Lady Bird Johnson Hiding in Plain Si..., Julia Sweig
Lady Bird Johnson Hiding in Plain Si..., Julia Sweig
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
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Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight

Author: Julia Sweig

Narrator: Kirsten Potter

Unabridged: 18 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/16/2021

Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A revelation . . . a book in the Caro mold, using Lady Bird, along with tapes and transcripts of her entire White House diary, to tell the history of America during the Johnson years.”—The New York Times

The inspiration for the documentary film The Lady Bird Diaries, premiering November 13 on Hulu

Perhaps the most underestimated First Lady of the twentieth century, Lady Bird Johnson was also one of the most powerful. In Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight, Julia Sweig reveals how indispensable the First Lady was to Lyndon Johnson’s administration—which Lady Bird called “our” presidency. In addition to advising him through critical moments, she took on her own policy initiatives, including the most ambitious national environmental effort since Theodore Roosevelt and a virtually unknown initiative to desegregate access to public recreation and national parks in Washington, D.C.
 
Where no presidential biographer has understood Lady Bird’s full impact, Julia Sweig is the first to draw substantially on her White House diaries and to place her center stage. In doing so, Sweig reveals a woman ahead of her time—and an accomplished strategist and politician in her own right.

This program includes an actual recording of Lady Bird’s audio diary, dated October 12, 1965.
 
Winner of the Texas Book Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bogard Weld Award

Reviews

Goodreads review by Porter on July 19, 2023

EDIT: I read this book two years ago, and the review below stands. But this book has stood out with me over the past 2 years in ways other books have not. That being said, I feel like I have to change my initial rating of 4 stars to 5 stars. ************************************* I seriously think this......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on January 29, 2021

In 2013, The Rachel Carson Award was posthumously awarded to Lady Bird Johnson for her "outstanding contributions to the conservation and environmental movement." If this surprises you, like it does me, it is because Bird's environmental agenda had been tweaked to the more acceptable "beautification......more

Goodreads review by Steve on March 22, 2021

[URL not allowed] Published this past week, Julia Sweig’s “Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight” promises a revealing behind-the-scenes portrait and revaluation of one of America’s notable First Ladies. Sweig is a senior research fellow at the LBJ School of Public Affairs a......more

Goodreads review by Krisette on May 10, 2021

Wow, I can't believe the similarities between the 60's, and what we see happening in America right now. I loved this audiobook, and it was a pleasure to learn about Lady Bird Johnson. She was a force to be reckoned with. We can thank her for working to preserve the California Redwoods and many more......more

Goodreads review by Casey on January 31, 2021

This book is primarily about Lady Bird Johnson’s years in the White House based on a journal she kept and interviews with those who interacted with her. Her life prior and after the White House years is given a once over lightly treatment. The book itself is a bit on the dry side as the author does......more

Quotes

“A revelation . . . a book in the Caro mold, using Lady Bird, along with tapes and transcripts of her entire White House diary, to tell the history of America during the Johnson years.”—The New York Times

“Sweig makes a persuasive case for Lady Bird’s influence not just within her marriage but on her husband’s career. In doing so, she forces us to adjust the lens through which we’ve viewed one of our most consequential presidencies.”—The Washington Post

“A superb portrait that elevates Lady Bird’s stature as one of the most accomplished first ladies of the twentieth century.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“With impressive research and admirable skill as a superb storyteller, Sweig’s book for the first time captures the full extent of Lady Bird’s influence on LBJ’s administration and her importance in making the Great Society a landmark moment in American history. Hers is the best book written about Lady Bird Johnson and also a model for how we should understand the influence of First Ladies on the country’s turn toward a more humane society.”—Robert Dallek, author of How Did We Get Here?: From Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump

“Sweig has given us a fascinating portrait of a marriage—and of a shrewd, tough, tender, and wise woman who understood the uses and limits of power. Her biography of Lady Bird Johnson is a magisterial, revealing, and rewarding work.”—Evan Thomas, author of First: Sandra Day O’Connor

“This is the best book ever written about one of the most influential—and least understood—First Ladies in history. In Julia Sweig’s beautifully rendered, intimate portrait, one can finally take the full measure of Lady Bird Johnson as environmentalist, feminist, and shrewd political strategist on whom her husband always depended but should have heeded more.”—Michael Kazin, Georgetown University, co-author of America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s

“Julia Sweig has gifted us with a most timely and splendidly enhanced portrait of Lady Bird Johnson: daughter of Alabama and Texas wealth—historian, journalist, activist, speechwriter, campaigner, successful businesswoman. Lady Bird championed the New South and was partner to LBJ’s efforts regarding civil rights, human rights, and the Great Society. We learn about Lady Bird’s previously unknown work for real environmental change, which extended far beyond ‘beautification’ and floral plantings—with profound visions for a Green New Deal. This riveting portrait gives us an important revision of a long-neglected First Lady.”—Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vols. 1–3

“Sweig has written an inviting, challenging, well-told tale of the thoroughly modern partner and strategist Lady Bird Johnson, whose skill and complexity emerge fully in this rich tale of history and humanity.”—John Dickerson, author of The Hardest Job in the World

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