In the three-plus decades that she appeared on the world stage, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy captivated the country’s imagination. But little personal information was known about the fiercely private widow of President John F. Kennedy.  Jackie Kennedy, then a bereaved widow, opened her heart to White House aide and historian Arthur Schlesinger at her Washington home, four months after JFK was killed in Dallas, Texas.

She agreed to the interviews on condition that they would not be released until long after her death. Jackie died of cancer on May 19, 1994 at the age of 64. The interviews were only recently released.

The eight hours of recordings are now the subject of a book – Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F Kennedy.

Jackie:  “Jack said it to me sometimes. He said, ‘Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon were president?”‘

She also strongly criticized Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., recalling how her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy told her the civil rights leader had been intoxicated at JFK’s funeral and mocked Cardinal Richard Cushing’s Mass.

So much has changed since the days of “Camelot.”