Lady Bird Johnson, the Voice of An Era

The new documentary film ‘The Lady Bird Diaries’ by Dawn Porter is a glimpse at the LBJ era through the voice of his wife, Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson. Lady Bird’s audio diaries are at the center of the film, alongside news clips of politicians and journalists, contrasted with the voices of Stokley Carmichael, RFK, Eartha Kitt, Dr. MLK Jr. and many others. It tells a tale of two Americas, of people with full bellies, several houses, education and promise working to improve the nation, and those that suffer in poverty, violence, and fear of death as the war in Vietnam and violence at home escalate. Lady Bird’s gorgeous ancient East Texas accent hooks us and takes us along for the ride as she braves her new position with hope and “beauty”, while trying to preserve her personal peace as the spectre of liberalism’s limits haunt her work and relationships.

Lady Bird began recording her journey following JFK’s assassination, and we see her plunge into the task (learning how to operate a two-two reel tape machine and microphone) with a clarity of purpose and hard work ethic she embodied since her youth. Growing up in East Texas, “Nature was my friend, sustenance and teacher”. Ladybird understands that we are nature, that it enriches and sustains us and that its health reflects our own. Her eventual decision to focus her work on democratizing access to beauty as a means of fostering equality seems a fragile seed in a garden fraught with complicated strife.

However, with solemn string music and flashes of floral visuals, we doubtfully hope along with her. Her sense of purpose and curiosity become contagious. She got multiple degrees in journalism, education and secretarying, not sure where they would lead but confident the knowledge would serve her path. Her record-keeping and goal-setting are an inspiration in our times that war, poverty and uncertainty continue to trouble. Can we face the great challenges of a “convulsing” world and still dare to create beauty?

Lady Bird keeps notes on her husband’s speeches, gives him confident, gentle and unsolicited advice on his performances. The feminist in me is smiling. The closest aides to the President know if they want to change his mind on a subject, they need to go through Lady Bird. He proposed to her on their first date at the Driskill Hotel in Austin; he knew! (The Austinite in me is clinking glasses!) In 1964 she wrote a 9 page analysis (in lovely old lady cursive) before LBJ decided to run for President, listing the pros and cons for them, their family, and their country. In 1968 while he was deciding on another run, they refer to her time capsule and use it in their decision-making. I think we all ought to keep such lavish cursive diaries, daring to shape and tell our own stories.

I had never heard a recording of someone discussing mental health from the 1960’s. People say “we didn’t talk about that then”. Perhaps they kept this part of her diary was kept private until after Lady Bird’s death in 2007. But Lady Bird mentions her husband’s health, the “black beast of depression”, more than once, and ponders the relationship of crime to mental health. “Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” The disheartened viewer feels seen, begins to dream.

The Lady Bird Diaries ends with the Lyndon and Lady Bird retiring back to the Ranch, blazes of blossoming Prairiefire flowers a visual reminder of the lasting results persistent work can produce. LBJ dies of a heart attack, Lady Bird lives on, focusing on the flowers. They show us bluebonnets. The Texan in me rejoices.