Born Claudia Alta Taylor in 1912 in Karnack, Texas, Lady Bird Johnson was a painfully shy young woman who once tanked her own grades to avoid giving a valedictorian speech. Raised largely by her Aunt Effie after her mother's early death, she earned degrees in history and journalism at the University of Texas before a whirlwind courtship led her to marry Lyndon B. Johnson just ten weeks after their first date.

Far from an ornamental first lady, she became the financial engine and stabilizing force of LBJ's career, bankrolling his first congressional run and building a media empire from an Austin radio station. This deep dive strips away the polite stereotype to reveal the brilliant strategist who professionalized the East Wing and drove her own legislative legacy.

• How she used her inheritance to fund campaigns and ran his congress ...