Hugh D. Auchincloss III, stepbrother and lifelong friend of Jacqueline Kennedy, has died. He was 87.
Auchincloss, who was also a stepsibling to the writer Gore Vidal and who was known by the nickname Yusha, died Saturday of B-cell lymphoma at his home at Hammersmith Farm in Rhode Island, according to his children. The property in Newport is where John F. Kennedy spent time during his presidency.
Jackie Kennedy and Auchincloss were teenagers when her mother, Janet Lee Bouvier, married his father, Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr. The two were close before the marriage and remained close until Kennedy died in 1994, according to his daughter, Maya Auchincloss. He was a year older than his stepsister.
"They had a lot of respect for each other and whoever the other one was seeing, they would introduce and meet and get each other's approval and advice about things," she said.
Maya Auchincloss recalled a family story about the first time Jacqueline introduced Auchincloss to John F. Kennedy.
"She was living in Washington and invited my father over for dinner this wonderful evening and said, 'Now, you should remember Jack's a Democrat and you're a Republican. Be careful what you say.' But it went very smoothly," she said. "She made a nice dinner, and he made drinks that then became a favorite of Jack's."
She said her father voted for Kennedy, and the two sometimes golfed together.
"They had a very similar sense of humor and really enjoyed being around each other," she said.
Before his marriage to Bouvier, Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr. was married to Nina Gore, Vidal's mother. Maya Auchincloss said the two men were not close.
After living in Washington and New York, Auchincloss spent the last few decades of his life in Newport, where he was involved in causes including the environment, the historical society and the U.S. Naval War College. He had a lifelong interest in the Middle East.
Maya Auchincloss remembered her father as a gentle soul known for his spirit and humor.
"I think that the people that knew him saw pretty much what I saw, which was just a wonderful spirit, great humor and a very gentle and kind person," she said. "He smiled through his life, basically.
