Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot by J. Randy Taraborrelli Page A

temperaments, and probably no two of them were more at odds over the years than Jackie and Ethel. Once she became First Lady, Jackie was the embodiment of everything Ethel wanted to be: a powerful, intelligent, and attractive woman who com- manded the world’s attention and respect just for being her- self. Ethel felt that, if her life worked out as she planned, Bobby would one day be President and she would have the status she so craved. Meanwhile, she just had to tolerate the fact that Jackie had it and she didn’t—at least for the time being.
    From the first time they met, though, Jackie presented herself as a princess, even on Ethel’s own, royal, home turf. In March 1953, when Ethel Kennedy settled into her new Georgetown home, she longed to meet Bobby’s new friends in government. She hoped to demonstrate her ability as a hostess to the Kennedy family, especially after Jean had told her, “You can’t be in this family unless you know how to en- tertain.” Ethel had certainly come from a clan who knew how to throw a good party, and she was anxious to show Bobby’s side of the family that she was worthy of her dis- tinction as the only Kennedy wife so far (other than the ma- triarch, Rose). So she decided to host a get-together at her home in honor of St. Patrick’s Day—an affair of about thirty people, mostly family but with some important business as- sociates of Bobby’s as well. When Bobby’s brother Jack heard about Ethel’s plans, he called to ask if she could invite his new girlfriend, Jacqueline Bouvier. Ethel readily agreed.
    She liked the senator a great deal and would do anything to please him.
    Two days later, Ethel telephoned Jackie to invite her to the party and inform her of the unusual theme: All of the
    guests were to wear black, which seemed particularly strange for a St. Patrick’s Day party.
    On the night of the party, Jack showed up first, on crutches and slippers, his chronic back troubles causing him great discomfort. “I’m dying here,” he said. “This damn back is killing me.” Jim Buckley, brother of magazine pub- lisher William F. Buckley and who would go on to become a New York senator and one day marry Ethel’s college friend Ann Cooley, asked Jack about his date. “Oh, she’s a looker,” Jack said. “Wait until you get a load of her. She’s my new dance partner,” he added with a grin.
    Anxious to make an entrance befitting a Bouvier—and perhaps hoping to impress her new beau and his friends— Jackie was the last to arrive. Whereas everyone else had ei- ther driven his or her own car or took a cab to Bobby and Ethel’s, Jackie showed up in a chauffeur-driven black Rolls Royce. She did wear black, though, as did all of the guests. Jackie wore an elegant dark cocktail dress embroidered with silver threads in medallion shapes, along with white pearls and matching earrings. A black fur coat was the perfect win- try touch.
    As if on cue, shortly after Jackie’s arrival, Ethel came swooping down the staircase from the second floor. “Here I am, everybody. How are you all ?” Her smile was dazzling as she walked about the room, meeting and greeting her guests, all of whom looked at her with expressions of aston- ishment. Ethel was wearing a stunning green diaphanous gown—and not just one shade, but layer upon layer of dif- ferent hues of green. The center of attention, Ethel gra- ciously spent time with each guest and began to acquit herself well as the ideal hostess.
    Jackie stood in a corner and watched Ethel with an in-
    scrutable expression. Lem Billings, who attended the party, remembered, “About an hour into the party, she came over to me and said, ‘Interesting woman, that Ethel.’ I told her, ‘Once you get to know her, I think you’ll like her.’ ”
    Billings asked Jackie, “Now, does it upset you, the way she set this up?”
    “Oh, no. Not in the least,” Jackie said with a chuckle. “After all, it is her party. As hostess, she can do