During her marriage to former President John F. Kennedy, Jackie Onassis was aware that he cheated on her many times.  One JFK affair, however, stood out to her among all the rest, and that was the one Jackie Kennedy’s husband had with the legendary Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe. 

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Jackie Kennedy Knew JFK Would Cheat

The Boston News obtained personal letters written by Jackie that show that she knew Kennedy was a cheater even before she married him. 

“He’s like my father in a way,” she wrote in one letter. “Loves the chase and is bored with the conquest. And once married needs proof he’s still attractive, so flirts with other women and resents you.”

“I think he was as much in love with me as he could be with anyone,” Jackie added. “And now maybe he will want to get married because a Senator needs a wife. But if he ever does ask me to marry him, it will be for rather practical reasons – because his career is this driving thing with him.”

Related: Pictures of Marilyn Monroe Visiting Troops in Korea Show a Very Different Side of Her

Jackie Kennedy Knew JFK’s Affair With Marilyn Monroe Was Different

Despite all of Kennedy’s affairs, Jackie was still able to love him because “he always came home to her.”

When he began having an affair with Marilyn Monroe in the early 1960s, however, Jackie  Kennedy was not able to stomach it.

“She viewed his dalliance with Marilyn differently from the others for a number of reasons,” Monroe biographer Charles Cassilo wrote. “It wasn’t that Jackie felt threatened by Marilyn- she was too assured of her importance in Kennedy’s life- but she understood the fascination that surrounded the blond star.”

“More than anything, Jackie understood that her family would be publicly disgraced if it somehow came out that her husband was having an affair with Marilyn. Plus, Jackie felt a great deal of empathy for her,” he continued. “She knew that Marilyn was a deeply sensitive, troubled woman. ‘This one is different, Jack. Have some pity on her,’ she warned. ‘I want you to leave Marilyn alone.’”

Related: Newly Released Pictures Reveal One Of Marilyn Monroe’s Biggest Secrets

Monroe Calls Jackie 

At one point, Monroe even called Jackie to say that Kennedy had promised to marry her, and the then-first lady had the perfect response.

“Marilyn, you’ll marry Jack, that’s great,” Jackie replied to the star, according to Vanity Fair. “And you’ll move into the White House, and you’ll assume the responsibilities of the first lady. And I’ll move out, and you’ll have all the problems.”

Marilyn Monroe tragically passed away in 1962 of a drug overdose, and JFK was assassinated one year later.

Jackie Onassis Kennedy would go on to live until 1994, when she tragically died of cancer at the age of 65. 

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