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You Can't Catch Us

Lady Bird Johnson's Trailblazing 1964 Campaign Train and the Women Who Rode with Her

Narrated by Suzanne Toren

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Pub Date Mar 03 2026 | Archive Date Mar 03 2026

RBmedia | Recorded Books


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Description

1,682 miles. The First Lady of the United States. One incredible journey. At a time when political candidates' wives were expected to be seen and not heard, Lady Bird Johnson made history as the first presidential spouse to take a leading role on the campaign trail. Her mission: to aid her husband, Lyndon B. Johnson, in his reelection bid. Proud of her southern heritage and of what her husband had done for civil rights, Lady Bird undertook an eight-state whistle-stop tour in October 1964, both to garner votes for Lyndon and to help ease the animosity that arose from the signing of the Civil Rights Act three months earlier. The "Lady Bird Special," a custom, nineteen-car train, forged headlong into the powder keg of Southern politics, traveling from Washington DC to New Orleans and making forty-seven stops in only four days. Despite the potential dangers, the First Lady, aided by a team of pioneering women, pressed forward, making speeches, shaking hands, and breaking ground. You Can't Catch Us isn't simply the story of an election campaign. It's the story of a women-led operation and an appeal for understanding and civility. Lady Bird Johnson's monumental journey expanded the role of women in politics and progressed the fight for women's rights—a fight we still continue today.
1,682 miles. The First Lady of the United States. One incredible journey. At a time when political candidates' wives were expected to be seen and not heard, Lady Bird Johnson made history as the...

Advance Praise

"Surprising, gripping, and hilarious, this inspiring journey through the American South never derails. Shannon McKenna Schmidt has written a gem of American campaign history. All aboard!"
—Margaret McMullan, author of Where the Angels Lived: One Family's Story of Exile, Loss, and Return

"The story of Lady Bird Johnson’s railroad journey through the South in the wake of her husband signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act is a largely unheralded slice of history. Thankfully, Shannon McKenna Schmidt’s You Can’t Catch Us changes that, bringing the remarkable story forward with vivid, compelling detail."
— Mark K. Updegrove, President & CEO of the LBJ Foundation and author of Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency

"Important, compelling, profoundly researched. Shannon McKenna Schmidt has gifted us with a reconsideration of our ongoing activist struggles for civil rights and feminism. A powerful book most needed now!"
— Blanche Wiesen Cook, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Eleanor Roosevelt: the definitive three-volume biography

"Surprising, gripping, and hilarious, this inspiring journey through the American South never derails. Shannon McKenna Schmidt has written a gem of American campaign history. All aboard!"
—Margaret...


Available Editions

EDITION Audiobook, Unabridged
ISBN 9798899744808
PRICE $29.99 (USD)
DURATION 11 Hours, 44 Minutes

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (AUDIO)