![]() Herself a journalism school graduate with knowledge of the workings of the media, she told the women: "I want to be a useful First Lady." The next day, she invited them to accompany her on a tour of one of the poverty-stricken coal mining areas of Pennsylvania. Shortly after the President's 1964 State of the Union address, Lady Bird invited 65 newspaperwomen to tour the family quarters and then adjourn to a meeting room for a talk. Johnson was an implementer and translator of her husband and his purpose - a wife in capital letters." The First Lady plants a cherry tree during the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, on April 6, 1965. Roosevelt was an instigator, an innovator, willing to air a cause without her husband's endorsement. ![]() Johnson's press secretary, Liz Carpenter, was quick to point out a difference: "Mrs. Others have made the same comparison between Lady Bird and Eleanor Roosevelt. Her achievements in Washington were important for the development of the role of the First Lady, and the consistency with which she pursued her vision of the environment after the White House added to her historical influence."įollowing Lady Bird Johnson, most new First Ladies entering the White House appear to know that a certain amount of beneficent activism is expected of them. Gould, who spoke of the role of First Ladies in general, said that Lady Bird Johnson "deserves to rank with Eleanor Roosevelt as one of the significant innovators in the history of the institution. The Lady Bird legacy extends beyond flowering plants and the removal of junkyards and billboards. Three years later, President Johnson presented pens he used to sign about 50 laws on conservation and beautification 'to Lady Bird, who has inspired me and millions of Americans to try to preserve our land and beautify our. In 1965, the Johnson commissioned a study that showed there were 16,000 junkyards along highways. ![]() It is hard to imagine how different the country looked when Johnson began her campaign to beautify it. The National Park Service kept a running tab of the number of daffodil bulbs alone that were planted at Lady Bird's direction, and in 4 years the total reached 2 million, the largest planting in history.Īt her passing on July 11, 2007, USA TODAY® noted, "Today, many people in the conservation field say Johnson's work raised the consciousness about its natural heritage and laid the foundation for the environmental progress that followed. Johnson, goes well beyond those three trees. The planting legacy of Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson, wife of President Lyndon B. ![]() Laughingly I told my husband that my epitaph would be, 'She planted three trees!'" I remember planting a weeping cherry, a pink dogwood, and a crab apple to make a quadrangle with the old apple tree already growing there. Gardening in my own backyard in Washington had brought me much pleasure. "In years past, I had not given any conscious thought to taking a hand in preserving our natural heritage or to heightening its beauty - except in our family surroundings. Lady Bird Johnson is shown in the Texas hill country amid wildflowers called "Indian blankets." Photo: LBJ Library Photo by Frank Wolfe. This tribute to Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007) pays homage to her efforts to beautify America's highways by encouraging wildflower planting and junkyard screening.
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