Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage That Made a President - Softcover

Caroli, Professor Of History Betty Boyd

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1439191239 ISBN 13: 9781439191231

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2016

Synopsis

This "smartly written...stunning" (The Boston Globe) portrait of Lady Bird as the essential strategist, fundraiser, barnstormer, and ballast for her husband Lyndon offers "a penetrating analysis...of a marriage that paired two complicated but devoted figures, a coupling that changed the face of America" (Richmond Times-Dispatch).

Marriage is the most underreported story in political life, yet it is often the key to its success. Historian Betty Boyd Caroli spent seven years exploring the archives of the LBJ Library, interviewing dozens of people, and mining never-before-released letters between Lady Bird and Lyndon. The result "redefines the First Lady as an iron fist in a white glove" (Vanity Fair) and helps explain how the talented, but flawed Lyndon Baines Johnson ended up making history.

Lady Bird grew up the daughter of a domineering father and a cultured but fragile mother. When a tall, pushy Texan named Lyndon showed up in her life, they married within weeks with a tacit agreement: this highly gifted politician would take her away, and she would save him from his weaknesses. The conventional story goes that Lyndon married Lady Bird for her money and demeaned her by flaunting his many affairs, and that her legacy was protecting the nation's wildflowers. But Caroli shows that she was also the one who swooped in to make the key call to a donor, to keep the team united, to campaign in hostile territory, and to jump-start Lyndon out of his paralyzing dark moods.

In Lady Bird and Lyndon, Caroli restores Lady Bird to her rightful place in history. But she also tells a love story whose compromises and edifying moments many women will recognize.

About this title

Review

"It's fantastic."--Whoopi Goldberg

"In Lady Bird and Lyndon, Betty Caroli takes us inside the biggest mystery there is: a 40-year political marriage. The romance, love affair and partnership between Miss Claudia Taylor and Lyndon Baines Johnson are all here for the first time--and so are their struggles and heartbreaks, a reminder that politics is complicated but family is even more so."--Michael Duffy & Nancy Gibbs, coauthors of The Presidents Club

"With a shrewd and clear eye, Betty Caroli has redefined one of the most compelling marriages of 20th century American politics. Lady Bird Johnson has always been seen as the loyal supporter of her charismatic husband Lyndon, enduring his wounding outbursts, unceasing demands, and flagrant infidelities. Now, in this absorbing study, Lady Bird finally takes center stage, showing the strength and resilience behind her soft Southern manner, and we see for the first time her political acuity and business savvy, which were essential to Lyndon's success. Betty Caroli deeply understands the couple's temperamental dynamic, and skillfully reveals how deftly Lady Bird worked behind the scenes: building bridges, offering wise advice, keeping her volatile husband steady during his darkest moments, and helping him turn his sweeping ambitions into action."--Sally Bedell Smith, author of For Love of Politics: Inside the Clinton White House and Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House

"This inside look at the marriage of Lady Bird and Lyndon provides stunningly fresh insights into the well-examined political soul of Lyndon Johnson. But the star of this story is Lady Bird, and out of Caroli's strikingly original portrait of this strong, smart woman emerges an irresistible tale of politics, ambition, and the power of unconditional marital love."--David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton

"A great book. Everybody who loves politics has got to read this one."--Chris Matthews, host of Hardball with Chris Matthews

"The coach, the advisor, the steady soothsayer to an erratic man--in these pages, Lady Bird Johnson bursts from history's shadows to her rightful place at the heart of a stirring story. More important still, Betty Caroli establishes the prominence of a gripping and mysterious relationship--one of the critical intimacies of the 20th century. This is a tremendous work of scholarship and storytelling."--Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Powers of Two

"Engrossing and perceptive. . . . Caroli shows that Mrs. Johnson played a crucial part in getting her husband to the White House and through the presidency. One of the essential studies of a modern first lady written by one of the masters of the field."--Lewis L. Gould, author of Lady Bird Johnson: Our Environmental First Lady

"Caroli redefines the First Lady as an iron fist in a white glove."--Vanity Fair

"Smartly written and devoid of gossip and cant. . . . Stunning."--Boston Globe

"The spouses of the world's most influential movers and shakers rarely receive similar attention to their lives, regardless of the influence they may have had, but biographer Caroli bucks the trend with this enticing and fun examination of Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson. . . . Johnson changed the role of First Lady forever, and Caroli's well-researched work gives readers insight into that shift."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

Betty Boyd Caroli is the author of Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage That Made a President; First Ladies: Martha Washington to Michelle Obama; Inside the White House; and The Roosevelt Women. She has been a guest on Today, The O'Reilly Factor, Lehrer NewsHour, Al Jazeera, Booknotes with Brian Lamb, and many others. A graduate of Oberlin College, Caroli holds a master's degree in Mass Communications from the Annenberg School of the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in American Civilization from New York University. She currently resides in New York City and Venice, Italy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1439191239
• ISBN 13: 9781439191231
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480