An Evening With Karen Tumulty
Channel: TheLBJLibrary
Date: 14/04/2021

Join us for an evening with Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty, speaking on her new release, The Triumph of Nancy Reagan. First Lady scholar Anita McBride will moderate the conversation. This program is presented in partnership with Humanities Texas and the White House Historical Association.

About the speaker:

Karen Tumulty is a political columnist for The Washington Post. Before joining the Post, Tumulty wrote for Time magazine for over 15 years.

Tumulty is a native of San Antonio, where she began her career at the now-defunct San Antonio Light. Tumulty holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She is based in Washington, DC.

Anita McBride is executive-in-residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies in the School of Public Affairs at American University where she directs the Legacies of America’s First Ladies Initiative. McBride's White House service spans two decades and three presidential administrations including as Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush.

About the book:

The Triumph of Nancy Reagan (release date April 13) is the definitive biography of the fiercely vigilant and politically astute First Lady who shaped one of the most consequential presidencies of the 20th century: Nancy Reagan.

The made-in-Hollywood marriage of Ronald and Nancy Reagan is more than a love story—it’s the partnership that made him president. Of the pair, Nancy was the one with the sharper instincts about people, the superior radar for trouble, and the keen sense of how to secure his place in history. The only person to whom Ronald Reagan felt truly close, Nancy understood how to foster his strengths and compensate for his weaknesses. Neither timid nor apologetic about wielding her power, Nancy Reagan made herself a place in history.

Karen Tumulty spent four years interviewing the people who knew this couple best and draws on overlooked archives, letters, memoirs, and White House records, compiling the most extensive biography of Nancy Reagan yet. From the AIDS epidemic to tensions with the Soviets and the war on drugs, this book shows how Nancy Reagan became one of the most influential First Ladies of the century.