BBC Learning English
Words in the News
16

th

September 2011

Interview reveals Jackie's inner thoughts

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011

Page 1 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

An interview given by the late Jacqueline Kennedy shortly after her husband President

Kennedy was assassinated has been made public. The audio tapes reveal some of the dislikes

of America's most famous First Lady. The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani reports:

In the eight hours of relaxed chat between Jacqueline Kennedy and an historian some candid

moments reveal strong opinions of world figures.

Churchill in the fifties she says was already quite ga-ga, civil rights leader Martin Luther

King was ''a tricky person'', Indira Gandhi, before she became India's first prime minister,

was to Mrs Kennedy ''a bitter, horrible woman''.

The tapes include plenty of tender family moments, at one point three-year-old John Kennedy

Junior interrupts, the interviewer asks if he knows what happened to his father. He's gone to

heaven the young child answers.

What's most remarkable is that these recordings were made just four months after JFK was

assassinated. Until her death in 1994 Jacqueline Kennedy stayed silent about her celebrated

life. Now we have a rare glimpse in her own words.

Rajesh Mirchandani, BBC News

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011

Page 2 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

chat

informal conversation

candid moments

frank and honest conversation about difficult matters

ga-ga

mad, insane

a tricky person

a difficult individual to deal with

bitter

a person that feels angry because she is unable to forget

negative events that happened in the past

gone to heaven

died and gone to a religious afterlife

remarkable

surprising and noticeable

stayed silent

didn't speak publicly about it

celebrated life

publicly-known past experiences

a rare glimpse

an infrequent chance to see briefly

More on this story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14909983

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/09/110916_witn_jackie_kennedy.shtml