Johnson, Lady Bird

Johnson, Lady Bird,

1912–2007, b. Karnack, Tex., as Claudia Alta Taylor. She married (1934) Lyndon B. JohnsonJohnson, Lyndon Baines,
1908–73, 36th President of the United States (1963–69), b. near Stonewall, Tex. Early Life

Born into a farm family, he graduated (1930) from Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Southwest Texas State Univ.), in San Marcos.
..... Click the link for more information.  and played an active role in his political career. As first lady (1963–69), she was the first to have her own press secretary and to make a campaign trip on her own. She also sponsored environmental causes and national beautification projects and later co-founded (1982) what is now the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Tex. A successful businesswoman, she bought (1943) a debt-ridden radio station in Austin, Tex., and built it into a multimillion dollar broadcasting company. Johnson also owned and managed extensive ranching lands in Texas. She was the author of A White House Diary (1970).

Bibliography

See M. L. Gillette, Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History (2012); biographies by M. D. Smith (1964), G. L. Hall (1967), and J. J. Russell (2012); L. I. Gould, Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment (1988).

Johnson, (Claudia Alta b. Taylor) Lady Bird

(1912– ) First Lady; born in Karnack, Texas. She studied journalism before she married Lyndon Johnson in 1934. She borrowed from her inheritance to help finance his first election campaign. As first lady, she supported the "war on poverty," the Headstart Program, and worked for the "beautification" of Washington, D.C. Following the presidency, she wrote White House Diary and remained active in beautification projects.