Ep. 3: Renewal

In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson

ABC News

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2021

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fresh from landslide victory in the 1964 election, Lyndon and Lady Bird shuttle back and forth between Washington, DC and Texas as they make plans for their first full term in office. But despite all that public support, it’s clear there’s trouble ahead. The civil rights movement is confronting a violent backlash, especially in the South, and despite LBJ’s public stance, Lady Bird knows they have “a small war on our hands” in Vietnam. Amid this turmoil, Lady Bird’s ideas about her own work are changing -- what started as planting flowers in underserved DC neighborhoods is growing into an agenda that brings environmentalism and social justice together in America’s cities. And yet, after nearly two years in office, the Johnsons still find themselves in the shadow of the glamorous Kennedys, when a high profile event at the White House brings the Johnsons their first taste of public protest and bad press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Music
0:24.0	As country music hitmaker Lawton Williams' song from the 64 campaign has it
0:29.0	Everything's okay on the LBJ. Between the election and the inauguration,
0:35.0	Lyndon and Lady Bird shuttle back and forth between the White House and the LBJ
0:39.0	ranch in the hill country of West Texas. They originally bought the house on
0:44.0	233 acres from Lyndon's Ailing Ant Frank in 1951. By the end of 64, the LBJ is 2700 acres.
0:53.0	At the ranch, it feels like everything is okay, but back in Washington.
0:59.0	When I look at the newspaper and it says President comes back from Texas, NATO, Vietnam,
1:05.0	among problems crowding calendar and I can think of all those that I would add to it.
1:10.0	I know why there was no sense of elation as we walked in the door.
1:14.0	Fresh home from a victory of over 61%.
1:19.0	LBJ's first full term as president hasn't even started and it's clear there's trouble ahead.
1:25.0	But Lady Bird finds a focus for her own work as first lady and though it starts small, it grows.
1:31.0	It's the thing she's best remembered for, even if people generally miss what she was really trying to do.
1:37.0	From best case studios and ABC audio, this is In Plain Site. I'm Julia Swag.
1:45.0	Oh, well time flies with crystal clear eyes.
1:55.0	Episode 3 Renewal.
2:09.0	No one has forgotten.
2:10.0	Today in the shadow of the Texas School Book Depository building, the people of Dallas paid tribute to the late president John F. Kennedy.
2:17.0	Fately shot just a few hundred feet from Deely Plaza.
2:20.0	As it was a year ago, the Plaza is filled with reeds and flowers.
2:25.0	November 1964, it's been a year, one long year in the White House.
	...

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