John Vernou Bouvier III

John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier III was born on May 19, 1891, in Manhattan, New York. He was the eldest child of John Vernou Bouvier Jr. and Maude Frances Bouvier (née Sergeant), and had four younger siblings. His nickname, "Black Jack," was associated with his flamboyant lifestyle.

His paternal great-grandfather, Michel Charles Bouvier, was a French cabinetmaker from Pont-Saint-Esprit, France, who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1815. Michel fought in the Napoleonic Wars, worked for Joseph Bonaparte, married, was widowed, and subsequently married Louise Clifford Vernou. Michel's business ventures included fine furniture craftsmanship, firewood distribution, land acquisition, and real estate speculation. Michel Bouvier's sons—Eustes, Michel Charles (M.C.), and John V. Bouvier Sr.—established themselves in finance on Wall Street. The family fortune was inherited by Major John Vernou Bouvier Jr., who purchased the estate called Lasata in East Hampton, Long Island.

John Vernou Bouvier III attended Philips Exeter Academy and Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School. He then studied at Columbia College, where he played tennis for two years before transferring to Yale University’s Sheffield Scientific School, graduating in 1914. At Yale, he was a member of the Book and Snake secret society and the Cloister Club.

Following his graduation, Bouvier began a career as a stockbroker at his father and uncle's firm, Bouvier, Bouvier & Bouvier. During World War I, he left the firm to serve in the United States Navy before transferring to the United States Army, where he attained the rank of major. His military service included time in the Army Air Service, according to his 1920 engagement announcement. He was discharged in 1919 and resumed work as a Wall Street stockbroker. In 1940, he became a hereditary member of the Maryland Society of the Cincinnati.

Bouvier was engaged to Eleanor Carroll Daingerfield Carter of Baltimore in 1920; however, the engagement was later called off. On July 7, 1928, he married Janet Norton Lee, daughter of real estate developer James T. Lee. The marriage took place at St. Philomena's Church in East Hampton. They had two daughters: Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier, born in 1929, and Caroline Lee Bouvier, born in 1933. The marriage ended in divorce in June 1940 due to Bouvier's alcoholism, gambling, and extramarital affairs. Bouvier did not remarry afterward. His ex-wife Janet Lee Bouvier later married Hugh Dudley Auchincloss Jr. in 1942.

In connection with family events, it was reported that Bouvier was either too intoxicated or unwilling to escort Jacqueline Bouvier at her wedding to John F. Kennedy in 1953, leading Hugh Auchincloss to step in.

Later in life, Bouvier had limited contact with his daughters and spent much of his time alone in his New York City apartment at 125 East 74th Street. In the spring of 1957, he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital on July 27, 1957, for chemotherapy, but fell into a coma five days later. He died there on August 3, 1957, at the age of 66.

His funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, organized by his daughters Jacqueline and Lee. He was subsequently buried in the Bouvier family plot at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in East Hampton, New York.

In popular culture, Bouvier is believed to be the "Wall Street Jack" referenced in the song "Forty Second Street" from the musical 42nd Street. He has been portrayed in various film and television productions, including by Rod Taylor in the 1981 TV film "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy," William Devane in the 1991 miniseries "A Woman Named Jackie," and Fred Ward in the 2000 film "Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis."