Former US First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson dies at 94
{{date|July 11, 2007}}
[[Image:Lady Bird Johnson, photo portrait, standing at rear of White House, color.jpg|thumb|right|125px|[[w:Lady Bird Johnson|Lady Bird Johnson]] at the rear of the [[w:White House|White House]] (circa 1960s)]]
Former First Lady [[w:Lady Bird Johnson|Lady Bird Johnson]] nee Claudia Alta Taylor, wife of [[United States]] President [[w:Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon B. Johnson]], has died at her home in [[w:Austin, Texas|Austin, Texas]]. She was 94. 
[[Image:MrsJohnson.png|thumb|left|125px|Mrs. Johnson's official White House portrait.]]
She died of natural causes about 4:18 p.m. [[w:Central Time Zone (North America)|CDT]] ([[w:UTC-5|UTC-5]]). Her family and friends surrounded her when she passed. 

[[w:Bess Truman|Bess Truman]], who reached the age of 97, was the only other first lady to live past 90. Lady Bird Johnson became first lady after the assassination of [[w:John F. Kennedy|John F. Kennedy]]. After her husband's presidency, she became known as an advocate of various environmental projects and environmentalism in general.

As President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, criss-crossed States by road during the 1964 presidential campaign, she informed her husband of her feelings about the roadside junkyards they saw along the way. Inspired by her comments and enthusiasm from audiences, he observed "If it's beautifying they want, it's beautifying they'll get."  Recognizing that "ours is an automobile society," the President did not want to curtail roads. He wanted to make roads the "highways to the enjoyment of nature and beauty." Lady Bird thought that her love of seeing Texas highways in spring had influenced her husband. She enjoyed the results of Texan wildflower conservation programs which began in the 1930s.

[[Image:Lady Bird Johnson planting dogwood 1965.jpg|thumb|Lady Bird Johnson and an unidentified woman look on as Muriel Humphrey, wife of Vice President [[w:Hubert Humphrey|Hubert Humphrey]] shovels dirt around a dogwood tree planted along I-95 in [[Virginia]], during her "Landscape-Landmark Tour" on May 11, 1965.]]
One of the most prominent results of the President's beauty initiative was the [[w:Highway Beautification Act of 1965|Highway Beautification Act of 1965]]. It created restrictions on billboards and junkyards. As expected, it had been controversial. When the House considered its version of the bill on October 7, the debate lasted into the early morning hours of October 8. A pointed, but tongue-in-cheek amendment by Representative Robert Dole (R-Kan.) to strike out the term "Secretary of Commerce" wherever it appeared in the bill and insert the words "Lady Bird" lost by a voice vote. Saying, "Beauty belongs to all the people," the President signed the bill and gave the pen to Lady Bird, along with a kiss on the cheek.

In 1982, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center to continue the mission of changing public attitudes toward native plants. In 1997 it was renamed the [[w:Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center|Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center]].

==Related news==
*{{wikinews|title=Lady Bird Johnson released from Austin hospital|date=June 29, 2007}}

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/11/obit.lady.bird/index.html
|title= Lady Bird Johnson dead at 94
|author=
|pub=CNN
|date=July 11, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3314884&page=1
|title= Lady Bird Johnson Dies
|author=
|pub=ABC News
|date=July 11, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19717425/|title=Lady Bird Johnson passes away|author=AP|pub=MSNBC|date= July 11, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.stennis.gov/johnson.htm
|title=Mrs. Lyndon Baines Johnson
|author=
|pub=Stennis Center for Public Service
|date=June 22, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.dot.state.tx.us/services/maintenance/wildflowers/default.htm
|title=Texas in Bloom
|author=
|pub=Texas Department of Transportation
|date=June 2, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/ladybird.cfm
|title=Lady Bird Johnson's I-95 Landscape-Landmark Tour
|author=Richard F. Weingroff
|pub=Federal Highway Administration
|date=June 29, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/beauty.htm
|title=How the Highway Beautification Act Became a Law
|author=
|pub=Federal Highway Administration
|date=January 18, 2005 }}
*{{source|url=http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2002/021003.htm
|title=Lady Bird Johnson Receives First Arboretum Gold Medal Award
|author=Alfredo Flores
|pub=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
|date=October 3, 2002}}

{{publish}}
{{Archived}}

[[Category:Obituaries]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Lady Bird Johnson]]
Lady Bird Johnson at the rear of the White House (circa 1960s)
Former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson nee Claudia Alta Taylor, wife of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson, has died at her home in Austin, Texas. She was 94. 
Mrs. Johnson's official White House portrait.
She died of natural causes about 4:18 p.m. CDT (UTC-5). Her family and friends surrounded her when she passed. 

Bess Truman, who reached the age of 97, was the only other first lady to live past 90. Lady Bird Johnson became first lady after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. After her husband's presidency, she became known as an advocate of various environmental projects and environmentalism in general.

As President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, criss-crossed States by road during the 1964 presidential campaign, she informed her husband of her feelings about the roadside junkyards they saw along the way. Inspired by her comments and enthusiasm from audiences, he observed "If it's beautifying they want, it's beautifying they'll get."  Recognizing that "ours is an automobile society," the President did not want to curtail roads. He wanted to make roads the "highways to the enjoyment of nature and beauty." Lady Bird thought that her love of seeing Texas highways in spring had influenced her husband. She enjoyed the results of Texan wildflower conservation programs which began in the 1930s.

Hubert Humphrey shovels dirt around a dogwood tree planted along I-95 in Virginia, during her "Landscape-Landmark Tour" on May 11, 1965.
One of the most prominent results of the President's beauty initiative was the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. It created restrictions on billboards and junkyards. As expected, it had been controversial. When the House considered its version of the bill on October 7, the debate lasted into the early morning hours of October 8. A pointed, but tongue-in-cheek amendment by Representative Robert Dole (R-Kan.) to strike out the term "Secretary of Commerce" wherever it appeared in the bill and insert the words "Lady Bird" lost by a voice vote. Saying, "Beauty belongs to all the people," the President signed the bill and gave the pen to Lady Bird, along with a kiss on the cheek.

In 1982, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center to continue the mission of changing public attitudes toward native plants. In 1997 it was renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Obituaries North America United States Texas Politics and conflicts Lady Bird Johnson