Jackie Kennedy's Reason for Marrying Aristotle Onassis Despite His Ongoing Infidelity

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Five years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Jaqueline Kennedy married Greek shipping tycoon, Aristotle Onassis. People were shocked that she settled down with an international playboy, but the former first lady stood firm in her decision despite his constant infidelity.

In a look back at Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos’ 1998 book, The Onassis Women, Fox News spoke with Onassis’ personal secretary and friend on why Jackie wasn’t upset by Onassis’ ongoing affair with famed opera star, Maria Callas. “Jackie was used to this with her previous husband, the president,” she told the media outlet while noting exactly why she entered into the marriage in the first place. 

“But she also needed to have a strong man next to her. Onassis was the perfect man. He could give her security not only for her but for her children. And Onassis adored her children, John Jr. and Caroline,” the author added. Jackie was treated like a queen, often gifted with “the most expensive things” from jewelry for herself to toys for the two children she shared with her late husband, Caroline and JFK Jr. 

Moutsatsos told People in November that Jackie “was not happy” that her second husband carried a torch for Callas, but she largely ignored the situation. “Jackie was never screaming, never fighting,” Moutsatsos recalled. “Although she knew many things from Aristo’s behavior, but she was pretending that nothing happened. She was very smart.” Onassis offered Jackie and her children a wealthy lifestyle and safety after such a tragic event in her life. 

Onassis was 23 years older than Jackie when they married in 1968, but she was following the advice of her mother which was to “keep marrying up the scale,” Katherine Jellison, professor of U.S. gender and women’s history at Ohio University told Time in May. “There was a fondness, and I think respect between Jackie and Aristotle Onassis,” she explained. “It was not a great love story. In many ways, he was a father-protector figure as well as a husband.” 

That unique relationship was evident in Jackie’s statement when Onassis died in 1975, and she had already moved back to New York City with her kids. She wrote, “Aristotle Onassis rescued me at a moment when my life was engulfed with shadows…We lived through many beautiful experiences together…for which I will be eternally grateful.”

It wasn’t a great romance, but Onassis was Jackie’s safe harbor during a difficult storm.

Before you go, click here to see all the women JFK was accused of having affairs with during his marriage to Jackie Kennedy..