Betty Boyd Caroli

The term and the institution of First Lady are integral–though still evolving–aspects of our political and cultural landscape, and this is the first full treatment of the subject. Covering all 37 women from Martha Washington to Nancy Reagan, the book shows how the role of First Lady was transformed from ceremonial backdrop at best to substantive world figure. Along the way, the book introduces a remarkable cast of characters, many not at all what one would expect of a presidential help-mate. Because of their position, they left remarkably complete records, and their stories offer us a window to view not only this particular sorority of women--holders of what sociologists now call "derivative power"--but also American women in general.… (altro)

Despite its title, this book is more a biography of First Lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson than even a study of her marriage with President Lyndon Baines Johnson. She comes off looking far better than he does. Not the typical woman, wife and mother of that era (1930s through 1960s), Lady Bird was the perfect political spouse and a successful businesswoman in her own right. I enjoyed learning more about her in Lady Bird and Lyndon, far more than I expected.

The print version (as viewed in excerpts on Amazon) has extensive end notes. Author Betty Boyd Caroli used a number of primary sources in this work, including Lady Bird's White House diary (both the published version and the original stored at the LBJ Library), as well as other source material stored at the presidential library, including recordings and transcripts of meetings and conversations, home movies made by Lady Bird, and the couple's 1934 courtship letters.

Amanda Carlin was a good reader, using Southern accents when quoting Lady Bird or Lyndon, which helped to distinguish that what they were saying was within quotation marks. However, she mispronounced Pedernales and Llano. Ideally a top-notch narrator would research correct regional pronunciations of place names, and if not, the audiobook editors should have done it. Fortunately these words were only used three to four times in the book, otherwise the mispronunciations would have driven me crazy.

© Amanda Pape - 2018

[This electronic audiobook was borrowed from and returned to my university library.]… (altro)