Jacqueline Kennedy was the first lady of the United States before her husband, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, but she left a great number of things to be known for. She was an iconic first lady because she restored the White house, supported the arts, promoted historic preservation, served as a traveling ambassador, and influenced the world of fashion.
The first ironic thing Jacqueline introduced was supporting the arts. During her first month of being the first lady, she assembled a White House Fine Arts Committee made of experts. She rallied people to donate pictures of art to be put in the house, she also located and brought back many pieces of art and furniture that past presidents used to have in the White House. After all of that, she eventually went through the storage rooms in the White House and brought out long forgotten pictures. The most important artifacts that she found were owned by presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and James Madison. …show more content…
Mrs. Kennedy enlisted the help of her friend Mrs. Paul Mellon for the task of redesigning the President’s Rose Garden, making it the ideal place to greet important visitors and large groups. Once the first lady learned of the scheduled demolition of historic homes that lined Lafayette Square just across the street from the White House, she stepped in and devised a new plan to preserve the historical identity of the famous square and stop them from building new government office buildings in their place. She also championed the restoration of Pennsylvania Avenue, the main road connecting the White House and Capitol Hill, and advocated the creation of a national cultural complex, which became the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington,