Grace Kelly on JFK

Was this the first time that you had met the President?

Well actually, no. The first time was before he became President, during that year that he was in the hospital in New York with his back. I had been to a dinner party where I had met Mrs. Kennedy and her sister [Lee Bouvier Kennedy] for the first time. They asked me to go to the hospital with them to pay a visit to help cheer him up. They wanted me to go into his room and say I was the new night nurse.

Did you?

Well I hesitated. I was terribly embarrassed. Eventually I was sort of pushed into the room by the two girls. I introduced myself, but he had recognized me at once and couldn’t have been sweeter or more quick to put me at ease.

When today you think of the late President Kennedy [John F. Kennedy], what is it that comes to your mind most vividly—or, shall we say, to your heart?

His youth. He was one of my own generation, so that for the first time in my life I became deeply involved, spiritually, and sympathetically, with the presidency—the office as well as the man. I felt personally involved.

Speaking as an American?

Oh, yes, as a born American but also as the wife of the head of an independent European country. We felt somehow that at last the United States had a leader who, from the point of view of age, appearance, and dynamic personality, genuinely reflected his era. My husband often remarked what a pity it was that a great country like America, which in Europe is still regarded as such a young nation, should be represented seemingly only by old or infirm men.

From the moment he became President, it seemed as though a wave of excitement ran through all of the young painters, poets, writers and musicians of the United States. Now that someone of their own age was in the White House, there was somehow a better chance for them to be seen or heard.

I remember the luncheon that we were privileged to have at the White House. I kept the menu. I’m one of those people who keep everything. We had soft-shelled crabs and spring lamb and strawberries Romanov. Mrs. Kennedy and I fell into woman talk with a discussion of our children of course—our two Carolines [Caroline Bouvier Kennedy; Princess Caroline]—and our special problems connected with bringing them up. I remember Jacqueline was very upset about that time at the photographers who were hounding the children. She was determined that Caroline and John [John F. Kennedy, Jr.] should be able to get in and out of the White House without being pestered by photographers, or being made constantly aware of their position.

Do you feel that his life—and death, will have any lasting effect upon international relationships?

Are you asking me whether I think that President Kennedy died in vain?

In a sense, yes.

Well, it might not seem so today, but I, for one, cannot believe that a man of Mr. Kennedy’s stature and achievements was put upon this earth for no other purpose than to stop an assassin’s bullet. I believe that God allows these certain tragedies to happen in order to emphasize the man and his achievements and to inspire those who follow to have the strength and the will to accomplish his unfulfilled dreams.