Lady Bird Johnson
An Oral History
Published on 16. April 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-19-023307-5 (ISBN)
Description
Over a span of eighteen years, Lady Bird Johnson recorded forty-seven oral history interviews with Michael Gillette and his colleagues. These conversations, just released in 2011, form the heart of Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History, an intimate story of a shy young country girl's transformation into one of America's most effective and admired First Ladies.
Lady Bird Johnson's odyssey is one of personal and intellectual growth, political and financial ambition, and a shared life with Lyndon Baines Johnson, one of the most complicated, volatile, and powerful presidents of the 20th century. The former First Lady recounts how a cautious, conservative young woman succumbed to an ultimatum to marry a man she had known for less than three months, how she ran his congressional office during World War II, and how she transformed a struggling Austin radio station into the foundation of a communications empire. As a keen observer of the Washington scene during the eventful decades from the 1930s through the 1960s, Lady Bird Johnson shares dramatic accounts of pivotal moments in American history. We attend informal dinners at Sam Rayburn's apartment and opulent social events at grand mansions from an earlier age. Her rich verbal portraits bring to life scores of personalities, including First Ladies Edith Bolling Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Pat Nixon.
An informal, candid narrative by one of America's most admired First Ladies, this volume reveals how instrumental Lady Bird Johnson's support and guidance were at each stage of her husband's political ascent and how she herself emerged as a significant political force.
Lady Bird Johnson's odyssey is one of personal and intellectual growth, political and financial ambition, and a shared life with Lyndon Baines Johnson, one of the most complicated, volatile, and powerful presidents of the 20th century. The former First Lady recounts how a cautious, conservative young woman succumbed to an ultimatum to marry a man she had known for less than three months, how she ran his congressional office during World War II, and how she transformed a struggling Austin radio station into the foundation of a communications empire. As a keen observer of the Washington scene during the eventful decades from the 1930s through the 1960s, Lady Bird Johnson shares dramatic accounts of pivotal moments in American history. We attend informal dinners at Sam Rayburn's apartment and opulent social events at grand mansions from an earlier age. Her rich verbal portraits bring to life scores of personalities, including First Ladies Edith Bolling Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Pat Nixon.
An informal, candid narrative by one of America's most admired First Ladies, this volume reveals how instrumental Lady Bird Johnson's support and guidance were at each stage of her husband's political ascent and how she herself emerged as a significant political force.
Reviews / Votes
Readers will find this book a source of insights not just into the life of this remarkable first lady, but also into many disparate aspects of twentieth-century life: education for women, early days of broadcasting, segregation, hired help, medical care, social customs in Washington, Texas politics, the evolution of a first ladys role, early environmental issues, and days when law-making relied on a healthy dose of personal relationships not dictated by political affiliation. The book is a treasure trove precisely because it represents the best of oral history process and stands as an example others should follow. * Mary Kay Quinlan, Oral History Review * A crisp and absurdly endearing book... What's so uniquely winning about Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History, and what makes me grateful to have picked it up, are the old-fashioned and now threadbare virtues it evokes and relentlessly champions. You will find yourself ennobled by Johnson's example and may wield this book like a sunlit talisman against your post-holiday depression. * Dwight Garner, New York Times* Gillette, former director of the LBJ Library's oral history program, has selected and edited these interviews, but the book belongs to Lady Bird Johnson. It captures her celebrated warmth, independence, pride in her own and her husband's achievements, and her ability to stand back and honestly assess her own and his motives, successes, and failures . . . Anyone interested in LBJ's election to Congress and his leadership of the Senate, Texas politics, the Johnsons's radio station, the crisis of Kennedy's assassination, and the Vietnam War will find Mrs. Johnson's reflections, from intimate knowledge, informative, delightful, and often riveting." * Publishers Weekly, starred review * Here's history at its best-as seen firsthand by a charming, clever, and canny woman. Lady Bird Johnson's voice, often funny and always elegant, rings out through these pages. A wonderfully readable book filled with unique insights about some of the most powerful people of the 20th century. * Cokie Roberts, political journalist and author of Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty
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More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
17 b/w halftones
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
712 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-023307-5 (9780190233075)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2012
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€47.99
Available for download
Person
Michael L. Gillette directed the LBJ Library's Oral History Program from 1976 to 1991. He later served as director of the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives and is currently the executive director of Humanities Texas in Austin. He is the author of Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History.
Content
Introduction ; Chapter 1: Childhood Memories ; Chapter 2: Education, 1924-1934 ; Chapter 3: A Whirlwind Courtship ; Chapter 4: 1934-1937, A Future in Politics? ; Chapter 5: In Congress, 1937-1940 ; Chapter 6: 1941, "A Learning Experience" ; Chapter 7: 1942, Managing the Congressional Office ; Chapter 8: Nesting and Investing, 1942-1943 ; Chapter 9: War Years, 1943-1945 ; Chapter 10: "A Grinding Occupation," 1946-1947 ; Chapter 11: "The Hardest Years of Our Lives," 1948 ; Chapter 12: LBJ in the Senate ; Chapter 13: A Senate Wife ; Chapter 14: The LBJ Ranch ; Chapter 15: The Loyal Opposition, 1953-1955 ; Chapter 16: "Toward the Liberal Side", 1956-1959 ; Chapter 17: 1960, The Point of No Return ; Chapter 18: Vice Presidency: "A Pebble in a Shoe" ; Chapter 19: The White House Years ; Afterword ; Appendix: Lady Bird Johnson's Oral History Interviews ; Bibliographical Note ; Index