--- title: Jackie Kennedy White House Tour as Described in 1962 description: The real 1962 televised tour of the White House, seen in the Natalie Portman starrer, was "an expert performance," a 1962 observer noted canonical: https://time.com/4586913/white-house-tour-jackie/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-02T14:00:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:04:08.091Z article:section: History og:title: The White House Tour Seen in 'Jackie,' as Described in 1962 og:description: "Jackie put on an expert performance" og:url: https://time.com/4586913/white-house-tour-jackie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt873435b0c90af0ed/6988b0378e06013da4468712/kennedy.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jackie Kennedy On CBS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The White House Tour Seen in 'Jackie,' as Described in 1962 twitter:description: "Jackie put on an expert performance" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt873435b0c90af0ed/6988b0378e06013da4468712/kennedy.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The White House Tour Seen in _Jackie_, as Described in 1962  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 2, 2016 2:00 PM UTC  Jacqueline Kennedy in the East Room during A TOUR OF THE WHITE HOUSE WITH MRS. JOHN F. KENNEDY. Original airdate Feb. 14, 1962. Jacqueline Kennedy in the East Room during A TOUR OF THE WHITE HOUSE WITH MRS. JOHN F. KENNEDY. Original airdate Feb. 14, 1962.CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 2, 2016 2:00 PM UTC When [Natalie Portman](http://time.com/4583797/natalie-portman-hollwood-diversity-white-men/) stepped into the role of Jacqueline Kennedy in the new movie [_Jackie_](http://time.com/4520022/natalie-portman-jackie-trailer/), out Friday, the actress did not lack for historical references on which to base her performance. That record included one very important piece of video footage: the First Lady’s [televised tour](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbFt4h3Dkkw) of the White House, which aired in early 1962. Ever since the White House had been rebuilt after the War of 1812, Presidents and First Ladies had used the home’s decor to reflect the grandeur of leadership, whatever that meant in their own eras. Accordingly, as styles changed, so did the furniture. Older items were sold off; as [explored](https://www.amazon.com/TIME-Inside-White-House-History/dp/1683303814) in _Inside the White House_ from TIME Books, President Chester A. Arthur presided over the sale of two dozen wagons full of historic furniture from the executive mansion. Jackie Kennedy, however, wanted something different: under her watch, the White House would become a showcase for American history. As TIME [put it](http://time.com/vault/issue/1961-07-14/page/19/) in 1961, “Jackie formed a Fine Arts Committee to help her transform the White House into a ‘museum of our country’s heritage.'” And in 1962, a televised tour was a way to show her work to the nation, and prove that it was worth the effort. (As the New York _Times_ has [reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/fashion/jackie-kennedy-first-lady-natalie-portman.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fruth-la-ferla&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream%5Funit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection), shooting the tour scenes for _Jackie_ was a matter of meticulous care—it even required making the First Lady’s outfit in two colors, one that matched the red she wore on that day and one that would appear the correct shade of gray when shot in black and white.) The week the tour aired, TIME noted with some amusement that it was an “impressive” display of the First Lady’s knowledge: --- > “” --- [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) While TIME’s reporter may have viewed the event as merely pleasant, the tour would in fact turn out to be part of one of the Kennedy family’s most lasting impacts on the American presidency. The First Lady’s efforts led to the creation of the White House Historical Association, and redefined what a new administration could and could not do to their home. Ever since, even as tastes have changed, the connection between American heritage and the look of the White House has remained. **_Read the full story, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Simply Everywhere](http://time.com/vault/issue/1962-02-23/page/24/) Jackie Kennedy White House Tour as Described in 1962 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4586913/white-house-tour-jackie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4586913/white-house-tour-jackie/"},"headline":"The White House Tour Seen in Jackie, as Described in 1962","datePublished":"2016-12-02T14:00:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:04:08.091Z","description":"\"Jackie put on an expert performance\"","url":"https://time.com/4586913/white-house-tour-jackie/","keywords":["movies","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt873435b0c90af0ed/6988b0378e06013da4468712/kennedy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt873435b0c90af0ed/6988b0378e06013da4468712/kennedy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jackie Kennedy On CBS","caption":"Jackie Kennedy On CBS News Special","creditText":"CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4586913/white-house-tour-jackie/","name":"The White House Tour Seen in Jackie, as Described in 1962"}}]}] ```