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now the subject of a new film directed by Pablo Larrain, "Jackie", starring Natalie Portman

Acclaimed biographer Sarah Bradford explores the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the woman who has captivated the public for more than five decades, in a definitive portrait that is both sympathetic and frank. With an extraordinary range of candid interviews-many with people who have never spoken in such depth on record before-Bradford offers new insights into the woman behind the public persona. She creates a coherent picture out of Jackie's tumultuous and cosmopolitan life-from the aristocratic milieu of Newport and East Hampton to the Greek…


Book cover of Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

Christopher Beauregard Emery Author Of White House Usher: Stories from the Inside

From my list on from-a-white-house-insiders-perspective.

Why am I passionate about this?

During my twenty-nine nears in the federal government, I maintained a Top Secret clearance while being a CIO, Chief Architect, & Director of various things with the White House, US Congress, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice, where I served in a senior management role for the National Security Division, the agency responsible for serving as the liaison between the Attorney General and the Intelligence Community. Today, my passion is writing about my White House experiences, in both fiction and non-fiction.

Christopher's book list on from-a-white-house-insiders-perspective

Christopher Beauregard Emery Why did Christopher love this book?

J.B. West was a White House Usher from 1941 to 1969. His book details many of his experiences in performing this rare and unique job in the White House, where he personally worked for Presidents (and First Ladies): Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. There have only been three books written by White House Ushers: Ike Hoover, who served from 1904 -1933; J.B. West, 1941-1969; and me, Chris Emery, 1986-1994.

By J. B. West, Mary Lynn Kotz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Upstairs at the White House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this New York Times bestseller, the White House chief usher for nearly three decades offers a behind-the-scenes look at America's first families.
J. B. West, chief usher of the White House, directed the operations and maintenance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue-and coordinated its daily life-at the request of the president and his family. He directed state functions; planned parties, weddings and funerals, gardens and playgrounds, and extensive renovations; and, with a large staff, supervised every activity in the presidential home. For twenty-eight years, first as assistant to the chief usher, then as chief usher, he witnessed national crises and triumphs,…


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Book cover of Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink

Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink By Ethan Chorin,

Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages of…

Book cover of Diana Vreeland

Meghan Friedlander Author Of Audrey Hepburn in Paris

From my list on Audrey Hepburn’s fashionable life.

Why am I passionate about this?

My fascination with Audrey Hepburn formed at an early age. My mother used to regale me with stories about taking trips to her local theater to watch My Fair Lady or seeing models at mall fashion shows sporting Audrey’s mod-inspired hairstyle from How to Steal a Million. Hearing these memories made Audrey feel familiar, like a distant relative and not an untouchable  Hollywood movie star. As a child, I watched her movies, and over time, I began collecting books, vintage magazines, and photographs. In 2010, I created my website, Rare Audrey Hepburn, with the intention of sharing my discoveries with fellow Audrey fans. 

Meghan's book list on Audrey Hepburn’s fashionable life

Meghan Friedlander Why did Meghan love this book?

When I was brainstorming the outline for my book, I knew from the outset that I wanted to explore Audrey’s noteworthy friendships, including the larger-than-life luminary Diana Vreeland. Diana transformed the way the general public saw fashion. During her time at Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue her influence was seen on every page, from the creative backdrops, to the imaginative themes, to her vibrant use of color.

This book by Eleanor Dwight beautifully captures the true essence of Vreeland. Dwight navigates Vreeland’s journey with glamorous photos that are grounded by her elegant narrative. It goes without saying that Diana was more than a footnote in Audrey’s life. She was a friend, an admirer, and a collaborator.  

By Eleanor Dwight,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Diana Vreeland as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Diana Vreeland has been called the fashion editor of the twentieth century. An epic self-mythologizer, she had an incredible aura of glamour, a great eye, and a genius for life. Diana Vreeland reveals the growth of her professional prowess and gives an account of her personal history, at the same time as it brings to life Mrs. Vreeland's pizzazz, humour, and flamboyant personality. A dynamic cast of characters accompanies Diana Vreeland's story. There are more than 300 illustrations, photographs, and drawings, many by the best fashion photographers of her time such as Louise Dahl Wolfe, Irving Penn, Cecil Beaton, and…


Book cover of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy
Book cover of Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House
Book cover of The Kennedy Baby: The Loss That Transformed JFK

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Interested in Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American first ladies, and presidential biography?