Lady Bird Johnson
Encyclopedia
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson (December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States
from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency
of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson
. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that her major initiative as First Lady. After leaving the White House in 1969 and her husband's death in 1973, Lady Bird became an entrepreneur
, creating the $150 million LBJ Holdings Company, and was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
and the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest US civilian honors.
Claudia Alta Taylor was born in Karnack, Texas
, a town in Harrison County
, near the state's border with Louisiana
. Her birthplace was "The Brick House," an antebellum plantation
mansion on the outskirts of town, which her father had purchased shortly before her birth. Nearly all of both her maternal and paternal forebears had arrived in the Virginia Colony during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Her father was a native of Alabama
and primarily of English
ancestry with small amounts of Welsh
and Danish; her mother was also a native of Alabama
and of English and Scottish
descent.
Though she was named for her mother's brother Claud, during her infancy, her nurse, Alice Tittle, commented, she was as "purty as a ladybird
," which is a brightly colored beetle
. That nickname virtually replaced her actual first name for the rest of her life. Her father and siblings called her Lady, though her husband called her Bird, which is the name she used on her marriage license. During her teenage years, her schoolmates had called her Bird, though mockingly, since she reportedly was not fond of the name.
Her father was Thomas Jefferson Taylor (August 29, 1874 – October 22, 1960), a sharecropper's son who became a wealthy businessman and the owner of 15000 acres (6,070 ha) of cotton and two general stores. "My father was a very strong character, to put it mildly," his daughter once said. "He lived by his own rules. It was a whole feudal way of life, really."
Her mother was the former Minnie Lee Pattillo (1874–1918), an opera lover who felt out of place in Karnack and who was often in "poor emotional and physical health." When Lady Bird was five years old, Minnie, while pregnant, fell down a flight of stairs and died of complications after miscarrying. In a profile of Lady Bird Johnson, Time magazine described Lady Bird's mother as "a tall, eccentric woman from an old and aristocratic Alabama
family, liked to wear long white dresses and heavy veils [... and who] scandalized people for miles around by entertaining Negroes in her home, and once even started to write a book about Negro religious practices, called Bio Baptism." Her unreconstructed husband, however, tended to see blacks as "hewers of wood and drawers of water," according to his younger son.
Lady Bird had two elder brothers, Thomas Jefferson Jr. (1901–1959) and Antonio, also known as Tony (1904–1986). She also had two stepmothers; the second, Ruth Scroggins, who married Thomas Taylor in 1937.
She was largely raised by her aunt Effie Pattillo, who moved to Karnack after her sister's death, although Lady Bird visited her Pattillo relatives in Autauga County, Alabama
, every summer until she was a young woman. As she explained, "Until I was about 20, summertime always meant Alabama to me. With Aunt Effie we would board the train in Marshall and ride to the part of the world that meant watermelon cuttings, picnics at the creek, and a lot of company every Sunday." According to Lady Bird, her aunt Effie "opened my spirit to beauty, but she neglected to give me any insight into the practical matters a girl should know about, such as how to dress or choose one's friends or learning to dance."
Lady Bird was a shy and quiet girl who spent much of her youth alone outdoors. "People always look back at it now and assume it was lonely," she once said about her childhood. "To me it definitely was not. [...] I spent a lot of time just walking and fishing and swimming." She developed her lifelong love of the environment as a child growing up in the tall pine
s and bayou
s of East Texas
and watching the wildflower
s bloom each spring.
When it came time to enter high school, Lady Bird moved away from home to live with another family during weekdays in the town of Jefferson, Texas
, since there was no high school in the Karnack area (her brothers had attended boarding schools in New York). Eventually she graduated third in her class at the age of 15 from Marshall Senior High School
in nearby Marshall
. Despite her young age, she drove herself to school in her own car, a distance of 15 miles (24 km) each way, because, she said, "it was an awful chore for my daddy to delegate some person from his business to take me in and out." During her senior year, when she realized that she had the highest grades in her class, she "purposely allowed her grades to slip" so that she would not have to give the valedictorian
or salutatorian
speech.
After graduating from high school in May 1928, Lady Bird entered the University of Alabama
for the summer session, where she took her first journalism
course, but being homesick for Texas, she did not return for the fall term at Alabama. Instead she and a high school friend enrolled at St. Mary's Episcopal College for Women, a strict Episcopal boarding junior college for women in Dallas, where she "converted to the Episcopal faith," although she waited five years to be confirmed.
After graduating from St. Mary's in May 1930, Lady Bird toyed with the idea of going back to Alabama, but another friend from Marshall was going to the University of Texas
, so she chartered a plane to go down to Austin
to check it out. Prophetically, as the plane landed she was awed by the sight of a field covered with bluebonnets and instantly fell in love with the city. Lady Bird received a Bachelor's of Arts degree with honors in 1933 and a second bachelor's degree in journalism Cum Laude in 1934 — a time when women were hard pressed to have a career of their own, let alone a college education. She was active on campus in different organizations such as Orange Jackets
and believed in student leadership. Her goal was to become a reporter, but she also earned a teaching certificate. The summer after her second graduation, she and a girlfriend traveled to New York City
and Washington, D.C.
, where they peered through the fence at the White House
.
On their first date, which was breakfast the next morning at the Driskill Hotel
and a long drive in the country, Johnson proposed. Lady Bird did not want to rush into marriage
, but Lyndon Johnson was persistent and did not want to wait. Lady Bird accepted his proposal 10 weeks later. The couple married on November 17, 1934 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas
.
After three miscarriages, the couple had two daughters: Lynda
(born in 1944), whose husband Charles S. Robb is a former governor of Virginia
and former U.S. Senator, and Luci
, born in 1947, first married to Pat Nugent, then Ian Turpin. The couple and their two daughters all shared the initials LBJ. At the time of her death, Johnson had seven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
at the outset of the Second World War
, Lady Bird ran the congressional office.
Johnson sometimes served as a mediating force between her willful husband and those he had encountered. On one occasion, after Lyndon had clashed with a young Houston
reporter, Dan Rather
, Lady Bird followed Rather in her car and invited him to return and have some punch, explaining, "That's just the way Lyndon sometimes is."
She served as President of the company, LBJ Holding Co., and her husband negotiated an agreement with the CBS
radio network. Lady Bird decided to expand by buying a television
station in 1952 despite Lyndon's objections, reminding him that she could do as she wished with her inheritance. The station, KTBC
-TV/7 (then affiliated with CBS as well), would make the Johnsons millionaires as Austin's monopoly
VHF franchise. Over the years, journalists have written about how Lyndon used his influence in the Senate to influence the Federal Communications Commission
into granting the monopoly license, which was in Lady Bird's name.
Although LBJ Holding's two small banks failed and were closed in 1991 by the FDIC
, the core Johnson radio properties survived and prospered. Emmis Communications
bought KLBJ-AM, KLBJ-FM
, KGSR
, and three other stations from LBJ Holding for $105 million in 2003.
Eventually, Johnson's initial $41,000 investment turned into more than $150 million for the LBJ Holding Company. Johnson remained involved with the company until she was in her 80s. She was the first president's wife to become a millionaire in her own right.
chose Lyndon Johnson as his running mate for the 1960 election. At Kennedy's request, Lady Bird took an expanded role during the campaign, due to Jacqueline Kennedy's pregnancy. Over 71 days, she traveled 35000 miles (56,326.9 km) through 11 states and appeared at 150 events. Kennedy and Johnson won the election that November, with Lady Bird helping the Democratic ticket carry seven Southern states.
As the Vice-President's wife, Lady Bird often served as a substitute for Jacqueline Kennedy at official events and functions. The Johnsons were accompanying Kennedy in Dallas when he was assassinated
, and Lyndon was sworn in as President two hours later.
As First Lady, Johnson started a capital beautification project (Society for a More Beautiful National Capital) to improve physical conditions in Washington, D.C.
, both for residents and tourists by planting millions of flowers. Her beliefs regarding the importance of national beautification can best be summarized in her statement that "where flowers bloom, so does hope." She worked extensively with American Association of Nurserymen (AAN) executive Vice President Robert F. Lederer to protect wildflowers and the planting of them along highways. Her efforts inspired similar programs throughout the country. She became the first president's wife to advocate actively for legislation when she was instrumental in promoting the Highway Beautification Act
, which was nicknamed "Lady Bird's Bill" and sought to beautify the nation's highway system by limiting billboards
and by planting roadside areas. She was an advocate of the Head Start program.
Johnson created the modern structure of the First Lady's office; she was the first to have a press secretary
and chief of staff of her own and an outside liaison with Congress. Her press secretary from 1963 to 1969 was Liz Carpenter
, a fellow University of Texas alumna. Carpenter was the first professional newswoman to be press secretary to a First Lady, and she also served as Lady Bird's staff director. Johnson's tenure as First Lady marked the beginning of the hiring of employees in the East Wing to work specifically for the First Lady's projects.
During the 1964 election, Johnson traveled through eight Southern states in her own train
to promote the Civil Rights Act
, at one point giving 45 speeches over five days. It was the first solo whistlestop tour of a First Lady.
In 1970, Johnson published A White House Diary, her intimate, behind-the-scenes account of her husband's presidency spanning November 22, 1963 to January 20, 1969. Beginning with Kennedy's assassination, Mrs. Johnson recorded the momentous events of her times, including the Great Society
's War on Poverty
, the national civil rights
and social protest movements, her own activism on behalf of the environment, and the Vietnam War
. Johnson was acquainted with a long span of fellow First Ladies, from Eleanor Roosevelt
to Laura Bush
, and was protected by the United States Secret Service
for 44 years, longer than anyone else in history.
by Gerald Ford
on January 10, 1977. The citation for her medal read:
Johnson then received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1988, becoming the first wife of a president to receive the honor. In a 1982 poll taken of historians ranking the most influential and important First Ladies, Johnson placed third behind Abigail Adams
and Eleanor Roosevelt
for her work as a conservation activist.
In addition to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
, she was honored by the naming of the Lady Bird Johnson Park
on Columbia Island
in Washington, D.C.
, which was founded as a result of her efforts as First Lady to beautify the capital. She declined many overtures to name Austin's Town Lake in her honor after she had led a campaign to clean up the lake and add trails to its shoreline; following her death, Austin Mayor Will Wynn
's office said it was a "foregone conclusion that Town Lake is going to be renamed" in honor of Johnson. The lake was renamed Lady Bird Lake on July 26, 2007.
A majestic grove of coastal redwoods, named in her honor by President Nixon in 1969, is located just north of Orick, California
. "Lady Bird Johnson Grove" is part of Redwood National Park. In April 2008, the "Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Cherry Blossom Grove" was dedicated in Marshfield, Missouri. The dedication took place during the city's annual cherry blossom festival. Johnson had been supportive of the rural community and their initiative to plant blossoming cherry trees.
In 1995, she received an Honor Award
from the National Building Museum
for her lifetime leadership in beautification and conservation campaigns.
Johnson was also named the honorary chairwoman of the Head Start program.
She held honorary degrees from many universities: Boston University
, the University of Alabama
, George Washington University
, Johns Hopkins University
, State University of New York
, Southern Methodist University
, Texas Woman's University
, Middlebury College
, Williams College
, Southwestern University
, Texas State University–San Marcos
, Washington College
and St. Edward's University
.
After former President Johnson died of a heart attack
in 1973, Lady Bird remained in the public eye, honoring her husband and other Presidents.
In the 1970s, she focused her attention on the Austin
riverfront area through her involvement in the Town Lake Beautification Project. After her death in 2007, Town Lake was renamed Lady Bird Lake to honor her efforts.
From 1971 to 1978, Johnson served on the board of regents for the University of Texas System. She also served on the National Park Service
Advisory Board and was the first woman to serve on National Geographic's Board of Trustees. President Nixon
mentioned Johnson as a possible ambassador in a circulated memo, but nothing came of that proposal.
On December 22, 1982 (her 70th birthday), she and actress Helen Hayes
founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving and reintroducing native plants in planned landscapes, located east of Austin, Texas
. This earned her the nickname of "Johnny Appleseed
" of Wildflowers. The Center opened a new facility southwest of Austin on La Crosse Avenue in 1994. It was officially renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
in 1998 in honor of Johnson, who raised $10 million for the facility. On June 20, 2006, the University of Texas at Austin
announced plans to incorporate the 279 acres (1.1 km²) Wildflower Center into the University.
For 20 years, Johnson spent her summers on the island of Martha's Vineyard
renting the home of Charles Guggenheim
for many of those years. She said she had greatly appreciated the island's natural beauty and flowers.
On October 13, 2006, Johnson made a rare public appearance at the renovation announcement of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
. Sitting in a wheelchair and showing signs of recent health problems, Lady Bird seemed engaged and alert, and applauded along with those present at the ceremony.
In 1993, Johnson's health began to fail. In August 1993, she suffered a stroke
and became legally blind due to macular degeneration
. In 1999 she was hospitalized for a fainting spell and, in 2002, she suffered a second, more severe, stroke, which left her unable to speak coherently or walk without assistance. In 2005, she spent a few days in an Austin hospital for treatment of bronchitis
. In February 2006, Lady Bird's daughter Lynda Johnson Robb told a gathering at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri
, that her mother was now totally blind and was "not in very good health."
In June 2007, Johnson spent six days in Seton Hospital in Austin after suffering from a low-grade fever. At 4:18 PM (CDT) on July 11, 2007, she died at home of natural causes, surrounded by members of her family and Catholic priest Father Robert Scott. At Johnson's funeral service her daughter Luci Baines Johnson remarked that one week before her death she made a public appearance and visited the Blanton Museum of Art. "It was a scene: mother was on IV, oxygen tube and a feeding tube. It looked like a mobile hospital. But she had a wonderful time," Luci said.
Three weeks before Lady Bird's death, the rector of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, which had been her second home for over 50 years, had announced to his parishioners that she had given $300,000 to pay off the church's mortgage.
Nancy Reagan
, Rosalynn Carter
, Jimmy Carter
, Laura Bush
, Bill Clinton
, Hillary Clinton, (second row) Caroline Kennedy
, Barbara Bush
, Susan Ford Bales
, (third row) Maria Shriver
, and Patricia "Tricia" Nixon Cox attended, representing eight presidential families (excluding the Johnsons and counting George H.W. Bush's family and George W. Bush's family separately).
At 9:00 A.M. on July 15, a ceremonial cortège left the Texas State Capitol
. The public was invited to line the route through downtown Austin on Congress Avenue
and along the shores of Lady Bird Lake to pay their respects. The public part of the funeral procession ended in Johnson City
. The family had a private burial at the Johnson family cemetery in Stonewall
, where Johnson was laid to rest next to her husband who had died 34 years earlier.
Unlike previous funerals for first ladies, the pallbearers during the funeral services came from members of the armed forces.
She was the first former First Lady to die in the 21st century.
On June 7, 2008, the Texas State Democratic Party honored Johnson by renaming the state convention's Blue Star Breakfast as the 'Lady Bird Breakfast'. In January 2009, St. Edward's University
in Austin completed a new residence hall for upperclassmen bearing the name of Lady Bird Johnson Hall, or "LBJ Hall" for short.
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that her major initiative as First Lady. After leaving the White House in 1969 and her husband's death in 1973, Lady Bird became an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, creating the $150 million LBJ Holdings Company, and was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
and the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest US civilian honors.
Early life
Karnack, Texas
Karnack is a rural unincorporated community in northeastern Harrison County near Caddo Lake in the eastern region of the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 775 at the 2000 census....
, a town in Harrison County
Harrison County, Texas
Harrison County is a county of the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 62,110. It is named for Jonas Harrison, a lawyer and Texas revolutionary. It is located in the Ark-La-Tex region...
, near the state's border with Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Her birthplace was "The Brick House," an antebellum plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
mansion on the outskirts of town, which her father had purchased shortly before her birth. Nearly all of both her maternal and paternal forebears had arrived in the Virginia Colony during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Her father was a native of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and primarily of English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
ancestry with small amounts of Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
and Danish; her mother was also a native of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and of English and Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
descent.
Though she was named for her mother's brother Claud, during her infancy, her nurse, Alice Tittle, commented, she was as "purty as a ladybird
Coccinellidae
Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds , or ladybugs . Scientists increasingly prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not true bugs...
," which is a brightly colored beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
. That nickname virtually replaced her actual first name for the rest of her life. Her father and siblings called her Lady, though her husband called her Bird, which is the name she used on her marriage license. During her teenage years, her schoolmates had called her Bird, though mockingly, since she reportedly was not fond of the name.
Her father was Thomas Jefferson Taylor (August 29, 1874 – October 22, 1960), a sharecropper's son who became a wealthy businessman and the owner of 15000 acres (6,070 ha) of cotton and two general stores. "My father was a very strong character, to put it mildly," his daughter once said. "He lived by his own rules. It was a whole feudal way of life, really."
Her mother was the former Minnie Lee Pattillo (1874–1918), an opera lover who felt out of place in Karnack and who was often in "poor emotional and physical health." When Lady Bird was five years old, Minnie, while pregnant, fell down a flight of stairs and died of complications after miscarrying. In a profile of Lady Bird Johnson, Time magazine described Lady Bird's mother as "a tall, eccentric woman from an old and aristocratic Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
family, liked to wear long white dresses and heavy veils [... and who] scandalized people for miles around by entertaining Negroes in her home, and once even started to write a book about Negro religious practices, called Bio Baptism." Her unreconstructed husband, however, tended to see blacks as "hewers of wood and drawers of water," according to his younger son.
Lady Bird had two elder brothers, Thomas Jefferson Jr. (1901–1959) and Antonio, also known as Tony (1904–1986). She also had two stepmothers; the second, Ruth Scroggins, who married Thomas Taylor in 1937.
She was largely raised by her aunt Effie Pattillo, who moved to Karnack after her sister's death, although Lady Bird visited her Pattillo relatives in Autauga County, Alabama
Autauga County, Alabama
Autauga County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census the population was 54,571. Its county seat is Prattville.Autauga County is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, every summer until she was a young woman. As she explained, "Until I was about 20, summertime always meant Alabama to me. With Aunt Effie we would board the train in Marshall and ride to the part of the world that meant watermelon cuttings, picnics at the creek, and a lot of company every Sunday." According to Lady Bird, her aunt Effie "opened my spirit to beauty, but she neglected to give me any insight into the practical matters a girl should know about, such as how to dress or choose one's friends or learning to dance."
Lady Bird was a shy and quiet girl who spent much of her youth alone outdoors. "People always look back at it now and assume it was lonely," she once said about her childhood. "To me it definitely was not. [...] I spent a lot of time just walking and fishing and swimming." She developed her lifelong love of the environment as a child growing up in the tall pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
s and bayou
Bayou
A bayou is an American term for a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying areas, and can refer either to an extremely slow-moving stream or river , or to a marshy lake or wetland. The name "bayou" can also refer to creeks that see level changes due to tides and hold brackish water which...
s of East Texas
East Texas
East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
and watching the wildflower
Wildflower
A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...
s bloom each spring.
Education
Jefferson, Texas
Jefferson is an historic city in Marion County in northeastern Texas, United States. The population was 2,024 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County, Texas, and is situated in East Texas...
, since there was no high school in the Karnack area (her brothers had attended boarding schools in New York). Eventually she graduated third in her class at the age of 15 from Marshall Senior High School
Marshall High School (Marshall, Texas)
Marshall High School is a public school in Marshall, Texas . It is part of the Marshall Independent School District.Located at 1900 Maverick Drive, the school serves students in grades nine through twelve.-Student demographics:...
in nearby Marshall
Marshall, Texas
Marshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523...
. Despite her young age, she drove herself to school in her own car, a distance of 15 miles (24 km) each way, because, she said, "it was an awful chore for my daddy to delegate some person from his business to take me in and out." During her senior year, when she realized that she had the highest grades in her class, she "purposely allowed her grades to slip" so that she would not have to give the valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
or salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...
speech.
After graduating from high school in May 1928, Lady Bird entered the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
for the summer session, where she took her first journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
course, but being homesick for Texas, she did not return for the fall term at Alabama. Instead she and a high school friend enrolled at St. Mary's Episcopal College for Women, a strict Episcopal boarding junior college for women in Dallas, where she "converted to the Episcopal faith," although she waited five years to be confirmed.
After graduating from St. Mary's in May 1930, Lady Bird toyed with the idea of going back to Alabama, but another friend from Marshall was going to the University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, so she chartered a plane to go down to Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
to check it out. Prophetically, as the plane landed she was awed by the sight of a field covered with bluebonnets and instantly fell in love with the city. Lady Bird received a Bachelor's of Arts degree with honors in 1933 and a second bachelor's degree in journalism Cum Laude in 1934 — a time when women were hard pressed to have a career of their own, let alone a college education. She was active on campus in different organizations such as Orange Jackets
Orange Jackets
Orange Jackets is one of the oldest student organizations at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, founded in 1923 as a women's honorary organization, named for their distinctive orange vests...
and believed in student leadership. Her goal was to become a reporter, but she also earned a teaching certificate. The summer after her second graduation, she and a girlfriend traveled to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where they peered through the fence at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Marriage and family
Her goal of a career in media was deferred when a friend in Austin introduced her to Lyndon Baines Johnson, a young up-and-coming political hopeful working as an aide to Congressman Richard Kleberg.On their first date, which was breakfast the next morning at the Driskill Hotel
Driskill Hotel
The Driskill Hotel, a Romanesque style building completed in 1886, is the oldest operating hotel in Austin, Texas, USA, and one of the best-known hotels in Texas generally. The Driskill was conceived and built by Col. Jesse Driskill, a cattleman who spent his fortune constructing "the finest hotel...
and a long drive in the country, Johnson proposed. Lady Bird did not want to rush into marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, but Lyndon Johnson was persistent and did not want to wait. Lady Bird accepted his proposal 10 weeks later. The couple married on November 17, 1934 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
.
After three miscarriages, the couple had two daughters: Lynda
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb is the elder of the two daughters of United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson...
(born in 1944), whose husband Charles S. Robb is a former governor of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and former U.S. Senator, and Luci
Luci Baines Johnson
Luci Baines Johnson Turpin, formerly Nugent, is the younger daughter of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, the former Claudia Alta Taylor . Her name was originally spelled "Lucy"; she informally changed the spelling in her teens...
, born in 1947, first married to Pat Nugent, then Ian Turpin. The couple and their two daughters all shared the initials LBJ. At the time of her death, Johnson had seven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
Early politics
When Lyndon decided to run for Congress from Austin's 10th district, Lady Bird provided the money to launch his campaign. She took $10,000 of her inheritance from her mother's estate to help start his political career. The couple settled in Washington, D.C. after Lyndon was elected to Congress. After he enlisted in the NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
at the outset of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Lady Bird ran the congressional office.
Johnson sometimes served as a mediating force between her willful husband and those he had encountered. On one occasion, after Lyndon had clashed with a young Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
reporter, Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
, Lady Bird followed Rather in her car and invited him to return and have some punch, explaining, "That's just the way Lyndon sometimes is."
Business career
In January-February 1943, Ladybird Johnson spent $17,500 of her inheritance to purchase KTBC, an Austin radio station that was in debt. She bought the radio station from a three-man partnership which included a future U.S. Secretary of the Navy and a future U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Robert B. Anderson.She served as President of the company, LBJ Holding Co., and her husband negotiated an agreement with the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
radio network. Lady Bird decided to expand by buying a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
station in 1952 despite Lyndon's objections, reminding him that she could do as she wished with her inheritance. The station, KTBC
KTBC
KTBC, channel 7, is the Fox owned-and-operated television station in Austin, Texas. Studios are located in downtown Austin at the corner of 10th and Brazos Streets , and its transmitter is located in the city....
-TV/7 (then affiliated with CBS as well), would make the Johnsons millionaires as Austin's monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
VHF franchise. Over the years, journalists have written about how Lyndon used his influence in the Senate to influence the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
into granting the monopoly license, which was in Lady Bird's name.
Although LBJ Holding's two small banks failed and were closed in 1991 by the FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
, the core Johnson radio properties survived and prospered. Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
bought KLBJ-AM, KLBJ-FM
KLBJ-FM
KLBJ-FM is a classic rock music radio station serving the Austin, Texas area, broadcasting at 93.7 MHz from its broadcast tower on Austin's Mount Larson.The station was owned by the Lyndon B...
, KGSR
KGSR
KLZT is a radio station broadcasting an Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Bastrop, Texas, USA, the station serves the Austin area. The station is currently owned by Emmis Communications. The station is also broadcast on HD radio. It builds itself as La Z 107.1, -History:The station went on the...
, and three other stations from LBJ Holding for $105 million in 2003.
Eventually, Johnson's initial $41,000 investment turned into more than $150 million for the LBJ Holding Company. Johnson remained involved with the company until she was in her 80s. She was the first president's wife to become a millionaire in her own right.
Second Lady of the United States
John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
chose Lyndon Johnson as his running mate for the 1960 election. At Kennedy's request, Lady Bird took an expanded role during the campaign, due to Jacqueline Kennedy's pregnancy. Over 71 days, she traveled 35000 miles (56,326.9 km) through 11 states and appeared at 150 events. Kennedy and Johnson won the election that November, with Lady Bird helping the Democratic ticket carry seven Southern states.
As the Vice-President's wife, Lady Bird often served as a substitute for Jacqueline Kennedy at official events and functions. The Johnsons were accompanying Kennedy in Dallas when he was assassinated
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, and Lyndon was sworn in as President two hours later.
First Lady of the United States
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, both for residents and tourists by planting millions of flowers. Her beliefs regarding the importance of national beautification can best be summarized in her statement that "where flowers bloom, so does hope." She worked extensively with American Association of Nurserymen (AAN) executive Vice President Robert F. Lederer to protect wildflowers and the planting of them along highways. Her efforts inspired similar programs throughout the country. She became the first president's wife to advocate actively for legislation when she was instrumental in promoting the Highway Beautification Act
Highway Beautification Act
In the United States, highway beautification is the subject of the Highway Beautification Act, passed in the Senate on September 16, 1965 and in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 8, 1965, and signed by the President on October 22, 1965...
, which was nicknamed "Lady Bird's Bill" and sought to beautify the nation's highway system by limiting billboards
Billboard (advertising)
A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...
and by planting roadside areas. She was an advocate of the Head Start program.
Johnson created the modern structure of the First Lady's office; she was the first to have a press secretary
Press secretary
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage....
and chief of staff of her own and an outside liaison with Congress. Her press secretary from 1963 to 1969 was Liz Carpenter
Liz Carpenter
Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Sutherland Carpenter was a writer, feminist, former reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert....
, a fellow University of Texas alumna. Carpenter was the first professional newswoman to be press secretary to a First Lady, and she also served as Lady Bird's staff director. Johnson's tenure as First Lady marked the beginning of the hiring of employees in the East Wing to work specifically for the First Lady's projects.
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
to promote the Civil Rights Act
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
, at one point giving 45 speeches over five days. It was the first solo whistlestop tour of a First Lady.
In 1970, Johnson published A White House Diary, her intimate, behind-the-scenes account of her husband's presidency spanning November 22, 1963 to January 20, 1969. Beginning with Kennedy's assassination, Mrs. Johnson recorded the momentous events of her times, including the Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
's War on Poverty
War on Poverty
The War on Poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent...
, the national civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and social protest movements, her own activism on behalf of the environment, and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Johnson was acquainted with a long span of fellow First Ladies, from Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
to Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
, and was protected by the United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
for 44 years, longer than anyone else in history.
Honors
Lady Bird Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of FreedomPresidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
by Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
on January 10, 1977. The citation for her medal read:
- "One of America's great First Ladies, she claimed her own place in the hearts and history of the American people. In councils of power or in homes of the poor, she made government human with her unique compassion and her grace, warmth and wisdom. Her leadership transformed the American landscape and preserved its natural beauty as a national treasure."
Johnson then received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1988, becoming the first wife of a president to receive the honor. In a 1982 poll taken of historians ranking the most influential and important First Ladies, Johnson placed third behind Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth...
and Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
for her work as a conservation activist.
In addition to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The center currently functions as an Organizational Research Unit of The University of Texas at Austin.The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a public botanical garden on La Crosse Avenue near the Mopac Expressway, 10 miles SW of downtown Austin, Texas and just inside the edge of the...
, she was honored by the naming of the Lady Bird Johnson Park
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac is located on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C. The memorial honors the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson....
on Columbia Island
Columbia Island (District of Columbia)
Columbia Island is located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., and is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Boundary Channel separates the island from the Virginia shoreline to the southwest...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, which was founded as a result of her efforts as First Lady to beautify the capital. She declined many overtures to name Austin's Town Lake in her honor after she had led a campaign to clean up the lake and add trails to its shoreline; following her death, Austin Mayor Will Wynn
Will Wynn
William Patrick Wynn served as mayor of Austin, Texas from 2003 to 2009. He is a Democrat.- Family :Born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, Wynn was the sixth of seven children. He attended Texas A&M University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in Environmental Design in 1984...
's office said it was a "foregone conclusion that Town Lake is going to be renamed" in honor of Johnson. The lake was renamed Lady Bird Lake on July 26, 2007.
A majestic grove of coastal redwoods, named in her honor by President Nixon in 1969, is located just north of Orick, California
Orick, California
Orick is a census-designated place situated on the banks of the Redwood Creek in Humboldt County, California. It is located north of Eureka, at an elevation of 26 feet . The ZIP Code is 95555...
. "Lady Bird Johnson Grove" is part of Redwood National Park. In April 2008, the "Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Cherry Blossom Grove" was dedicated in Marshfield, Missouri. The dedication took place during the city's annual cherry blossom festival. Johnson had been supportive of the rural community and their initiative to plant blossoming cherry trees.
In 1995, she received an Honor Award
Honor Award
The National Building Museum promotes excellence in architecture, engineering, construction, planning, and design. In furtherance of that mission, the Museum instituted an annual Honor Award in 1986 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made important contributions to the U.S.'s...
from the National Building Museum
National Building Museum
The National Builders Museum, in Washington, D.C., United States, is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning"...
for her lifetime leadership in beautification and conservation campaigns.
Johnson was also named the honorary chairwoman of the Head Start program.
She held honorary degrees from many universities: Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
, Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, Texas Woman's University
Texas Woman's University
Texas Woman's University is a co-educational university in Denton, Texas, United States with two health science center branches in Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas...
, Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
, Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
, Southwestern University
Southwestern University
Southwestern University is a private, four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Texas, USA. Founded in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church although the curriculum is nonsectarian...
, Texas State University–San Marcos
Texas State University–San Marcos
Texas State University–San Marcos is a doctoral-granting university located in San Marcos, Texas...
, Washington College
Washington College
Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...
and St. Edward's University
St. Edward's University
St. Edward's University is a private Roman Catholic institution of higher learning located south of Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. The university offers a liberal arts education and its campus is located on a hill overlooking the city of Austin. The campus's most notable landmark is Main...
.
Later life
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1973, Lady Bird remained in the public eye, honoring her husband and other Presidents.
In the 1970s, she focused her attention on the Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
riverfront area through her involvement in the Town Lake Beautification Project. After her death in 2007, Town Lake was renamed Lady Bird Lake to honor her efforts.
From 1971 to 1978, Johnson served on the board of regents for the University of Texas System. She also served on the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
Advisory Board and was the first woman to serve on National Geographic's Board of Trustees. President Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
mentioned Johnson as a possible ambassador in a circulated memo, but nothing came of that proposal.
On December 22, 1982 (her 70th birthday), she and actress Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving and reintroducing native plants in planned landscapes, located east of Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. This earned her the nickname of "Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed , born John Chapman, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
" of Wildflowers. The Center opened a new facility southwest of Austin on La Crosse Avenue in 1994. It was officially renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The center currently functions as an Organizational Research Unit of The University of Texas at Austin.The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a public botanical garden on La Crosse Avenue near the Mopac Expressway, 10 miles SW of downtown Austin, Texas and just inside the edge of the...
in 1998 in honor of Johnson, who raised $10 million for the facility. On June 20, 2006, the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
announced plans to incorporate the 279 acres (1.1 km²) Wildflower Center into the University.
For 20 years, Johnson spent her summers on the island of Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
renting the home of Charles Guggenheim
Charles Guggenheim
Charles Guggenheim was an American film director and producer.- Early life :Guggenheim was born into a prominent German Jewish family in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was a furniture salesman. While studying farming at Colorado A&M in 1943, Guggenheim was drafted into the United States Army...
for many of those years. She said she had greatly appreciated the island's natural beauty and flowers.
On October 13, 2006, Johnson made a rare public appearance at the renovation announcement of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The library houses 45 million pages of historical documents, including the papers of Lyndon Baines Johnson and those of his close associates and others...
. Sitting in a wheelchair and showing signs of recent health problems, Lady Bird seemed engaged and alert, and applauded along with those present at the ceremony.
Health problems and death
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
and became legally blind due to macular degeneration
Macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is a medical condition which usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of damage to the retina. It occurs in “dry” and “wet” forms. It is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in older adults...
. In 1999 she was hospitalized for a fainting spell and, in 2002, she suffered a second, more severe, stroke, which left her unable to speak coherently or walk without assistance. In 2005, she spent a few days in an Austin hospital for treatment of bronchitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
. In February 2006, Lady Bird's daughter Lynda Johnson Robb told a gathering at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, that her mother was now totally blind and was "not in very good health."
In June 2007, Johnson spent six days in Seton Hospital in Austin after suffering from a low-grade fever. At 4:18 PM (CDT) on July 11, 2007, she died at home of natural causes, surrounded by members of her family and Catholic priest Father Robert Scott. At Johnson's funeral service her daughter Luci Baines Johnson remarked that one week before her death she made a public appearance and visited the Blanton Museum of Art. "It was a scene: mother was on IV, oxygen tube and a feeding tube. It looked like a mobile hospital. But she had a wonderful time," Luci said.
Three weeks before Lady Bird's death, the rector of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, which had been her second home for over 50 years, had announced to his parishioners that she had given $300,000 to pay off the church's mortgage.
Funeral services
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
, Rosalynn Carter
Rosalynn Carter
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter is the wife of the former President of the United States Jimmy Carter and in that capacity served as the First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981. As First Lady and after, she has been a leading advocate for numerous causes, perhaps most prominently for mental...
, Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Hillary Clinton, (second row) Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author and attorney. She is a member of the influential Kennedy family and the only surviving child of U.S. President John F...
, Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
, Susan Ford Bales
Susan Ford
Susan Elizabeth Ford Bales is an American author, photojournalist, and former chairman of the board of the Betty Ford Center for alcohol and drug abuse.-Youth:...
, (third row) Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
, and Patricia "Tricia" Nixon Cox attended, representing eight presidential families (excluding the Johnsons and counting George H.W. Bush's family and George W. Bush's family separately).
At 9:00 A.M. on July 15, a ceremonial cortège left the Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
The Texas State Capitol is located in Austin, Texas, and is the fourth building to be the house of Texas government in Austin. It houses the chambers of the Texas Legislature and the office of the governor of Texas. It was designed originally during 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, and was...
. The public was invited to line the route through downtown Austin on Congress Avenue
Congress Avenue
Congress Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Austin, Texas. The street is a six-lane, tree lined avenue that cuts through the middle of the city from far south Austin and goes over Lady Bird Lake leading to the Texas State Capitol in the heart of downtown....
and along the shores of Lady Bird Lake to pay their respects. The public part of the funeral procession ended in Johnson City
Johnson City, Texas
Johnson City is a city in Blanco County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Blanco County. It was the hometown of President Lyndon Johnson and was founded by James Polk Johnson, nephew of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr., cousin to President Johnson....
. The family had a private burial at the Johnson family cemetery in Stonewall
Stonewall, Texas
Stonewall is a census-designated place in Gillespie County, Texas, United States. The population was 469 at the 2000 census. It was named for Thomas J. Jackson, by Israel P. Nunez, who established a stage station near the site in 1870....
, where Johnson was laid to rest next to her husband who had died 34 years earlier.
Unlike previous funerals for first ladies, the pallbearers during the funeral services came from members of the armed forces.
She was the first former First Lady to die in the 21st century.
On June 7, 2008, the Texas State Democratic Party honored Johnson by renaming the state convention's Blue Star Breakfast as the 'Lady Bird Breakfast'. In January 2009, St. Edward's University
St. Edward's University
St. Edward's University is a private Roman Catholic institution of higher learning located south of Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. The university offers a liberal arts education and its campus is located on a hill overlooking the city of Austin. The campus's most notable landmark is Main...
in Austin completed a new residence hall for upperclassmen bearing the name of Lady Bird Johnson Hall, or "LBJ Hall" for short.
External links
- Lady Bird Johnson, Former First Lady, Dies at 94
- Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library Tribute Site
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- FBI files on Lady Bird Johnson
- Redwood National Park — Lady Bird Johnson Grove
- Oral History Interviews with Lady Bird Johnson, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library