Description
About the Author
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.
Reviews
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 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780190233075
Author Michael L. Gillette
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 544g
Dimensions(mm) 221mm * 142mm * 5mm