Lady Bird: A Biography of Mrs. Johnson

Lady Bird is the unusually revealing biography of Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of President Lyndon Johnson by Jan Jarboe Russell (a contributing editor at "Texas Monthly" who has covered texas politics and culture for more than thirty years). Skillfully researched and smoothly written, grounded in conversations with the former First Lady and interviews with her inner circle of friends, family, and advisors, Lady Bird shows both the public and private sides of a strong, determined, and remarkable woman whose influence on her husband, and through him America, was considerable. Highly recommended.

As a fan of Jan Jarboe Russell's past articles in Texas Monthly magazine, I was not disappointed by her biography. The author proved to be honest and forthright as expected. I appreciated Lady Bird even more because she really showed true grit in a world dominated by men. Behind the scenes, she proved to be the influential guiding force in LBJ's political life. Her business savvy was amazing to say the least. For a woman of her time, she was a truly remarkable lady in every sense of the word. Thank you Jan Jarboe Russell for telling us about the real Lady Bird.

I thought I knew Lady Bird Johnson -- sweet, flat, uninteresting, dominated by her powerful husband -- until I read this outstandingly revelatory book. Bird is every bit as strong as Hillary, and probably even LBJ himself. Author Russell makes a convincing case that Bird is a force to be reckoned with, and I'm not talking about her party-planning skills. Superior biography that brings it subject to life.

Jan Jarboe Russell has authored an extraordinarily insightful book that reaches beyond a conventional biography of a woman's life. Her book brings together as no other has a close attending to the lived complexity of the very human relationships between Lady Bird and Lyndon. Somehow Jarboe-Russell has given us the other half of the story of what it is to experience life in an auxillary position. Most biographies of spouses of historical figures in the past have focused on the male experience and male vision. In her illuminating venture into the world of a contemporary Hera, Jarboe-Russell raises intriguing questions about the sacrifices a woman often makes to live in a male-dominated culture. This author has succeeded admirably in providing the reader a glimpse of a mythology that continues to to be alive in many marriages. I was spellbound by the narrative. It is a gem of a book.

It's remarkable that there has never been a biography of Lady Bird Johnson until now. Jan Jarboe Russell's is a triumph. It changed my view of the Johnson presidency. Lady Bird is Hera to LBJ's Zeus. A wonderful, textured, warm and inside rendering of an American presidency and its most intimate moments.