The Jacqueline Kennedy interview tapes being released this week give us a taste of life in the White House -- and of her sharp claws.
In her political observer's shorthand, Indira Ghandi was a "prune," Charles DeGaulle an "egomaniac" and Lady Bird Johnson "like a trained hunting dog." (Reading her comments, it's remarkable that we remember Jackie in her youthfulness, while these other figures seem to be from a more distant time.)The wife of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy did not care for French leader Charles de Gaulle or India's Indira Gandhi, according to newly-released taped interviews.
The interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy, recorded months after the 1963 assassination of her husband and aired for the first time by ABC News, include her candid assessments of world leaders and her time in the White House.
"De Gaulle was my hero when I married Jack," she tells the historian Arthur Schlesinger, referring to her husband by his nickname, in a tape aired by ABC News on Tuesday.
But when she met the French leader in person during a May 1961 visit, shortly after Kennedy assumed office, she found de Gaulle to be "so full of spite" and disliked the French in general.
"I loathe the French... They are not very nice, they are all for themselves," she said.
Her criticism came despite the fact that she had studied at the Sorbonne at the age of 20 and could speak French well.
In her political observer's shorthand, Indira Ghandi was a "prune," Charles DeGaulle an "egomaniac" and Lady Bird Johnson "like a trained hunting dog." (Reading her comments, it's remarkable that we remember Jackie in her youthfulness, while these other figures seem to be from a more distant time.)The wife of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy did not care for French leader Charles de Gaulle or India's Indira Gandhi, according to newly-released taped interviews.
The interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy, recorded months after the 1963 assassination of her husband and aired for the first time by ABC News, include her candid assessments of world leaders and her time in the White House.
"De Gaulle was my hero when I married Jack," she tells the historian Arthur Schlesinger, referring to her husband by his nickname, in a tape aired by ABC News on Tuesday.
But when she met the French leader in person during a May 1961 visit, shortly after Kennedy assumed office, she found de Gaulle to be "so full of spite" and disliked the French in general.
"I loathe the French... They are not very nice, they are all for themselves," she said.
Her criticism came despite the fact that she had studied at the Sorbonne at the age of 20 and could speak French well.
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