Video: 'The Passing of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis--NBC News with Tom Brokaw, May 1994'

(Thursday, May 19, 1994, 10:15 p.m. EDT) — Jacqueline Lee (Bouvier) Kennedy Onassis, the widow of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and first lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963, died tonight in her sleep in her Manhattan apartment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer. She was 64.

In the morning, her son, John F. Kennedy, Jr., announced his mother’s death to the press stating that she had been “surrounded by her friends and her family and her books, and the people and the things that she loved”. He added that “she did it in her very own way, and on her own terms, and we all feel lucky for that.”

Video: 'The Passing of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis--CBS News with Dan Rather & Connie Chung, May 1994'

A popular first lady, she endeared the American public with her devotion to her family, dedication to the historic preservation of the White House, the campaigns she led to preserve and restore historic landmarks and architecture along with her interest in American history, culture and arts.

During her lifetime, she was regarded as an international icon for her unique fashion choices, and her work as a cultural ambassador of the United States made her very popular globally.

Video: 'Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Dies, May 1994--Hillary Clinton, Betty Ford, Rosalyn Carter, Nancy Reagan'

On Nov. 22, 1963, Mrs. Kennedy was sitting next to her husband as he was assassinated while riding in the backseat of an open-air presidential limousine in Dallas, Texas. She escaped injury herself by mere inches.

She would be buried at Arlington National Cemetery alongside President Kennedy and two of their children, one stillborn and one who died shortly after birth.