Born: 1912
Died: 2007

Lady Bird Johnson overcame shyness to become one of America’s most active First Ladies. Daughter of a wealthy Texas farmer, she was the family baby and only girl. Nicknamed Lady Bird at two, she lost her mother at five. Often left alone, she sought comfort in the beauty of the landscape. After graduating college in 1934, she met Lyndon, a flamboyant 26-year-old congressional aide, and married him two months later. She financed his first Congressional campaign in 1937, then ran his House and Senate offices when the military (1941) and heart attack (1948) kept him away. She also managed their broadcasting business and raised their two daughters. Emboldened by a public speaking course, Lady Bird campaigned hard for the Kennedy-Johnson ticket in 1960. In 1963, she watched Lyndon take the oath of office aboard Air Force One after JFK’s assassination.

As First Lady, Lady Bird strove to “beautify America,” focusing attention on the country’s precious natural flora and the dangers posed by unchecked development. She spurred legislation to keep billboards off national highways and plant wildflowers instead. She also worked for passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, promoted the Head Start program and used her position to open doors for women in government. Widowed in 1973, Lady Bird remained active in civic endeavors in her hometown of Austin, Texas, where in 1982 she founded the National Wildflower Research Center.

Thirty-Sixth President
Lyndon B. Johnson

Born: 1908, near Stonewall, TX
Died: 1973

Ever-mindful of his own impoverished childhood, Lyndon Johnson devoted himself to bringing dignity and justice to the poor. After teaching briefly he found his calling in politics. In 1937, the young Texan was elected to Congress, where he seized every opportunity to advance his programs and political future. After 12 years in the House, interrupted only be naval service during World War II, he moved to the Senate and was Majority Leader in 1960 when Kennedy picked him for his running mate. Three years later, Kennedy’s assassination thrust LBJ into the White House.

President Johnson pressed on with the Kennedy agenda, including passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and won the 1964 election with a record 61% of the vote. LBJ then introduced his own “Great Society” program. Declaring a “war on poverty,” he called for urban renewal, aid to education, and Medicare for the elderly. But it was the war in Vietnam that came to dominate his Presidency. Though never declared, the war to save South Vietnam from the communist North escalated steadily under LBJ, costing thousands of American lives and causing bitter protest at home. His popularity shattered, LBJ refused to seek re-election. In his last year in office, America was rocked by the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, and by urban race riots.

Thirty-Sixth President
Democrat