The Many Roles of Lady Bird Johnson with Julia Sweig

In today’s episode, Sharon talks with author Julia Sweig about her newest book, Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight . The research and writing took Julia over six years, as she meticulously poured over the details of not only Lady Bird’s life, but also the 1960s era and the state of the nation at the time. Lady Bird, a whip-smart Southern woman, met Lyndon Johnson in Austin, Texas where he proposed to her at the end of their first date (she said no!). Eventually, the pair married and moved to Washington DC. As LBJ’s political career progressed, Lady Bird’s influence spread; she was a woman who showed up. Listen to learn more about Lady Bird: her real first name, the complexities of her marriage to LBJ, her relationship with the Kennedys, her environmentalism, and her propensity to document her life, from the major moments down to the mundane details.