Lady Bird Johnson, an early champion of the environment and Project Head Start, has been widely acknowledged as one of America''s greatest First Ladies. In a 1982 poll, historians ranked her the third most influential, behind Abigail Adams and Eleanor Roosevelt. This oral history encompass three important stories. The first is that of a young woman''s transformation from a shy, rural East Texan into one of America''s most admired First Ladies. The second reveals the remarkable emergence of Lyndon Johnson, one of the twentieth century''s most powerful political and legislative leaders, as told by his most trusted confidante. Finally, this volume presents a keen observer''s day-by-day view of a turbulent world, as "the greatest generation" confronted momentous challenges at home and abroad.Lady Bird Johnson''s oral history provides an intimate, first-person narrative of her own development and activities as well as the life she shared with LBJ. It includes her vivid descriptions of the moments and events that shaped their destiny and influenced their attitudes on such issues as civil rights, education, health care, and national defense. Her rich verbal portraits brings to life scores of prominent political personalities, including Sam Rayburn, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John F. Kennedy. The core narrative consists of thirty-seven oral history interviews that Michael L. Gillette conducted with her during the late 1970s and 1980s; the transcripts were opened only in May 2011 and have never previously been available for research. The lengthy seal under which they have been held is a measure of Lady Bird''s expansiveness and candor. In recording the interviews, Mrs. Johnson marshaled the same elegant prose and attention to detail that characterized her memoir, A White House Diary. Selected excerpts from interviews with some of those who knew Lady Bird Johnson best, as well as transcripts of White House tapes, appear in sidebars to amplify and supplement her own narrative. Oxford will publish the book to coincide with the centennial of Lady Bird Johnson''s birth in December 2012.
Industry Reviews
"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
"[I]t is clear that Gillette is a master interviewer who is familiar and comfortable with his interviewee....The depth and detail of Johnson's memories are truly amazing, and her journalistic education shines through in her vivid descriptions of places, events, and emotions....[Gillette's] ability to seamlessly intertwine Lady Bird's recollections with those of others is one of the most impressive aspects of this book."--Sound Historian: Journal of the
Texas Oral History Association
"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
