In early March of 1964, still deeply grieving the loss of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy sat down with historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. to record a total of seven interviews totalling six and a half hours. These previously sealed tapes provide a fresh narrative of John Kennedy's life as a senator, presidential candidate, president, and Mrs. Kennedy's experience during those years, providing details of their private conversations, her role in his political life, and her thoughtful and original views about the cast of characters who surrounded them both.

The interviews reveal Mrs. Kennedy’s previously private thoughts on a wide range of subjects, from political figures to personal issues, including state visits abroad and her insights into the world leaders of the time, including Charles de Gaulle, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Nikita Krushchev. Milestone events such as the presidential campaign of 1960 are discussed, as well as Richard Nixon, the selection of Lyndon Johnson as vice president, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Mrs. Kennedy also touches upon more private matters such as President Kennedy's Catholicism, the love between the Kennedy brothers, and her own evolving sense of herself as First Lady and family life in the White House.

Bestselling author and historian Michael Beschloss provides annotations for the transcripts. Historically significant and utterly fascinating, these extraordinary interviews revise scene after scene of the history of the late 1950s and early 1960s, adding extraordinary depth and details, and provides an astonishing perspective from Jacqueline Kennedy on major events and personalities of her husband's administration.