History Through Documented

On May 31, 1961, Air Force One touched down at Orly Airport in Paris, and before President John F. Kennedy had even stepped fully onto the tarmac, the crowd pressed against the airport fences broke into a rhythmic chant of "Vive Jacqui! Vive Jacqui!" Jackie Kennedy stepped off the plane wearing a navy-blue silk suit and a black velvet pillbox hat, and Paris had already decided the visit belonged to her. Kennedy was five months into his presidency, arriving in France for his first major European diplomatic trip to meet French President Charles de Gaulle, a towering figure who had led France through the Second World War and was known for his cold, measured assessment of foreign leaders. Jackie had prepared meticulously. She spoke French with genuine fluency, carried French bloodlines through her father's Bouvier family heritage, and had studied French history at Vassar College and the Sorbonne. At a dinner at the Elysée Palace, de Gaulle spoke extensively with Jackie throughout the meal and then turned to President Kennedy and said, "Your wife knows more French history than any French woman." That evening at the Elysée was only the beginning. On June 1, 1961, the Kennedys were escorted to the Palace of Versailles for a state dinner in the Hall of Mirrors, the first time an American president had dined there since Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Jackie had chosen a Givenchy gown for the evening, a decision she made in secret because her official wardrobe as First Lady was meant to feature only American designers. She had reportedly been snipping Givenchy labels from her Paris clothes with nail scissors for years to avoid controversy. That night, the Hall of Mirrors was set with Baccarat crystal, Sèvres tableware, and pieces from Napoleon's Grand Vermeil collection. After dinner, de Gaulle personally escorted Jackie and the President through the North Statue Gallery to the Royal Opera House, where a full performance had been staged for them, the first major event held in the restored opera house since Queen Elizabeth II's visit in 1957. The fountains of Versailles were lit and operating as the de Gaulles walked the Kennedys through the palace gardens in the summer evening. The following day, at a press gathering with the Anglo-American Press Group in Paris, Kennedy delivered what would become one of the most repeated lines of his presidency. He walked to the podium and said, "I do not think it altogether inappropriate to introduce myself. I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris." The room laughed. Kennedy smiled. Jackie sat beside him. The French press ran the quote the next morning. When the Kennedys returned to Washington, their approval ratings had climbed and their cultural standing worldwide had reached a height that no previous American presidential couple had matched on foreign soil. Hubert de Givenchy said of Jackie in a 1994 interview with French Elle, "She was an ambassadress of American charm and beauty. I retain the image of a woman full of grace, elegance and kindness."

In December 2006, a mutual friend named Ed called Tom Brady and told him there was a girl he simply had to meet. Brady later told WSJ Magazine in a September 2021 interview, "I think the one phone call that changed my life was my friend Ed, who called me one day and he said, 'I have this girl and I think you should call her.' I ended up calling her and it ended up being the love of my life." The blind date was arranged at Turks and Frogs, a low-key wine bar in New York City's West Village, and what was supposed to be a brief drink turned into three hours of conversation neither of them wanted to end. Gisele Bündchen, then 26 and one of the most photographed women on the planet, told Vanity Fair in 2009, "The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, that is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I've ever seen. I had to go home for Christmas, but I didn't want to leave. You know that feeling of, like, you can't get enough? From the first day we met, we've never spent one day without speaking to each other." She later told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in 2018, "When I saw those kind eyes, I literally fell in love, like, right away." Two months after that first date, the relationship faced a moment that Gisele later described in her 2018 memoir Lessons as one of the most difficult of her life. Brady's former girlfriend Bridget Moynahan announced she was expecting his child, and in a 2019 CBS interview Gisele said, "I felt like I didn't know what to do. It was kind of one of those moments of like, do I just run away?" She did not run. Brady's son Jack Edward Thomas Moynahan was born in August 2007, and Gisele told People in September 2018 that she was grateful to Bridget for bringing Jack into the world, a maturity she maintained consistently throughout their marriage. Brady proposed to Gisele in January 2009 by arranging for a false emergency at her New York apartment, calling her to say the place was flooding so she would rush over, only for her to find the entire space filled with candles and rose petals, Brady dropping to one knee even though he had recently undergone surgery and was nursing three infections in his knee. She told him to stand up before she said yes. On February 26, 2009, they married in a private ceremony in Santa Monica, California, followed by a second celebration in Costa Rica. Their son Benjamin Rein was born in December 2009 and daughter Vivian Lake in December 2012. On October 28, 2022, both filed for divorce in Palm Beach County, Florida, ending a marriage of thirteen years and a relationship of sixteen, and Gisele told People in September 2023, "It was tough, of course, but I'm very grateful we were able to do it in a loving way."