Washington's Iron Butterfly : Bess Clements Abell, an Oral History

Ritchie, Donald A/ Birdwhistell, Terry/ Smith, Richard N

The University Press of Kentucky（2022/01発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 266 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780813182261
• DDC分類 973.923092

Full Description

Had Elizabeth 'Bess' Clements Abell (1933-2020) been a boy, she would likely have become a politician like her father, Earle Clements. Effectively barred from that career because of her gender, she forged her own path by helping family friends Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. As President Johnson's Social Secretary, Abell earned the nickname 'Iron Butterfly' for her graceful but firm leadership of social life in the White House. Afterward, she maintained her importance in Washington D.C., serving as chief of staff to Joan Mondale and co-founding a public relations company.

 

Donald A. Ritchie and Terry L. Birdwhistell draw on Abell's own words and those of others close to her to tell her remarkable story. Focusing on her years working for the Johnson campaign and her time in the White House, this engaging oral history provides a window into Abell's life as well as an insider's view of social life in the nation's capital during the tumultuous 1960s.

Contents

Introduction

 

The Governor's Daughter

 

The Johnson Orbit

 

A Part-Time Job

 

White House Social Secretary

 

White House Impresario

 

The Lady Bird Special

 

White House Weddings

 

In Time of War and Protest

 

Part of the Family

 

Joan of Art

 

Life After the White House

 

Epilogue

 

The Interviewees

 

Acknowledgements

 

Contributor Biographies

 

Index