Texas loses a First Lady

[Guest guest]

Regardless of your politics this was a True Texas Lady:

Lady Bird dead at 94

Story Highlights

- Former first lady, widow of Lyndon Baines , dies in Texas

- She was treated last month for fever, suffered a stroke in 2002

- Former Alta was successful businesswoman

After term ended, she became highway-beautification advocate

<_http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/11/obit.lady.bird/index.html_

(http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/11/obit.lady.bird/index.html) >

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Lady Bird , who was first lady during

the 1960s and in her later years became an advocate for beautifying

public landscapes, died Wednesday, family spokesman Tom said.

She was 94.

Lady Bird 's real name was .

Lady Bird was briefly hospitalized last month with a low-grade

fever. She was released and returned to her Austin home on June 28.

After suffering a stroke in 2002 that limited her ability to speak,

she communicated chiefly by writing.

Upon news of her death, Texas Gov. Rick ordered flags in the

state to be flown at half-staff.

" Lady Bird embodied all that is beautiful and good about the

great state of Texas, " said. " She inspired generations of

Americans with her graceful strength, unwavering commitment to

family and keen sense of social justice. "

The former first lady was born Alta in 1912 in Karnack,

Texas, a small town near the Louisiana line. She got her unusual

nickname while still a toddler from her nurse, who proclaimed the

child was as " purty as a lady bird. "

Lady Bird attended St. 's Episcopal School for Girls, a junior

college near Dallas and then transferred to the University of Texas

at Austin. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1933,

then stayed an extra year to earn a journalism degree.

She hoped to become a newspaper reporter, but those plans changed

after she met a 26-year-old congressional aide named Lyndon Baines

.

They married in 1934 after a whirlwind courtship and soon moved

to Washington.

Early on, Lady Bird proved herself to be the quintessential

political wife. In 1937 she used part of an inheritance to fund her

husband's first bid for public office and campaigned with him to

win a congressional seat.

She used more of her mother's money and 's connections to

purchase a faltering Austin radio station in 1942 for $17,500. She

turned it around and later used the station as a base for a

multimillion-dollar communications company based in Austin.

After three failed pregnancies, she gave birth to the s'

first daughter, Lynda Bird, in 1944, followed by Luci Baines

three years later.

Lyndon rose quickly in politics, becoming the youngest

Senate majority leader.

In 1960, set his sights on the presidency but lost the

Democratic nomination to Kennedy. A day later, he agreed to

become Kennedy's running mate.

Lady Bird traveled more than 35,000 miles during that

campaign.

After one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history,

was sworn in as vice president on January 20, 1961.

With Kennedy's assassination, became the 36th president.

As the s moved into the White House, Lady Bird

" went around and went to all of the staff that was remaining in

their jobs, told them how happy she was to have them there, "

said Baldridge, Kennedy's former social

secretary.

" She needed their help. She needed their support. And, of course,

they all just immediately turned from supporting the Kennedys to

supporting the s. That's what the staff does in the White

House. "

In the landslide election of 1964, Lyndon won victories

in the Northeast, West and Southwest. Of the eight Southern

states that many had expected to vote for Republican Barry

Goldwater, six went for LBJ -- in part, it was said, because

of the first lady's efforts.

During her husband's one term as president, Lady Bird worked

tirelessly for the beautification of America, promoting the Highway

Beautification Act, which sought to limit billboards. She was also

a strong advocate for the Head Start program.

In 1982, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center outside

of Austin. The center was renamed the Lady Bird Wildflower

Center in 1998. Its mission is the research and preservation of

native plants throughout the United States.

Public and private memorial services are planned, but details have

not yet been released, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Events are likely to include a public viewing at the LBJ Library

on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, followed by

a funeral in Austin and burial next to her husband at the LBJ Ranch

35 miles west of Austin, the paper reported.

Lyndon died in 1973

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

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[Guest guest]

lnmolino@... wrote:Regardless of your politics this was a True Texas Lady:

We have her to thank for the beauty along the highways, rather than

billboards.

May her spirit's great journey be through a field of eternal Bluebonnets.

Following seas and gentle wins, Ladybird .

" A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the

simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. " Proverbs 22:3

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