This Part of Parenting Reportedly ‘Saved’ Jackie Kennedy From the Ongoing Trauma of JFK’s Assassination

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It’s well-known that Jackie Kennedy went through so much after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In Paul Brandus’ book Jackie: Her Transformation From First Lady to Jackie O, he said that “she was miserable for quite a long time” after the assassination in 1963. Her whole family had to leave the White House, she reportedly turned to drinking, and “had nightmares during the day.” Her saving grace? Her children.

It wasn’t just one part of parenting that saved her from the nightmares, but focusing on her children was the thing that kept her going, according to Brandus’ book. “She could not stop thinking about it. She had nightmares during the day,” Brandus said to Closer Weekly about his book. “And going to sleep brought her no rest.”

So, she fully focused on giving her children everything she could, and making the transition for them as smooth as can be such as painting her children’s bedrooms the exact same shades as they were in the White House, going all out for Christmas and their birthdays, and more.

“Her love for her children gave her strength,” Brandus said. “She said at one point that if you do a poor job of raising your children, then nothing else you do in life really matters. She lived up to that. They always came first.”

JFK and Jackie had four children together: Caroline, born Nov 1957, John Jr, who tragically passed away in a plane crash in 1999, and two more children who died in infancy named Patrick and Arabella.

Before you go, click here to see presidential families over the years.