Lady Bird Johnson
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson, known commonly as Lady Bird Johnson, (born December 22, 1912), is the widow of Lyndon B. Johnson and was First Lady of the United States from 1963-1969. They had married on 17th November 1934.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Karnack, Texas is the birthplace of Claudia Alta Taylor. Her parents were Minnie Patillo-Taylor (1868-1918) and T.J. Taylor. There is a story about her nickname, Lady Bird. Once a nursemaid said about her, "She's as pretty as a ladybird.” This nickname continued, and people called her ladybird.
She completed her schooling from Marshall Senior High School in Marshall, Texas. After schooling, she studied journalism and art in the University of Texas at Austin.
[edit] The marriage
On 17th November 1934, she married Lyndon Baines Johnson in San Antonio, Texas. They had two daughters. The names of her daughters are: Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson.
When she was a child, she developed love for the nature. Due to her efforts, the government of Texas agreed to plant wildflowers on the sides of the roads in Texas.
[edit] The First Lady
In 1963, a person shot John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States. Kennedy died. At that time, Lady Bird Johnson’s husband s' Lyndon B. Johnson was the Vice President of the United States. Johnson became the President of the United States. Along with this, Lady Bird Johnson became the First Lady. She continued as the First Lady until 1969 till her husband retired as the President.
She was an active First Lady. She was the first First Lady to have press secretary. Liz Carpenter, her fellow from the University of Texas, served as Lady Bird’s press secretary from 1963 till 1969. Carpenter also served as lady Bird’s staff director.
As the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson used her influence to achieve some new things for the society. Two important things were:
- She started a beatification program for Washington D. C., the capital city. The program aimed to improve the condition in the capital for the people who lived there, as also for the people who visited the capital. Based on this, many other states of the United States started similar programs for their capital cities.
- The US Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act. This Act (that is a law) restricted roadside advertisements. It also gave rules for planting flowers and plants on sides of the roads. All these made the highways more beautiful.
she diees abnd whnt to hell
[edit] Later life
Even after retiring as the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson continued to live an active life. She gave her time to beautification programs. She founded a non-profit organization. The name of the organization is Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The Center develops native plants of Americas and uses the same for beautification of areas.
During 1970s, 1980s, and the early 1990s, Lady Bird Johnson was the most active presidential widow. During these years, Jacqueline Kennedy did not attend many functions, as she wanted to protect her privacy. However, with growing age, Lady Bird Johnson’s health became weak. She suffered two strokes: first one in August 1993, and the second one in May 2002. Her eyesight failed, and she could not speak. In February 2006, her daughter Lynda Johnson Robb informed people that her mother is now totally blind and that she "is not in very good health". Mrs. Robb said that she and her sister Luci Johnson Nugent still read to their mother and talk to her
She was the only living Presidential widow from May 19, 1994 to June 5, 2004. This was the period between the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the day when Nancy Reagan was widowed. Presently, Lady Bird Johnson is about 93 years old. She is the oldest First lady alive. She had even outlived Pat Nixon, one of her successors. Only one First Lady had lived longer: Bess Truman. Bess Truman had lived up to 97 years of age. Lady Bird Johnson and Bess Truman are the only two First Ladies to have lived over 90 years or more.
[edit] Trivia
The United States Secret Service has been protecting her for decades. She is the person to receive such protection longer than anyone in history.
[edit] In culture
Many popular cultures have her names. Some of them are:
- There is a park in Washington, D.C. named Lady Bird Johnson Park.
- A person named Hank has made a show. The show had the name King of the Hill. Hank once said that he has named his dog, Lady Bird, after Lady Bird Johnson.
- Lady Bird Johnson has received a large number of free football tickets (130 tickets per game) and basketball tickets in 2005.
