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American Morning

New Book Profiles John F. Kennedy's Relationship Jackie Kennedy

Aired November 21, 2001 - 09:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We have another anniversary to observe as well come willing up. This one is a bit more of a grim circumstance, because you know, 38 years ago tomorrow, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. You know, in the meantime, much been already said and written about the president. But now a new book profiles Kennedy's relationship with his wife, Jackie Kennedy. This book is "Mrs. Kennedy," and the author is Barbara Laeming. She's in our New York bureau this morning.

Barbara, welcome. How are you?

BARBARA LEAMING, AUTHOR, "MRS. KENNEDY": Hi, Leon, it's wonderful to be here.

HARRIS: This is really intriguing, because after -- not until I get a chance to thumb through this a little bit morning did it hit me that we really haven't seen much written about the marriage between these two people.

LEAMING: No, it is extraordinary. Basically what we know about Jackie Kennedy is basically what her dresses were like, and what's fascinating is that it is possible to know what she was thinking, and feeling and literally dog minute by minute in her life with Jack Kennedy during the thousand days of the presidency, and it's an extraordinary story, first of all, I mean, it's an extraordinary love story, because there's nothing any more contradictory than the relationship between the two Kennedys. Jackie adored him. I mean, the letters of Jackie that I read, no one can possibly question that this was a woman who absolutely adored her husband and believed he adored her, and yet, her husband is a man who was having sex with her friends in the children's nursery school room.

I mean, it's a marriage of pain, but also of tremendous love. And it's also extraordinary political story. And Jackie's political role is also something we have absolutely no sense of, I think, until you really look at it, and certainly with the assassination, her political role is something we have to look at.

HARRIS: Yes, we have been looking at that one, at least bits and pieces of it. But I have to ask you, first of all, in between the moment when they got married and the day of the assassination, was there any particular moment event that you learned that you didn't know about before that encapsulated for you in a certain special way what exactly their marriage was all about?

LEAMING: I think that obviously their marriage was on the positive side, certainly the trip to France, when you watch Jack and Jackie sitting together with Charles DeGaulle and Jackie pushing the translator aside, and becoming the voice of Jack Kennedy and flirting with DeGaulle for Jack. I mean, it is one of the most extraordinary scenes that I have ever encountered in my life.

But there are also scenes where incredible wrecklessness. I mean, someone, who was actually there in the White House told me a story about being in November of 1961, being upstairs in the family quarters of the White House with Jack and Jackie after a party, and this notorious charlatan doctor that was shooting up both of them was brought in to the White House and walked around the bedroom in the family quarters of the White House and shot up both Kennedys with amphetamines and steroids so they could go to Camp David. So it's a combination of blacks and whites, such as -- I mean, it's high drama. There's no more dramatic presidency. It makes the Clinton presidency look simple and easy to understand.

Boy, you said a mouthful there.

LEAMING: Yes.

HARRIS: Listen, if your writing is as good as lines like that, this is going to be a fantastic book and a great read. I'm sorry we don't have a lot of time to talk about it, but we wanted to squeeze you in some because it's a fascinating topic, and congratulate you on a job well done and wish you good luck.

Thank you so much.

LEAMING: All right, happy holidays to you.

HARRIS: Happy holidays to you.

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