Two successful women, Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson, influenced and were in turn influenced by the political careers of their husbands. An analysis of their oral histories, Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy (released in 2011) and Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History (2012), demonstrates that John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson became the first men of the American nation not only through their personal virtues, but also through the influence of their wives and who had a significant impact on their careers. Granted, both Jackie and Lady Bird extolled their husbands’ merits, stressing that they were “only” their wives; however, both First Ladies played an essential diplomatic and political role, ensuring their husbands’ physical and emotional well-being in private and public life. The article demonstrates how Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson promoted the positive images of their husbands’ terms in office via their oral histories and continued to do so after their deaths. Moreover, the article considers some important differences between the two histories. Jacqueline did not edit her previously authorized interviews, whereas Lady Bird made important changes to hers; furthermore, in direct contrast to Lady Bird, Jacqueline never wrote a memoir or autobiography, which makes her oral history the most valuable source on her views about her life and her husband’s career.
Talking to a politician is not an easy task for a researcher who needs to be mindful of the fact that the witness to history is playing by a given set of rules. The analysis of a biographical and journalistic interview with Marian Orzechowski, a professor of history and Poland’s foreign minister from 1985 to 1988, allows us to outline the advantages and disadvantages and differences and similarities between the two methods of interviewing and to make note of the characteristic features of the relationships between politicians of the communist period, such as the schematics, the intellectual mishmash, and the narration of a story based on the semi-truths which is then interpreted and verified. This article addresses the question of understanding the mentality and identity of the politician as well as the factual value of interviews, assuming that all the spoken testimonies are psychologically true.
PL
Rozmowa z politykiem nie jest łatwym zadaniem dla badacza, który musi mieć na uwadze wpojone świadkowi historii zasady gry. Analiza wywiadu biograficznego i dziennikarskiego z profesorem historii i ministrem spraw zagranicznych w latach 1985–1988, Marianem Orzechowskim, pozwoliła nakreślić zalety i wady oraz różnice i podobieństwa obu metod, a także zwrócić uwagę na cechy charakterystyczne relacji polityków doby PRL, jak schematyczność, intelektualny miszmasz, podanie, opartej na półprawdach, zinterpretowanej i sprawdzonej opowieści. W artykule poruszona zostaje kwestia dotarcia do mentalności i tożsamości polityka, a także wartość faktograficzna wywiadów, przy założeniu, że wszystkie świadectwa mówione są psychologicznie prawdziwe.
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