ROLLIN' ON DOWN THE LINE

Lady Bird Johnson redefined the role of first lady, campaigning for her husband through the politically hostile American South.

After signing the Civil Rights Act into law in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson faced an uphill battle for reelection, especially in the segregated South. When Secret Service agents deemed it too dangerous for the president to campaign in Southern states, the first lady—a Southerner herself—stepped up and began her historic whistle-stop tour (so named because “trains whistle over and over as they pass by or make stops”), visiting eight states in four days. Though it was unheard of for political wives to campaign alone, Lady Bird courageously faced protestors, hecklers, and even a bomb threat. While it can’t be proven, the afterword suggests that Lady Bird’s grit and Southern charm may have swayed the votes of several Southern states in LBJ’s favor. Soft, painterly illustrations evoke the time period through color and clothing. Though this appealing book’s focus is the action-packed tour itself, Lady Bird reflects on the injustice of segregation during her childhood in Texas, wondering “why her best friends could play with her in her front yard but not in the schoolyard.” The authors gloss over Lady Bird’s own privileged upbringing, but on the whole, they offer an illuminating look at a historical moment that many may be unaware of.

An engaging whistle-stop tour through an important chapter in women’s history that’s rarely given room to shine.