“And our goal is not publicity; our goal is history.”
Birdwhistell used a straightforward approach: He wrote her a letter on April 14, 1981, explaining the oral history project and asking her to talk about Cooper.
“I started doing oral history in my early 20s,” said Birdwhistell , 43. “My philosophy has always been that they can’t turn you down if you don’t ask.”
He received a call on April 23 from Mrs. Onassis’ representative, Nancy Tuckerman of Doubleday & Co., agreeing to the interview.
When he arrived at Mrs. Onassis’ apartment, he was surprised at how easily he obtained entry. He was directed to an elevator, allowed to ride alone to Mrs. Onassis’ floor, where he was met by a doorman and taken to the library.
They were served a tray of sandwiches and iced tea, he said.
No, he doesn’t remember what kind of sandwiches. “I was too nervous to eat.”
IN JACKIE’S WORDS
In 1990, Terry Birdwhistell ’s interview with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis appeared in The Kentucky Review, a journal published by the University of
Kentucky Library Associates.
Here are some selected comments made by Onassis during the 1981 interview:
On Sen. John Sherman Cooper: My first impression of Senator Cooper is the same as my present impression — his wisdom, his humor, such a fine, fine man.
On the Kennedys’ friendship with Cooper and his wife, Lorraine: To show you what good friends we were — I think I’m right in this — the first dinner party we went to after we were in the White House was at the Coopers’.
On whether the Coopers enjoyed Washington social life: I never like to say “enjoy the social life,” because I think that sounds trivial and frivolous. If this is being done for history, as if the social life is an important. . . . I don’t know, everybody rushes in. Who’s in? Who’s out? You know, he’s (Cooper’s) too profound for that silly treadmill I have no esteem for.
On the Warren Commission: Somehow I had this feeling of, what did it matter what they found out? They could never bring back the person who was gone. Obviously, I knew it had to be done.
On her recollections of White House life: So many people, you know, hit the White House with their dictaphone running. I never even kept a journal. I thought, “I want to live my life, not record it.”
And I’m still glad I did that. But I think there’s so many things that I’ve forgotten.