Jackie Kennedy likely suffered from PTSD after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, says biographer Barbara Leaming, who claims that late first lady lived in fear of being attacked again.
In Leaming's new book "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story," the author delved into the post-traumatic stress disorder theory with the first lady, describing how she would go into graphic details with family and friends about her husband's death and would think about suicide,
according to a "Today" show interview.
"She's traumatized in a very specific way," Leaming told "Today." "Her husband's head was inches from her face. She was looking into his face when the gunshot blew his head apart."
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, while sitting next to his wife, with a bullet from a high-powered rifle fired by Lee Harvey Oswald on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building,
according to the History Channel. His was officially pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas' Parkland Hospital.
Leaming told "Today" that the toughest part for Jackie Kennedy was always maintaining a calm public face for the country while she struggled mightily inside.
"If you have PTSD, you are constantly – and Jackie certainly was – constantly waiting for the next attack," Leaming said. "When is it coming? You're in a state of arousal at all times waiting for the next gunshot. And it's a hideous way to live."
According to Louie Pukelis of
ChicagoNow.com, Leaming wrote in the book that Jackie Kenning was "frozen in a mournful stupor" after the assassination of brother-in-law Robert Kennedy in 1968.
Robert Kennedy was shot June 5, 1968, by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles while making a speech after winning the California presidential primary and died a day later, according to the History Channel.
"Jackie was completely numbed," Leaming said. "She said she was living in a trance."
Kennedy's second marriage to Greek shipping magnate and billionaire Aristotle Onassis gave her the security she needed at the time, Leaming said, but the former first lady sought the help of a psychiatrist when he passed away.
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