Everything about Lady Bird Johnson totally explained
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson (
December 22,
1912 –
July 11,
2007) was
First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969, having been the wife of
U.S. President 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 civilian honors.
Early life
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," a former slave
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 while her mother was a native of
Texas 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 commonly known as a ladybug in the United States 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 wasn't fond of the name.
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'd 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." She developed her lifelong love of the environment as a child growing up in the tall
pines and
bayous of
East Texas and watching the
wildflowers bloom each spring.
Education
When it came time to enter high school (her brothers, however, had attended boarding schools in New York), since there was no high school in the Karnack area. 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 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." Instead she and a high school friend enrolled at St Mary's College, 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. working as an aide to Congressman
Richard Kleberg. who first married
Pat Nugent and later married 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. The couple settled in Washington, D.C. after Lyndon was elected to Congress. After he enlisted in the
Navy at the outset of
the Second World War, Lady Bird ran the congressional office.
Business career
In 1943, Johnson spent $17,500 of her inheritance to purchase
KTBC, an Austin radio station that was in debt. 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. Eventually, Johnson's initial $41,000 investment turned into more than $150 million for the LBJ Holding Company. 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 (ANN) executive Vice President Robert F. Lederer to protect wildflowers and promote the planting of them along highways. Her efforts inspired similar programs throughout the country. She was also instrumental in promoting the
Highway Beautification Act, which was nicknamed "Lady Bird's Bill" 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.
Later life
After former President Johnson died of a
heart attack in 1973, She also served on the
National Park Service Advisory Board and was the first woman to serve on
National Geographic's Board of Trustees.
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'd greatly appreciated the island's natural beauty and flowers.
In 2004, she personally accepted the Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative, the city of Marshfield, Missouri's, highest honor. The presentation occurred at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and was presented by friend, Nicholas W. Inman. Johnson unable to speak wrote to Inman on a piece of paper that she'd watched them launch the Hubble telescope, following Inman's lengthy explanation regarding the telescope. Following, the revelation, the two shared a lengthy laugh.
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 clapped along with those present at the ceremony.
Final years
Health problems and death
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
New Austin Art Gallery. "It was a scene: mother was on IV, oxygen tube and a feeding tube. It looked like a mobile hospital. But she'd 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'd given $300,000 to pay off the church's mortgage.
Funeral services
Johnson's family held a private
Eucharist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on
July 13. The public was able to pay tribute as her casket lay in repose in the Great Hall of the
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum from the afternoon of
July 13 to the morning of
July 14. The library remained open all night as more than 12,000 mourners filed by her casket.
The funeral services took place at Riverbend Centre in Austin on the afternoon of
July 14. The service was by invitation only due to limited space at the venue. Those in attendance included First Lady
Laura Bush, former Presidents
Jimmy Carter and
Bill Clinton, and former First Ladies
New York Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Barbara Bush,
Nancy Reagan and
Rosalynn Carter. Former First Lady
Betty Ford was unable to attend the funeral service and was represented by her daughter
Susan Ford. In addition,
Caroline Kennedy and
Patricia Nixon Cox represented their former first families. For Nixon Cox, the service was quite poignant, as she and her late father,
Richard Nixon, attended the
state funeral of President Johnson 34 years earlier, which he presided over when president.
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.
Johnson then received the
Congressional Gold Medal on
May 8,
1984.
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.
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.
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