Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson (née Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was the First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She served as the second lady from 1961 to 1963 when her husband was vice president.
Notably well educated for a woman of her era, Lady Bird proved a capable manager and a successful investor. After marrying Lyndon Johnson in 1934 when he was a political hopeful in Austin, Texas, she used a modest inheritance to bankroll his congressional campaign and then ran his office while he served in the Navy.
As First Lady, Johnson broke new ground by interacting directly with Congress, employing her press secretary, and making a solo electioneering tour. She advocated beautifying the nations cities and highways (“Where flowers bloom, so does hope”). The Highway Beautification Act was informally known as “Lady Birds Bill”. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1984, the highest honors bestowed upon a U.S. civilian. Johnson has been consistently ranked in occasional Siena College Research Institute surveys as one of the most highly regarded American first ladies per historians assessments.
Business career edit
She served as president of the LBJ Holding Co. , and her spouse worked out a deal with the CBS radio network. In 1952, Lady Bird expanded by purchasing a television station, defying Lyndon’s objections. She reminded him that her inheritance was hers to do with as she pleased. [4] Austin’s monopoly VHF franchise, KTBC-TV/7 (which was also affiliated with CBS at the time), produced earnings that turned the Johnsons into multimillionaires. Journalists have disclosed over the years that Lyndon used his clout in the Senate to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to issue the monopoly license in Lady Bird’s name. [37][38][39].
Additionally, LBJ Holding owned two small banks, which the FDIC closed in 1991 after they failed. But the core Johnson radio properties survived and prospered. For $105 million, Emmis Communications purchased KLBJ-AM, KLBJ-FM, KGSR, and three additional stations from LBJ Holding in 2003. [40].
In the end, Lady Birds’ $41,000 investment for the LBJ Holding Company yielded over $150 million. Before her husband was elected to office, she became the first wife of a president to become a millionaire on her own [41]. [2] She worked for the company until she was eighty years old. [4].
Second Lady of the United States edit Johnson circa 1962
John F. For the 1960 election, Kennedy selected Lyndon Johnson to be his running mate. Kennedy asked Lady Bird to play a bigger part in the campaign because his wife Jacqueline was expecting their second child. Lady Bird covered 35,000 miles (56,000 km) in 71 days, passing through 11 states and making 150 appearances. That November, Kennedy and Johnson prevailed in the election, with Lady Bird assisting the Democratic ticket in winning seven states in the South. [4].
Later on in life, Lady Bird reflected that the years she spent as Second Lady and her husband served as vice president were “a very different period of our lives.” Although the two enjoyed some level of national celebrity, they both believed that the vice presidency lacked authority. [42].
Lady Bird frequently filled in for Jacqueline Kennedy at formal events and functions as the wife of the vice president. [43] In the course of her first year as Second Lady, she had taken Mrs. Kennedy at more than 50 events, roughly one per week. [44] Lady Bird’s preparation for the upcoming difficulties of her unanticipated years as First Lady came from this experience. [42].
When President Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, the Johnsons were traveling with the Kennedys; they were two cars behind the President in his motorcade. Two hours after Kennedy’s death, Lyndon was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One, surrounded by Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird. After the assassination, Lady Bird made a tape recording her memories of the incident, stating that she did so “primarily as a form of therapy to help me over the shock and horror of the experience.” [45] She provided the Warren Commission with a transcript of the recording in lieu of testimony. On her document, LBJ advisor Abe Fortas had annotated additional details. [46] The Johnsons had planned to host the Kennedys at their ranch that evening as part of their trip to Texas. [47].
Lady Bird assisted Jacqueline Kennedy in the days that followed the assassination with her husband’s transfer to the White House. Despite her admiration for Jacqueline and her strength in the wake of the murder, Lady Bird felt from the beginning of her First Ladyship that she would be viewed negatively in comparison to her immediate predecessor. [45] Jacqueline Kennedy left Lady Bird a note on her last day in the White House, promising to “be happy” there. [48].
Health problems and death edit Johnson with her daughter
13 years after her husband’s passing, in 1986, Johnson’s health started to deteriorate. That year, while at a funeral, she experienced her first episode of fainting, and she went into St Davids Community Hospital for observation. The day before her hospitalization, she also suffered a fall-related injury to her left knee. [90] She had a stroke in August 1993 and developed macular degeneration, which caused her to become legally blind. In 1999, she was hospitalized for a second fainting spell. She experienced a second, more serious stroke in 2002 that left her unable to walk or speak normally. She had bronchitis treatment in an Austin hospital for a few days in 2005. Lynda Johnson Robb revealed to a group at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, in February 2006 that her mother was completely blind and “not in very good health.” [91] She was admitted to Seton Hospital in Austin for six days in June 2007 due to a low-grade fever. [92].
Lady Bird Johnson passed away July 11, 2007, at 4:18 p.m., at home. m. (CDT) from natural causes at the age of 94, with Father Robert Scott, a Catholic priest, present. [93][94][95].
Luci Baines Johnson, her daughter, gave a eulogy during the funeral service, stating, “I was taking visiting relatives to the extraordinary Blanton Art Museum a few weeks before Mother died.” Even though her mother was dependent on oxygen, a feeding tube, and IV antibiotics, she wasn’t going to let that stop her from visiting yet another outstanding art museum. We were actually rolling through the museum like a mobile hospital, what a sight. “[96].
Three weeks before Johnsons death, the rector of St. Her second home of more than 50 years, Barnabas Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, informed his parishioners that she had contributed $300,000 to settle the church’s mortgage. [97].
Johnsons funeral was a public event. A formal cortège departed the Texas State Capitol on July 15, 2007. The public was invited to pay their respects by lining Congress Avenue through downtown Austin and along Lady Bird Lake’s shores. Johnson City marked the conclusion of the funeral procession’s public segment. She was buried next to her husband, who had passed away 34 years earlier, at the Johnson family cemetery in Stonewall during a private funeral for the family. [98] In contrast to earlier first lady funerals, the pallbearers were military personnel. [98][99].
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