While President Kennedy radiated youthful vigor and charismatic vitality, Jackie was the embodiment of cool elegance. After Jack's election, they became America's ultimate power couple. But behind closed doors, Jackie struggled to regain her health and emotional bearings before donning her latest role: First Lady.

Transition

Jackie spent two weeks in the hospital after John Jr.'s birth. Although she was still weak, she met outgoing First Lady Mamie Eisenhower for a two-hour tour of the White House. Mrs. Eisenhower, who had assumed she would be passing the White House on to her close friend Pat Nixon, was polite but reserved. Told of Jackie's fragile health, Mamie refused to offer the use of a wheelchair, even though there was one in a nearby closet, unless she was asked. Jackie toughed it out, later admitting she was too embarrassed to ask. The exertion and bitter cold of the wintry day left her exhausted and disgruntled.

After posing for pictures with Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie left with Jack and a team of advisors for the Kennedy Palm Beach compound. She spent her time in Florida organizing the plans for the White House move and jotting down ideas on how to give the imposing mansion a makeover. She also read several design books, and by the time of the inauguration, Jackie had a concrete vision of what the Kennedy White House would be.

Inauguration

January 20, 1961, was sunny but bitterly cold. Jackie and Jack had breakfast together in their Georgetown house. They dressed for the ceremony, then went to meet the Eisenhowers at the White House. The oldest president was about to turn the presidency over to the youngest man ever elected to fill the position. The two men had grown to respect one another over the course of their transitional meetings. Jackie and Mamie made polite but superficial conversation. When Pat Nixon arrived, there was a palpable tension in the room. Kennedy and Eisenhower drove to the Capitol together in one car, followed by Jackie and Mamie in another. The Nixons traveled separately.

Jack's Catholicism was underscored by Cardinal Cushing's participation in the inauguration. Cushing was a close friend of the Kennedys and made it his personal mission to make the American public accept the idea of a Catholic president. After Cushing's prayer invocation, poet Robert Frost movingly recited “The Gift Outright” from memory. Then John Fitzgerald Kennedy was sworn in as the thirty-fifth president of the United States.

For the Kennedys, it was the fulfillment of a decades-old family dream. Sixteen of Jack's relatives crowded the platform where the swearing-in took place. Although the Bouviers, Lees, and Auchinclosses were invited, they were mostly spectators for the inaugural festivities. At a luncheon thrown by Joe Kennedy at the Mayflower Hotel and then at the White House reception for the families, neither the Kennedys nor Jackie interacted very much with the other families.

Jackie spent most of the afternoon in bed, exhausted. She was still recovering from John Jr.'s birth, but she was also emotionally drained. The only relative she spent any time with was her cousin Michael Bouvier, whom she had brought up to her bedroom. After spending the day resting, she and Jack left to attend the five inaugural balls. Jackie was only able to make it through two before returning to the White House and going to sleep by herself in the Queen's bedroom while Jack celebrated until the early hours of the morning.