While my wish list is full, I share with you Liza Mundy's fine essay on this book and Ms. Tumulty's on Nancy Regan in The Atlantic Monthly, May 2021, p. 74 ('The Power of the First Lady'). Enough time has elapsed that there is a fair amount of documentation available, but the author was able to still interview many people with first hand knowledge. Mrs. Johnson's networking skills were especially important when LBJ was largely sidelined as VP. Ms. Mundy shares with readers that the Beautification campaign would have been upfront on environmental matters if she hadn't been forced to tone it down. "The first presidential wife to act as a true surrogate, she made a whistle-stop tour of the South during the 1964 contest--not just his advocate but his protector." 'Protector' in that the rednecks in Dixie were enraged by the CR Act.

Share/Like this Review?