In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson

It’s four in the morning when Lyndon wakes up Lady Bird to the news that Senator Robert Kennedy has been shot. This episode takes us through the tragic hours of vigil as the nation grapples with his death -- the third political assassination in five years, and just two months since the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. We’re led by Lady Bird’s experience of these days -- the nonstop TV coverage, the hushed atmosphere in the White House, and her vivid impressions of the funeral in New York, including a tense encounter with Jacqueline Kennedy. In the aftermath, it’s a bittersweet final months for the Johnsons’ presidency: a final push for their ambitious projects, last minute bids to draft Lyndon to run again. The season ends with the Johnson family at home in Austin, watching a chaotic convention play out in Chicago from their living room at the LBJ Ranch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lyndon Johnson has been talking about escaping the presidency almost since the day he took office. But finally, on March 31, 1968, he stuns the nation with an announcement that he won’t seek reelection that fall. This episode presents a beat-by-beat account of the day, through Lady Bird’s perspective -- it’s a moment she’s been planning with Lyndon for four years. But there’s just a brief bit of relief following Lyndon’s speech. Just four days later, Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, and violence erupts across the nation. Riots rock Washington, DC. Both Lyndon and Lady Bird seem besieged in the aftermath of this tragedy: neither attends the funeral for Dr. King in Atlanta, ceding it to a constellation of ‘60s stars like Stevie Wonder, Harry Belafonte, and Diana Ross, as well as members of congress, and presidential candidates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the mid-60s, you can hear a growing distance between Lady Bird and the protest movement that’s sweeping the country. Bird’s a true believer in progressive causes -- civil rights, environmentalism -- but she’s also the product of her own generation and background. On a trip to two New England colleges to give speeches supporting their new environmental studies programs, Lady Bird is confronted by outspoken dissent from both students and faculty who walk out of her speeches, picket her presence and circulate letters denouncing the war in Vietnam. Lady Bird feels increasing under siege, even as she vows not to retreat into a bubble in the White House. But then dissent comes to lunch at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, when singer, actor and activist Eartha Kitt participates in one of Lady Bird’s “Doers Luncheons,” and delivers a fierce critique of the war and its effect on young Black men. The resulting media backlash, fueled by the White House PR machine, is swift and brutal, effectively derailing Kitt’s career for decades to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Riots, uprisings and protests rock the country in the summer of 1966, and despite their progress with civil rights legislation, the Johnsons can’t seem to move fast enough. And an increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam begins to overshadow just about everything else. Luci Johnson’s wedding in Washington, DC becomes the setting of dramatic anti-war protests, and Lady Bird herself is the target of a bomb threat. Feeling the urgency, Lady Bird is looking for ways to make beautification have more impact for the people who need it most. And she finds inspiration and an unlikely collaborator in San Francisco. But just as their most ambitious, controversial project is about to get underway, tragedy strikes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices