Abstract Between 1963 and 1969, Lady Bird Johnson served as one of the most rhetorically prolific first ladies in American history. Throughout her adult life, she diligently worked to overcome what one journalist termed a terror of public oratory. This article is a rhetorical biography that locates and analyzes three interrelated aspects of her rhetorical education: the speech training she pursued as a political surrogate, the collaborative processes of speechwriting and rehearsal in which she engaged as first lady, and her role as a speech coach, writer, and critic for her husband, President Lyndon B. Johnson. The dynamic interplay of these endeavors not only mitigated her fear of public speaking but also meaningfully expanded her rhetorical influence. This analysis identifies rhetorical education as an understudied yet significant factor that shapes an unelected political spouse’s transformation into a rhetorical first lady with a national platform of consequence.
Melody Lehn (Sun,) studied this question.