Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady, dies at 94

Lady Bird Johnson, Former First Lady, Dies at 94
Lady Bird Johnson in a field of wild flowers in the Texas Hill Country on May 10, 1990.
Credit Frank Wolfe/LBJ Library, via Associated Press

Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady, dies at 94

Lady Bird Johnson, the widow of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was once described by her husband as “the brains and money of this family” and whose business skills cushioned his road to the White House, died this afternoon at her home in Austin, Tex. She was 94.

Mrs. Johnson was hospitalized for a week last month with a low-grade fever. She died of natural causes, surrounded by family and friends, a family spokesman said.

Mrs. Johnson was a calm and steadying influence on her often moody and volatile husband as she quietly attended to the demands imposed by his career. Liz Carpenter, her press secretary during her years in the White House, once wrote that “if President Johnson was the long arm, Lady Bird Johnson’s was the gentle hand.”
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