How Jackie Kennedy Transformed the White House

February 14, 1962, was no ordinary Valentine’s Day for first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

It was the night she would become a bonafide television sensation—thanks to a landmark CBS television special titled "A Tour of The White House With Mrs. John F. Kennedy." The TV special showcased the results of a year-long renovation project led by the first lady herself. It went on to draw an audience of 56 million people, about one out of three Americans at the time.

Airing simultaneously on CBS, NBC and later ABC, the special featured Mrs. Kennedy painstakingly leading CBS News reporter Charles Collingwood through the newly renovated White House, room by room—including now-demolished parts of the East Wing. The event was a tailored showcase of her tastes and personality for a public eager to follow her every move.

“She was a definite TV hit from the time we first saw her walking towards us,” stated a review of the program by the United Press Syndicate the following day.

The Kennedys understood the importance of television and print media when it came to public image. Television was still a new medium prior to the 1960 election. Only about 20 percent of U.S. households owned televisions when John F. Kennedy’s predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower was first elected in 1952.

“But by 1960, when John F. Kennedy is elected, that number was 80 percent of households,” says Barbara A. Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center and author of several books on the Kennedy presidency. “Most people who had televisions only got two channels, NBC and CBS, so if you were going to be watching TV on February 14, 1962, chances are you would be watching Mrs. Kennedy."

The seed for the White House restoration was planted long before the 1962 television special. As a child in 1941, Jacqueline Kennedy had visited the mansion for the first time as a tourist. She left feeling deeply disappointed by the lack of historical context, meaningful art on display or even informational souvenirs.

That negative perception of the White House would continue after her formal visit with first lady Mamie Eisenhower; Kennedy privately described the residence as “that dreary Maison Blanche.” But she knew she could restore the White House's historical authenticity.

While recovering from the birth of her son John Jr. in 1960, Kennedy began asking her staff to send books about the White House and learned why there were so few historic furnishings in the building. Prior to 1961, there was no law governing the ownership and upkeep of the contents of the White House or the gifts presented by heads of state or other dignitaries.

“So presidents and maybe their wives or family members would cart off things that they found special or that they wanted to keep for their own when they left,” notes Perry. President Chester A. Arthur was said to have carted away three wagonloads of historic furniture when he departed the White House in 1885.

“Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there,” Kennedy told Life magazine in 1961. “It would be a sacrilege merely to redecorate it—a word I hate. It must be restored, and that has nothing to do with decoration. That is a question of scholarship.”

To rebuild the collections of furniture, art and porcelain china lost over the years, Kennedy formed the Fine Arts Committee for the White House, filled with experts on art, design and history.

But the restoration was initially met with skepticism. Some Kennedy advisors worried the project would seem frivolous or indulgent, while other Kennedy foes openly criticized the restoration’s cost—especially since it was spearheaded by a first lady known for her spending.

The committee raised support (both monetary and material) from Americans across the country. As Time Magazine reported, ”Donated to the White House was furniture once owned by George Washington, James and Dolly Madison, James Monroe, Martin Van Buren, Daniel Webster and Abraham Lincoln.” Members of the committee were also on the hunt for period-appropriate furnishings.

Jacqueline Kennedy also proposed the creation of the White House Historical Society and a White House Guidebook, sold for $1 a copy. Sales of the guidebook would eventually fund the entire restoration. As donations of furniture and art were verified and restored, the White House started to look like a “full-fledged museum,” White House Chief Usher J. B. West recalled in his 1973 memoir.

While the first lady thought about publishing a book on the restoration, “the President wanted her on camera,” recalled Perry Wolff, director and producer of the special. After some convincing from friends and colleagues, Mrs. Kennedy came to embrace the idea of a television broadcast.

The first lady elected to lead Collingwood (and by extension the American people) through the White House herself. The tour led by the first lady especially resonated with women. Many historians now credit it as one of the first television specials created specifically for the female audience.

Mrs. Kennedy discussed other presidential residences that inspired her around the world, particularly the Presidential Palace in Colombia (where she had visited the previous year). “Every piece of furniture in it has some link with the past,” she noted, particularly struck by the objects that dated back to Simón Bolívar. “I thought the White House should be like that.”

President Kennedy also made a brief appearance, saying he’d hoped to “bring Americans in more intimate contact with the men who lived there.” In his statements , he framed the White House as a symbol of America's leadership and values. They also used it to promote America’s interests, particularly in regions hostile to American ideas. The taped tour was sent around the world to be cinematically shown in countries such as China and the U.S.S.R. 

Capitalizing on the domestic success of the program, CBS re-aired it the following month during a Sunday afternoon. And in a historic first, the Television Academy presented the first lady with its Trustee Award, describing the program as a “singular experience.” Lady Bird Johnson—who accepted the award on Mrs. Kennedy’s behalf—emphasized its impact as a “history lesson."

Decades later, Federal Communications Commission Chair Newton N. Minow would recall a phone call from President Kennedy asking about “the rating on Jackie’s White House tour.” Minnow jokingly replied that they were higher than the ratings for the president's own press conferences.