Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History by Michael L. Gillette (review)

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Michael Gillette allows Lady Bird Johnson to tell the story of her extraordinary life in her own words. Gillette, with the assistance of Harry Middleton, conducted forty-four oral history interviews with Lady Bird Johnson between 1977 and 1996. Using those interviews, as well as oral history interviews with her friends, family and staff members available through the LBJ Library, Gillette created a unique autobiography. Almost every word in the book comes from Lady Bird; Gillette inserts himself into the tale only in the form of brief contextual introductions to chapters, the questions leading to Lady Bird’s responses, and occasional explanatory footnotes. The result is an intriguing, and sometimes frustrating complement to Lady Bird’s White House Diary.

Lady Bird’s discussion of her early years is the strongest part of the book. Her voice rings through every phrase and the reader can almost hear her talking about her Daddy and Aunt Effie and the Brick House. There are tidbits that contradict the common knowledge about her. The best example is the origin of her nickname. Lady Bird explains that her childhood playmates gave one another nicknames and hers stuck. Gillette inserts that the story of the nurse giving her the nickname was more acceptable than the reality that she grew up playing with African American children (8, 14). In addition to the insights into her background, she has a delightful way of capturing personalities and time periods. She labels one of the Texas politicians “a professional East Texan” (84) and describes the practice of congressional wives presenting their cards to the Cabinet or Supreme Court wives as “quite a complicated and funny little thing” (86–87). Her stories of her travels convey her love for the natural environment and her openness to new ideas and experiences. Despite her often self-deprecating tone, her intelligence and diligence are obvious in her abilities to learn new businesses while having a family and dealing with a demanding husband.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the book is the reader feels cheated of the real Lady Bird. Gillette states that her story is one of growth from a simple country girl to sophisticated woman of the world. The reader intellectually knows that this growth happened; after all, she went from student in a one-room school house to being First Lady. The disconnect results from the fact that the reader does not witness the change. Mrs. Johnson is telling the stories after the fact. Moreover, because she begins the interviews only four years after her husband’s death and during a time when the political pendulum had swung in a much more conservative direction, she continually praises her husband’s abilities and strengths. Her defense of him is completely understandable and very much in keeping with her upbringing and character. That same background and personality lead her to understate her contributions to LBJ’s career and success. What is missing is Lady Bird.

Still, this is a valuable monograph for anyone doing research on the Johnsons. In particular, she shares her perspectives on the personalities involved in her husband’s career. She has wonderful stories to...