Wife's Pensive Letter to John F Kennedy on Relationship, Family Up for Auction

Boston: A three-page letter written to former US president John F Kennedy by his wife, concerning their relationship and family, may fetch over $20,000 at an auction.

The letter by Jacqueline Kennedy was written around the time when her husband was Massachusetts Senator, US-based RR auctions said in a statement.

Away from him, Jacqueline writes that she is finding it hard to communicate and feels like being separate knocks a married couple off of the same wavelength.

"I think it is usually good when we go away from each other as we both realise so much. We are so different — but I was thinking this trip — that every other time I've been away, you would write 'don't ponder our relationship too much' etc," the letter says.

According to RR Auction, the letter paints Jacqueline as a torn matriarch, fatigued by her husband's indiscretions, yet resolute in her conviction to save her family.

"Jackie Kennedy was a prolific writer and we have seen dozens of letters to friends and family — but this is the only letter we have seen where she speaking directly to Jack about their relationship," said Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction.

"Our research indicates this is the only Jackie love letter to Jack ever be offered at auction, it previously sold for more than $22,000 in 2016," he said.

She inquires about how their new daughter Caroline is doing and expresses joy that they at last have 'a baby we both love.'

Closing the letter, she writes, "You are an atypical husband — increasingly so in one way or another every year since we've been married — so you mustn't be surprised to have an atypical wife — Each of us would have been so lonely with the normal kind.

"I can't write down what I feel for you, but I will show you when I am with you — and I think you must know," Jacqueline wrote.

After a pair of unsuccessful pregnancies, John and Jackie welcomed Caroline Bouvier Kennedy into their family on November 27, 1957, whose arrival proved opportune for the incumbent Bay State senator as he used the optics of his new family to boost his reelection campaign.

Away from the public eye, however, the Kennedy family was in disrepair, with John's infidelities threatening to dissolve the couple's five-year marriage.

In defying JFK's solution — encouraging her not to think too hard about it — Jacqueline writes this pensive letter evaluating their status together.