People & cultureThe alliance era
Jacqueline Kennedy at the Khyber Pass
The First Lady's tour of Lahore, Rawalpindi and the Khyber became a set of images that defined warm public ties.
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What happened
After a tour of India, Jacqueline Kennedy arrived in Lahore on 21 March 1962, accompanied by her sister, Lee Radziwill; the day was declared a public holiday1. On 22 March, at the annual horse and cattle show in Lahore's Fortress Stadium, President Ayub Khan presented her with a horse named Sardar2,3. In Lahore the sisters also took a camel ride1.
From Rawalpindi she travelled to Peshawar, touring the walled city, and drove up the Khyber Pass, visiting Jamrud Fort, the Khyber Rifles mess at Landi Kotal and Torkham on the Afghan border. She wore a cap that Ayub had given her4.
Why it mattered
The tour, widely photographed, created some of the most enduring images of US–Pakistan relations and was a moment of genuine public warmth at the height of the alliance1,4. Sardar was flown to the United States in April 1962 and lived at the Kennedys' Virginia home; the horse's pedigree papers are held by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library2,3.
Sources
- Jacqueline Kennedy In Pakistan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty · Press
- Pedigree certificate for Sardar, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (National Archives) · Primary document
- Sardar (horse), Wikipedia · Reference
- Jackie In Khyber, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Gandhara) · Press
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