In this episode, we explore the explosive eight-hour interview recordings that Jackie Kennedy gave to historian Arthur Schlesinger just four months after President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas. These intimate conversations, kept secret for decades at Jackie's request, reveal the true story behind the Kennedy presidency from nineteen sixty-one to nineteen sixty-three. We examine Jackie's role in shaping the Kennedy myth, her detailed accounts of major Cold War events including the Bay of Pigs invasion and Cuban Missile Crisis, her complex relationship with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and his wife, and her candid assessments of political figures like Lyndon Johnson and Charles de Gaulle. The recordings expose Kennedy's health struggles, drug dependency, and the intense pressure he faced during critical moments like the Vienna Summit with Khrushchev. We also uncover Jackie's transformation from grieving widow to political strategist, working alongside Robert Kennedy to control the Kennedy legacy while revealing shocking details about life inside the White House during one of America's most turbulent periods.

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