Jackie

Mrs. Kennedy?

They told me to come up.

And I'm so sorry for your loss.

Have you read what they've been writing?

Krock and Merriman and all the rest?

Yes, I have.

Merriman is such a bitter man.

It's been just one week.

Already they're treating him like some dusty old artifact,

to be shelved away.

That's no way to be remembered.

And how would you like him remembered, Mrs. Kennedy?

I...

You understand that I will be editing this conversation?

Just in case I don't say exactly what I mean.

With all due respect,

that seems very unlikely, Mrs. Kennedy.

Right. Okay. Uh...

So, this will be your own version of what happened?

Exactly.

Come in.

I thought it was another backfire.

I very nearly didn't go. What if I'd been here

or out riding in Virginia somewhere?

Thank God I was with him.

Why, "Thank God"?

Do you know what I think of history?

Of history?

I've read a great deal. More than people realize.

The more I read, the more I wonder...

When something is written down,

does that make it true?

It's all that we have.

Had.

We have television now.

At least people can see for their own eyes.

That tour of the White House

that you did a couple of years ago for CBS,

I always assumed that you did that for

a purpose? No? After the fashion magazines?

You even won an Emmy.

I didn't do that program for me.

I did it for the American people.

That program was my first glimpse

into the White House

and, for whatever it's worth, I thought you were excellent.

Very poised. Oh, thank you.

You could have had a career as a broadcaster, I'm sure.

What?

I'm sorry?

What did you say?

I said you could have a career...

Could have had a career as a broadcaster.

Are you giving me professional advice?

I'm

not.

But I am sure that the whole country would like to know

what you're going to do next.

I can assure you, not television.

Welcome to the White House.

Welcome to the White House.

We're so proud to call it home.

Why don't you try, "The People's House"?

Make it more personal.

Welcome to The People's House.

We're so proud to call it home.

Better?

When will Jack join us?

They want to hear from you.

They think I'm a fool.

One year in office, wasting their money.

That's why you need to show them what you've done.

The President will join you in the Monroe Room

at the end of the tour.

You'll be great.

Stay close. Of course.

You look beautiful. Go.

Hello. Excuse me.

This is the White House

as seen from its South Lawn.

For the next hour, Mrs. John F. Kennedy

invites you to visit the President's House

and see some of the restorations

she's made in its interior.

Mrs. John F. Kennedy,

third-youngest of the 29 wives to live in the White House.

Mrs. Kennedy, I want to thank you

for letting us visit your official home.

This is obviously the room

from which much of your work on it is directed.

Yes, it's attic and cellar all in one.

Since our work started,

we receive hundreds of letters every day.

This is where we evaluate all the finds,

and see if we want to keep them,

if they'll fit into our budget.

Mrs. Kennedy, every First Lady

and every administration since President Madison's time,

has made changes,

greater or smaller, in the White House.

Before we look at any of the changes you've made...

Now, what's your basic plan?

Well, I really don't have one.

Because I think this house will always grow, and should.

It just seemed to me such a shame

when we came here to find

hardly anything of the past in the house.

Hardly anything before 1902.

Now suppose that you and your committee

were to acquire some of the things

that are in this room,

what happens when the next President's wife

comes into the White House?

Well, if they don't want it...

In the past, you see,

they could sell it or throw it out.

And the talk of the taxpayer money being wasted?

Oh, I raised every dime privately

that we spent on that restoration.

I... I loved that house,

and I wanted to share it with the American people.

To impart a sense of America's greatness.

Objects and artifacts

last far longer than people,

and they represent important ideas in history,

identity, beauty.

But I'm sure that, uh, the readers would like to know

what it's like to be a member of your family?

Imagine a little boy surrounded by all of this.

Having his older brother die in battle,

and then going off to that same war

and coming home a hero.

People see that little boy,

born to wealth and privilege,

willing to sacrifice everything for his ideals

in service to his nation.

Royalty. You make him sound like royalty.

Well, for royalty you need tradition.

And for tradition, you need time.

Well, I guess it has to start somewhere, right?

There has to be a day one.

This is the East Room,

pretty much as Americans

have known it now for 60 years.

Obviously you haven't felt that

you had to make any great changes in here.

No, I think it's lovely.

I hate to make changes really,

so when you find a room like this,

it's wonderful. This...

This piano brings to mind

that, uh, this is the part of the White House

where you have the musical affairs.

That's right. This piano was designed by Franklin Roosevelt

with the eagle support.

And this is the end of the room

where Pablo Casals played for us,

where we had a portable stage built,

when we had the Shakespeare players.

Mrs. Kennedy, this administration

has shown a particular affinity

for artists, musicians, writers, poets...

Is this because you and your husband

just feel that way,

or do you think that there's a relationship

between the government and the arts?

That's so complicated.

I... I don't know.

I just think that everything

in the White House should be the best.

And if it's an American company

that you can help, I like to do that.

If it's not... Just as long as it's the best.

Is your faith helping you?

I'd prefer to discuss my faith with a priest.

You're not a man of the cloth, are you?

No. No, I'm not.

I'm just trying to get to the truth.

That's what reporters do. Oh, the truth.

Well, I've grown accustomed to a great divide

between what people believe and what I know to be real.

Fine. I will settle for a story that's believable.

That's more like it.

You know, I used to be a reporter myself once.

I know what you're looking for.

I'm sorry?

A moment-by-moment account.

That's what you came here for, isn't it?

You want me to describe the sound the bullet made

when it collided with my husband's skull.

I'm very happy

to be in the great State of Texas,

to be with you

and experience

the noble Spanish tradition

that has achieved so much in Dallas.

This tradition

started 100 years

before the colonization of Massachusetts,

my husband's State.