In the 1950s, a Washington, D.C./Newport, Rhode Island socialite expressed doubts about her daughter’s upcoming marriage to one of America’s most eligible bachelors, complaining, “The wedding will be just awful — quite dreadful. There will be one hundred Irish politicians!”
Who was this unenthusiastic mother-of-the-bride?
Hint: Despite her claims to the contrary, this socialite mother was unrelated to General Robert E. Lee.
The answer is after the JUMP.
Who was this unenthusiastic mother-of-the-bride?
Hint: Despite her claims to the contrary, this socialite mother was unrelated to General Robert E. Lee.
The answer is after the JUMP.
The mother in question was Janet Auchincloss (per Jan Pottker’s Janet & Jackie). The debutante daughter was of course Jacqueline Bouvier. Janet was evidently dreading Jackie’s upcoming wedding to Senator John F. Kennedy, which, for maximum political gain, had been expanded beyond the more intimate affair Jackie had envisaged.
 John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy at Their Wedding |  "Janet & Jackie" |
Despite her very public claims to the contrary, Janet was unrelated to the Virginia Lee family that also included General Robert E. Lee. Her branch of the Lee family were actually Irish immigrants, which Jacqueline herself acknowledged as early as 1949 when she visited Ireland with her stepbrother Yusha Auchincloss.
Janet should not have been ashamed of lineage. Instead of descending from slaveowners, she was the daughter of the prominent New York City real estate developer James Lee, who practically invented the concept of the luxury apartment building. The crown jewel of his portfolio was 740 Park Avenue, which, nearly a century later, remains one of Manhattan’s most prestigious addresses.
Janet should not have been ashamed of lineage. Instead of descending from slaveowners, she was the daughter of the prominent New York City real estate developer James Lee, who practically invented the concept of the luxury apartment building. The crown jewel of his portfolio was 740 Park Avenue, which, nearly a century later, remains one of Manhattan’s most prestigious addresses.
Image Credit: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy
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