Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Nancy Tuckerman were friends over seven decades. Nancy almost never talked to people writing books about Jackie. She made an exception for me because I was working with her former colleagues. She and I met for the first time at the Red Lion Inn on a cold day in February. She was wearing a plain brown sweater and hiding behind a newspaper. At first she was stiff with me. But at lunch the young waiter poured her a cold cup of coffee. When he stepped away we both laughed That was how we began a friendlier and franker conversation that lasted ten years. This is a revised and expanded version of my article “Inside Jackie O’s Longest, Most Complicated Friendship,” VANITY FAIR, July 2019. Nancy's insights about Jackie are on every page, but this is also the story of Nancy Tuckerman herself. As I'm telling the story, it's sometimes about me too.

What was it like to meet and talk to people who knew Jackie Kennedy Onassis well? Each of these eight people gave me a surprising look into what it was like to live and work in Jackie's world. 1 Nancy Tuckerman was Jackie's friend from boarding school and also her lifelong assistant. 2 Jackie was wary around Nan Talese, one of the most important people in publishing. Jackie was also envious of Nan. 3 Distantly related to her by marriage, Louis Auchincloss gave Jackie a hard time when she wanted to slip out of the spotlight. 4 Sarah Giles was an editor at Vanity Fair. She worked with Jackie in her apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue on a book that got them both into trouble. 5 Ruth Ansel knew Jackie via man about town and major photographer Peter Beard. When Jackie had a rare chance to acquire an authorized biography of Audrey Hepburn, Jackie confessed to Ruth why she couldn't do it. 6 Rosamond Bernier gave sold-out lectures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was married to The New York Times'sart critic. Their wedding was at Philip Johnson's famous glass house in Connecticut. Nevertheless, Philip Johnson later proved treacherous both to Rosamond Bernier and to Jackie. 7 Francis Mason advised Jackie when she wanted to switch jobs. The story of how she ignored his advice and managed to remain friends with him is testimony to a high-spirited talent that the two of them shared. 8 Edith Welch and her husband went to India with Jackie. Jackie didn't always behave well on these trips, nor did Edith's husband.

One of the most popular series ever published for young Americans, these classics have been praised alike by parents, teachers, and librarians. With these lively, inspiring, fictionalized biographies -- easily read by children of eight and up -- today's youngster is swept right into history.

A biography of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, arguing that she suffered from PTSD after her first husband's assassination.

Despite hundreds of books and thousands of articles on Jackie Kennedy, surprisingly little is known about her mother's role in her life and achievements. Often dismissed as a social climber who faded into the woodwork after she divorced Jackie's father-the dashing, disreputable "Black Jack" Bouvier-and married the rich Hugh D. Auchincloss, Janet not only played a pivotal part in Jackie's own wedding to JFK, but often served as a stand-in for Jackie during the White House years, and helped her cope with John and Caroline after the assassination. The only book to explore this fascinating mother-daughter relationship, Janet & Jackie is filled with stories that shed new light on the personal life of an American icon.