US president Lyndon Johnson's widow Lady Bird dies at 94
AUSTIN, United States (AFP) - Lady Bird Johnson, who loved Texas wildflowers almost as much as she loved her husband, the late US president Lyndon Johnson, died Wednesday in Austin, her family said. She was 94.
The businesswoman and philanthropist, whose shy demeanor belied a steely fortitude, provided a calming influence on her obsessive and often sleepless husband at time of great tumult in the United States -- from president John Kennedy's assassination to the final throes of the Vietnam War.
Born Claudia Alta Taylor on December 22, 1912, Johnson earned the nickname Lady Bird from infancy, according to biographies.
She trumpeted beautification efforts and provided quiet but crucial counsel to her husband as US first lady after her husband, who was Kennedy's vice president, became president after Kennedy was killed in November 1963.
President George W. Bush, a former Texas governor, paid tribute to the former first lady.
"Those who were blessed to know her remember Mrs. Johnson's lively and charming personality, and our Nation will always remember her with affection," Bush said in a statement.
"Mrs. Johnson became First Lady on a fateful day in November 1963 -- and was a steady, gentle presence for a mourning Nation in the days that followed," he said.
Longtime US Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia who knew the Johnsons well, remembered her as "a woman of courtesy and courage alike."
"While her husband, Lyndon, could be brash, she was benevolent. While he could be tough and hard-charging, she epitomized style and grace. Together, they were a formidable pair."
Johnson died of natural causes at her Austin home, where she was surrounded by numerous friends and family members, at 4:18 pm (2118 GMT), said family spokeswoman Elizabeth Christian.
Texas Governor Rick Perry ordered flags at the state capitol in Austin and other government buildings to be flown at half-mast until Monday in honor of Johnson and her long advocacy of the environment and the downtrodden.
Her husband was a powerful senator when he ran for president in 1960. But he lost his bid for the Democratic nomination to Kennedy, the young and handsome senator from Massachusetts. Kennedy would soon pick Johnson as his runningmate.
The East Coast liberal and conservative southerner made for an odd pair politically, but Johnson helped carry Texas in what proved to be one of the closest presidential elections in US history.
Johnson was hurriedly sworn in as president on November 22, 1963, the day Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
His wife stoically stood beside him as he dealt with race riots, secured passage of the landmark 1965 Civil Rights Act and coped with mounting domestic protests of the unpopular Vietnam War.
"LBJ! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?" they shouted outside the White House. Lyndon Johnson had won election in 1964 in a landslide, but he did not seek re-election four years later. He left office in 1969 and died in 1973.
His widow was a successful businesswoman in her own right, overseeing a formidable empire of real estate, ranching and several successful radio and TV ventures.
But her true passion was the outdoors, and her advocacy of nature and love of flowers are sure to leave a lasting mark.
She dedicated much of her life to beautification of public spaces, including in Washington while she was first lady, and she promoted the planting of wildflowers along national highways. _________________ kyranŠ
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