Monday, 16 February 2026

Interview With LBJ's Mistress June 30th 1997 JEFF Davis Show [zA NEy4vEs0]

A high-stakes advertising executive breaks decades of silence regarding her secret son with Lyndon B. Johnson and the ruthless Dallas underworld that protected his presidency.

LBJ mistress Madeline Duncan Brown Driscoll Hotel Box 13 scandal Jerome Ragsdale Steven Brown Jack Ruby

By Mike Hanson Archives | 9m listen | 5 chapters

RSS Transcript

Interview With LBJ's Mistress June 30th 1997 JEFF Davis Show [zA NEy4vEs0] cover

About this episode

Madeline Duncan Brown reveals the intimate details of her decades-long affair with Lyndon B. Johnson, beginning at a 1948 KTBC party at the Adolphus Hotel. As an advertising executive for Brown and Root and Lone Star Brewing, Brown navigated the intersection of Texas media power and political influence. Her testimony places Johnson at the center of a clandestine social circle that operated out of the Driscoll Hotel in Austin and various private locations across San Antonio and Houston.

Attorney Jerome Ragsdale managed the legal fallout of Brown’s pregnancy to insulate Johnson from further scrutiny following the Box 13 election scandal. The Dallas underground of the mid-twentieth century provided a backdrop of lawlessness where Jack Ruby operated and contract violence was a cheap commodity. Brown describes a volatile confrontation at the Driscoll Hotel where Johnson destroyed furniture upon learning of her pregnancy, eventually leading to a lifetime of secret financial support. These payments continued until the mid-1970s, providing for their son, Steven Brown, before his untimely death from lymphatic cancer.

Steven Brown discovered his true paternity only after the hush money ceased, eventually succumbing to the same genetic cancer that claimed Rebecca Baines Johnson. Madeline Duncan Brown recounts the physical changes to the Driscoll Hotel ballroom steps with a haunting nostalgia for a lost era of Texas history. Host Jeff Davis facilitates this detailed account of the hidden lineage and ruthless political preservation of the 36th President.

CHAPTER 01 / 5 Discussion

Madeline Duncan Brown, Lyndon B. Johnson and Texas Advertising

Author Madeline Duncan Brown describes meeting Lyndon B. Johnson at a party hosted by KTBC at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. Brown discusses her career as an advertising account executive handling major Texas clients like Brown and Root, Lone Star Brewing, and Republic National Bank. She details how her agency managed political accounts and the influence of Johnson's broadcast properties on local business.

madeline duncan brown· lyndon b. johnson· ktbc· adolphus hotel· brown and root

00:02 Good evening Austin, welcome to the Jeff Davis show. Jeff is on vacation so Joyce Isaac and myself have filled in for Jeff while he's on vacation and as our guest we have Madeline Duncan Brown the author of Texas In The Morning subtitle is The Love Story Of Madeline Brown And President Lyndon Baines Johnson I was in advertising and we had some of the largest clients in America And I was invited to a party at the Adolphus Hotel by KTBC. They were giving a big party honoring the campaign workers over the Box 13 scandal, so when Jess Kellum who was the general manager of KTBC invited me he said put your dancing shoes on and come on over and so I did and it was like Alice in Wonderland for me

01:02 So that night I met Lyndon and some of the other big people. He invited me to come to Austin, to the Driscoll Hotel three weeks later and that's when our relationship started at the Driscoll Hotel. He put a key in my hand and I knew what it meant Tell them about your experience there in the advertising agencies that you were account executive for, the different ones. Tell the names of those agencies? Some of the bigger clients, well Brown and Root we did some of their work for them. And of course we had KTBC all our clients placed time on KTVC Texas Pacific Railroad Lone Star Brewing Company Republic National Bank Bell Helicopter they were some of the larger accounts in Texas

01:58 So the ad agency was connected with the big ones. Oh yes, definitely. Southland Life Insurance that was one of the biggest political accounts we had And which did mean political accounts because during the elections still they buy political time, all the candidates do if they can afford it that is but there was a lot of political advertisement going on coming into your agency right? Oh yes When I was going over some of the contracts, I was told don't you bother KTPC. And I said well Southland Life is on a one-time rate and they said leave it alone don't you bother so I knew to keep my mouth shut. That's right show up and go work

CHAPTER 02 / 5 Discussion

Driscoll Hotel Meetings, Austin Renovations

Madeline Duncan Brown recalls her frequent meetings with Lyndon B. Johnson at the Driscoll Hotel in Austin, as well as locations in San Antonio and Houston. A recent visit to the Driscoll Hotel revealed significant renovations that altered the original 1948 atmosphere. Only the marble steps to the ballroom remained familiar from the era when the relationship began.

driscoll hotel· austin· minger hotel· lamar hotel· renovations

02:52 Well when the when how often did you see Linden one? Anytime he was in Texas I believe about the Driscoll Hotel sometime at the minger and San Antonio and the Lamar in Houston But most often it was the Driscoll hotel. And by the way, we visit we revisited the district this afternoon and went over there old stomping grounds About the only thing that was really familiar were the marble steps going up to the ballroom. It's gone through major renovations, so many things have changed I miss the coffee shop and bar you know it was so quiet Well the whole town was so quiet then because we're talking about 1948 When you first met him in 48?

CHAPTER 03 / 5 Discussion

Pregnancy Revelation, Family Reaction and LBJ Confrontation

Madeline Duncan Brown details discovering her pregnancy and the emotional process of informing her religious parents. After her father consulted a priest, Brown met Lyndon B. Johnson at the Driscoll Hotel to deliver the news. The encounter was volatile, involving Johnson breaking a lamp in anger before acknowledging his responsibility for the situation.

pregnancy· lyndon b. johnson· jess kellum· driscoll hotel· catholicism

03:43 And it was small. I mean, I'd turn around trying to find out or for my memory you know and it was so changed that I just couldn't see all of it. Okay so you met Lennon off and on for several years when did you find out the magic thing that you were carrying his child? Well that does bring tears That's brought tears to a lot of us from time to time. Well, of course in those years it was before the pill and there were very little contraceptives if any that I knew about and of course I was more than enough know it could happen but I wasn't hoping against hope it didn't happen you know? Right never happens to me right so when uh...I went to the doctor and he said I hate to tell ya but your pregnant

04:35 Oh, it was raining that day and the rain against the windows. I thought this is the end for me. So I knew first had to tell my parents and I had the most wonderful Christian parents a child could have everything was just beautiful so first went out to Keyes Park and said to myself This is one thing I can't get out of I don't know what I'm going to do But anyway, dark kind of drove me back home. I went in and that was before television by the way. It came soon after that but here George, I called him George was sitting and reading the paper and this test pattern was on you know? We all used to sit and watch test patterns. Well men still would back then were it still on right so I said finally i just blurted out I said George I gotta tell you something I'm pregnant

05:32 Well, it just rocked the house you could tell. I said he's a married man and that made it worse so he got up from the chair and took his handkerchief and went to blotting tears and I was crying. Mother wasn't in there at that point So he said well we'll work it out And I thought, how can you work out something like this? So anyway we got through that. George went and talked to the Catholic priest right there by the house and he went to Dr. Langston and said well

06:13 We'll get this all worked out. Well, that is still wasn't worked out You know right till Linda you can't undo something like that So anyway just kill him call me and tell me to Come who's who would yes kill him That was Lindon's hatchet man in Texas as well as running his office broadcast property he was the one so when I get to the Driscoll Hotel and I go upstairs and when Lyndon walked in, I went to cry. And he said oh you've missed me! Oh yes I have missed you know so he said well what's the wrong? Then I blurted out that i was pregnant and he had a fit and then I was more frightened you know. Because he had a temper and no telling what he might do Well he took a lamp and crashed it It was really an ugly experience

CHAPTER 04 / 5 Discussion

Jerome Ragsdale, Dallas Underground and Illegal Services

Lyndon B. Johnson appointed attorney Jerome Ragsdale to manage the pregnancy situation to protect his political career following the Box 13 scandal. The discussion shifts to the lawless nature of Dallas during that era, including the availability of illegal abortions for $25 and the presence of organized crime. References are made to Jack Ruby and the low costs of hiring individuals for physical violence or contract killings.

jerome ragsdale· dallas· jack ruby· abortion· organized crime

07:10 So finally when he calmed down a little bit, he said well it takes two to tango. And I was relieved that he said that. He told me that there would be an attorney in Dallas, Jerome Ragsdale. That would take care of everything and he said if this leaks out I've just got over this box 13 scandal he said uh... And i'm not going to let this destroy my political career Okay now somewhere in here I think we need to tell people because I found this well as a woman I find it's an interesting part of the story you really never considered having an abortion

07:48 Not real not me. He did he wanted at first He said you can have an abortion and because my religious beliefs are good Catholic girl, right? I couldn't do it But but you had told me we talked earlier that there was an abortion clinic somewhere close to your house even though at that time it was illegal supposedly but if you had the money you could get this taken care of. Well it didn't require a lot of money all you had to do if you had $25 was knock on the door Dallas didn't have any organization it was, had been the murder capital of the world

08:25 You could gamble, you could call Jack Ruby. Anything went in Dallas. In Dallas? Yeah! If you wanted to be a prostitute, you went down the city and got your little card that gave your health card and you operated over on Ackford Street What was the price of contract in those days? Well get someone just beat up real good ten fifteen dollars if you want it someone Well, this is serious. If you wanted someone to... say just expire, that cost you a hundred at least. Well everything had its price it had its price but no one bothered anyone I mean everyone knew were certain things the mob the mafia but no one bothered them they just went about their business yeah minded their own business we know better or we knew better how long did Stephen live and when did he find out

CHAPTER 05 / 5 Discussion

Steven Brown, Financial Support and Genetic Cancer

Steven Brown, the son of Madeline Duncan Brown and Lyndon B. Johnson, learned of his paternity in the mid-1970s when financial support payments ceased. He passed away at age 39 from lymphatic cancer, a condition noted to be prevalent in the Johnson family lineage. The illness mirrored the cancer diagnoses of Lyndon B. Johnson's mother, Rebecca Baines Johnson, and his sister.

steven brown· lymphatic cancer· rebecca baines johnson· financial support· inheritance

09:24 Who his father was he found out in the middle 70s really is when their money stopped? The support coming in and I've had a heart attack He died when he was 39 of lymphatic cancer and Researching all of this it was the same type of cancer that Linda's mother Rebecca hand and his sister, and I'm not sure what Rebecca hand okay But she did have cancer but