Lady Bird

A revealing biography of Lady Bird Johnson exposes startling insights into her marriage to Lyndon Baines Johnsonand her unexpectedly strong impact on his presidency.Long obscured by her husbands shadow, Claudia Lady Bird Johnson emerges in this first comprehensive biography as a figure of surprising influence and the centering force for LBJ, a man who suffered from extreme mood swings and desperately needed someone to help control his darker impulses. Expertly researched and written, Lady Bird draws from rare conversations with the former First Lady and from interviews with key members of Johnsons inner circle of friends, family, and advisers. With chapters such as Motherless Child, A Ten-Week Affair, and LBJs Midlife Crisis, Lady Bird sheds light on Mrs. Johnsons childhood, on her amazing acumen as a businesswoman, and on the central role she played in her husbands life and political career. A vital link to the Kennedys during LBJs uneasy tenure as vice president and a voice of conscience on civil rights, Jan Jarboe Russell reveals Lady Bird as a political force. In this intimate portrait, Russell shows us the private Lady Birdnot only a passionate conservationist but a remarkable woman who greatly influenced her husband, his administration, and the country.