Washington : She is the little girl riding her pony Macaroni around the White House lawn, the big sister hiding under the president's desk with her little brother John.
And in a heartbreaking childhood photo, she is the white-gloved daughter kneeling with her mother at the coffin of her slain father, John F. Kennedy.
Flash forward 50 years and here is Caroline Kennedy again: author, lawyer and mother of three, tending to the Kennedy flame as her family's sole survivor.
And, finally, after decades protecting her privacy, she's stepping into a more public role as U.S. ambassador to Japan, arriving there Friday to take up her position as U.S. ambassador
Kennedy, 55, was five days short of her sixth birthday when John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.