Jacqueline Kennedy and the Architecture of First Lady Diplomacy: (2 America and Global Affairs)

This unique rhetorical analysis of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s communication uncovers five forms of soft diplomacy that catapult her to the top of all American first ladies as a model of international influence. Her use of interpersonal, fashion, language, cultural, and state diplomatic strategies constitutes an architectural plan of smart power. Breaking away from the stereotype of Mrs. Kennedy as a style icon, the evidence in this monograph supports her astute awareness of how to support the Kennedy Administration’s foreign policy during the Cold War era by engaging state visits to Europe and South America, receiving heads of state at the White House, creating cultural ideals of freedom through art and preservation, and using French and Spanish to speak directly to the people of other countries. Her persuasive tactics set the stage for future first ladies to excel in a role that requires creativity and sound judgment. Students in communication, political science, history, rhetoric, and women’s studies will benefit from this book in their own study of first ladies, the presidency, foreign policy, and Cold War history. Written in an engaging style, Jacqueline Kennedy and the Architecture of First Lady Diplomacy will appeal to a range of scholarly interests across disciplines.

Table of Contents:
Preface – Acknowledgments – Part I. Theorizing First Ladies and International Diplomacy – American First Ladies and Diplomacy – Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy’s International Education – Part II. Mrs. Kennedy’s State Visits – Canada and Fashion Diplomacy – France, Austria, and England: Personalities and Cold War Threat – Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico: The Southern Hemisphere and the Alliance for Progress – India and Pakistan: Negotiating in Twos – Part III. Domestic Diplomacy and Foreign Policy Strength – Cultural Diplomacy – The Mona Lisa and Abu Simbel – Orchestration of the State Funeral and the JFK International Legacy – Epilogue – Index.

About the Author :
Elizabeth J. Natalle is Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and has a Ph.D. in Communication from Florida State University. She co-edited Michelle Obama: First Lady, American Rhetor and has published previously in Rhetoric Society Quarterly and Women’s Studies in Communication.

Review :
"There has been a long history of activism and influence in the first ladyship, even if historians often overlook it, and this welcome and highly readable book promises to add a vitally important perspective to not only Mrs. Kennedy's extraordinary life but to the role of the first lady as diplomat and our understanding of 'soft diplomacy.'" -Robert P. Watson, Professor of American Studies at Lynn University, Author of The Presidents' Wives "This well-researched, beautifully written text highlights Jacqueline Kennedy's pioneering use of soft power in diplomacy as first lady. Mrs. Kennedy often gets pigeonholed as a style icon, but Elizabeth J. Natalle's close analysis of her rhetoric and communication styles and love for arts and culture shows instead that this first lady had key diplomatic influence-a role, indeed, that her husband, President John F. Kennedy greatly relied on. Whether in her use of culture, fashion, language, or state-to-state interactions, Jacqueline Kennedy, as Natalle shows, performed an 'embodied rhetoric' of soft power and left a legacy for diplomatic action that First Ladies have reckoned with and tried to emulate to this day." -Katherine A. S. Sibley, Professor of History and Director of American Studies at Saint Joseph's University, Editor of A Companion to First Ladies "While Jacqueline Kennedy is one of the most well-known U.S. first ladies, her memory is often reduced to fashion icon or grieving widow. In this book, author Elizabeth J. Natalle demonstrates how Mrs. Kennedy deftly used 'soft diplomacy' to aid her husband's foreign policy efforts and set the standard for future first lady diplomacy. Dr. Natalle's rich analysis of Mrs. Kennedy's use of fashion, language, culture, and interpersonal relationships as forms of diplomacy both at home and abroad sheds new light on the important role the popular first lady played in her husband's administration, and expands our understanding of Mrs. Kennedy's contributions to the first lady institution." -Lisa M. Burns, Professor of Media Studies at Quinnipiac University, Author of First Ladies and the Fourth Estate