She brought grace, elegance and refinement to the White House, moreso than probably any other First Lady. She conducted herself with superhuman strength and dignity when the CIA/Mafia blew her husband's head off, and kept her mouth shut about what she knew for the rest of her life. Her children turned out to be much better adjusted than the other progeny of the Kennedy clan because she kept them a distance from the white trash with money ethos of the rest of the family. She suffered her husband's running around, which I guess she did for the sake of preserving her family, or playing the part of the good political wife of her time, but I would have respected her more if she severely kicked Jack in his ass. In later life, she championed charitable and cultural causes, most notably saving Snug Harbor on Staten Island from the clutches of real estate developers. She lived a quiet and respectable life following the White House, with decorum. Her highly-touted good looks are inconsequential in rating her as a First Lady, but to counter the petty comments of a brainless poster on this site: I met Mrs. Onassis face-to-face about ten years before her death and I found her to be most attractive, much better looking than her photographs. As she was already in her 50s, I'm sure she was awesome when she was in her 20s. She had a low-pitched and quiet voice that sent a chill through me. Her date that evening was the architect I.M. Pei, so she hardly consorted with goons. Compare that with Nancy Reagan, who spent a good deal of time in the company of world-class sleazeball Frank Sinatra. Jackie O was a class act, and it's a shame she cashed in a such an early age.