Jackie Kennedy's real White House tour
Director Pablo Larraín’s movie “Jackie” was nominated for three Academy Awards Tuesday, including best actress for Natalie Portman’s portrayal of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
The film traces Mrs. Kennedy’s life in the days immediately following President Kennedy’s assassination. Woven through the movie’s narrative is a recreation of the first lady’s famous White House tour, which aired on Valentine’s Day in 1962.
Hosted by CBS News correspondent Charles Collingwood, “A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy” was America’s first televised tour of the president’s residence. In the movie, Larraín meticulously recreated scenes from the tour and also included footage from the 1962 broadcast.
With signature poise and style, Mrs. Kennedy showcased the $2 million renovation she launched to restore historic artifacts at the White House, showing encyclopedic knowledge of each item on display.
In the original White House tour, Mrs. Kennedy shows Collingwood various White House rooms, including the Diplomatic Reception Room and the Blue Room. In the Red Room, she shows one of two original White House mantles, and in the East Room, she points out the piano designed by President Franklin Roosevelt. (Watch these moments in a shortened version of the tour, posted in the video player above.)
At the end of the tour, President Kennedy joins the first lady on camera, offering comment on her restorations.
“When we have, as we do today, Grant’s table, Lincoln’s bed, Monroe’s gold set—all these make these men more alive,” the president said. “I think it makes the White House a stronger panorama, really, of our great story.”
