Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight

By: Julia Sweig

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

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

Lady Bird Could Have Helped Not Start the War

Lady Bird had the ear of Lyndon, and she should have used it to stop the beginning of the war at best, or at least end the escalation early on. But she didn't.

She was don't deaf to the world outside the White House.

Yet she and her husband were the initiators and Stewarts of many social programs. Such a change that all this work was blotted out by the war.

Enjoyed the Book Would like to know more

Enjoyed the book but would be preferred the reader to leave out the “Southern” voice. I found it a bit more Hollywood southern than Alabama/Texas based.

Just read, please......

I have enjoyed the information and the writing, but I find the narration distracting. I sure wish the narrator would just read and not attempt various accents and voices. I started cringing every time she read Lady Bird's words.

Much of The Rest of the Story

Loving the walking trail at Lady Bird Lake so much, I’ve been learning more and more of her. I’ve wondered why other books on her covered so much of the pre-presidency years, and so little of what we really need to know. This book delves into the rest of that story, and I was not disappointed. Highly Recommend! The narration is well done and lively, too.

Great story

I just came across this and thought I would give it a try. Well worth the listen. I had no real interest in Lady Bird, but after I finished the book I understood what a real "Lady" is. Bravo!