By Michelle Hines , University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted: 5-18-07
Dr. Jody Natalle.
GREENSBORO, NC – Jackie Kennedy has long fascinated Dr. Elizabeth “Jody” Natalle — especially the illusiveness and the mystique of the only First Lady of the modern age who did not leave her papers immediately open to public scrutiny after her death.
Natalle, a communication studies professor, recently received a $1,200 Theodore Sorensen Research Fellowship from the JFK Library in Boston. The grant, named for JFK’s special counsel, will fund her trip to the library this summer to complete archival research for a book, tentatively titled “The Rhetorical Jacqueline Kennedy: The Influence of First Lady Discourse and Image.”
Jackie was extremely protective of her personal life, and instructed that her papers remain sealed for 60 years after her death. Natalle tells the story of JFK’s Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger, asking Jackie why she never kept a journal: “I don’t need to write about my life,” Jackie told him. “I need to live my life.”
The secrecy has made research difficult for Natalle, whose quest to understand Mrs. Kennedy as a public communicator stemmed from her involvement in the First Ladies Scholars Network, a subgroup of the National Communication Association. She started work on the book eight years ago and hopes to complete the draft by December.
“She’s probably the most difficult First Lady to research,” Natalle said. “I had very limited access to primary sources. It’s a lot of fun though. Almost like detective work.”
The book focuses only on Jackie’s years in the White House. Much of Natalle’s information has come from communications from Mrs. Kennedy to White House insiders and staff members.
Jackie made it clear to staffers that she expected complete privacy, Natalle said. “She sent out a blanket memo to staff that essentially said, ‘At the end of this administration, you will return to me any correspondence we have had during this administration.’”
Of course the administration was cut short by JFK’s death, and some letters, speech drafts and memos survived.
Natalle said the uppercrust Jackie, who spoke French fluently, was often criticized by the media because they saw the Kennedy White House as “Jacqueline Kennedy trying to be French, or Jacqueline Kennedy trying to be a queen. But I don’t think she ever lost sight of the fact that she was part of a democracy rather than a monarchy.”
Other than the White House restoration, Jackie didn’t have a specific public agenda like most First Ladies have now, Natalle said, but she did have a major and lasting impact on American culture. She exemplified graceful diplomacy, and advocated for historic preservation, the arts and cultural pride.
“I’m looking at the relationship of the First Lady to the public and of the First Lady to the presidency,” Natalle said, “because the First Lady really is cast in a support role. She’s part of the team that supports the President.”
Natalle’s book will be the first full documentation of Mrs. Kennedy’s public communication.
