Hail to the Chief's Wife #9: Lady Bird Johnson Quiz

Answer: Her nursemaid said she was "as purty as a lady bird"

Claudia Alta Taylor was born in Texas in 1912. She was later quoted as saying she didn't really care for the nickname but as she was a baby at the time it was bestowed upon her she didn't have a say in the matter.

Answer: University of Texas, Austin

Lady Bird Taylor received degrees in history and journalism in 1933 and 1934, respectively. She was later awarded an honorary doctorate from her alma mater and it was in part due to her presence on the UT Board of Regents that Lyndon Johnson chose to have his presidential library located there, the first Presidential Library to be affiliated with a university.

Answer: By Lady Bird and her father

Lady Bird received a substantial inheritance from her mother, Minnie Pattillo Taylor, who died when she was only six. Lady Bird gave her husband's first campaign war chest $10,000 and her father, Thomas Jefferson Taylor, kicked in another $20,000 toward Lyndon Johnson's successful 1936 congressional race.

Answer: Luci Baines

Mrs. Johnson was quoted as saying her second daughter was named Luci Baines (Baines being the President's middle name) so they would all have the initials "LBJ." Lynda Bird Johnson was one of three presidential daughters to have a White House wedding in the 20th century (1967).

The others were Eleanor Wilson (1914) and Tricia Nixon (1971). Luci Baines Johnson, who converted to Catholicism, married at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1966 and had her wedding reception at the White House.

Answer: Serving in the Pacific as a Lieutenant Commander of the Navy

Lyndon Johnson valued his wife's managerial and business skills. Using the experience she had gained as the de facto Congressman, when Lyndon was ordered back to Congress by President Roosevelt (as were all members of Congress serving in active duty), Lady Bird's role became one in which she "shared his public life, representing him, speaking for him, and answering questions with unusual candor." (NY Times obituary, 2007)

Answer: A steadying influence and politically savvy woman who made her husband's ascent possible

In Mrs. Johnson's obituary, New York Times columnist Russell Baker was quoted as saying at the time of Lyndon's place on the 1960 presidential ticket that he "would have never come this far without that woman." While Johnson took most of the credit publicly for his Horatio Alger story, those who knew the couple were aware that Lady Bird's astute political savvy and innate good manners soothed many of the feathers her husband had ruffled in his rise to power.

Answer: Radio station KTBC in Austin

LBJ wasn't above using his political clout to make the radio station a success, including twisting arms so that KTBC received the first television license in Austin. From her July 12, 2007 NY Times obituary by Enid Nemy: "Although the station was bought in Mrs. Johnson's name, her husband's political influence helped in acquiring the license from the Federal Communications Commission. Johnson became the commission's champion at a time when Congress was about to cut its budget. Mrs. Johnson's application was speedily approved. Within 20 years, the station and the affiliates bought with its profits became a multi-million dollar radio and television enterprise.

At one time, the Johnson interests included KTBC Television, which was sold to Times Mirror in 1973, Austin cable interests, which were sold to Time Warner Cable, and Karnack Cable System, cable interests outside Austin, which were sold to Tele-Communications."

Answer: The Highway Beautification Act of 1965

Of the 1965 Act, Lyndon Johnson was quoted as telling his Cabinet: "You know I love that woman, and she wants that Highway Beautification Act, and, by God, we're going to get it for her."

The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 was one of the first modern environmental laws. It encompassed preserving the scenic beauty of America's highways by prohibiting construction of new billboards and the removal of illegal billboards on all federally funded roads.

During the Johnson administration, literally hundreds of laws relating to land conservation and the environment were enacted, more environmental legislation than any previous president.

Answer: "She's the brains and the money of this family"

Although known for his blustery self-aggrandizing, LBJ's daughters and others are widely quoted as saying he could have never achieved his success without Lady Bird's steady hand on the tiller and he knew it. Lady Bird Johnson survived her husband by 37 years.

Catherine Robb, who moved to Texas as an adult to be near her grandmother, said of Lady Bird: "We have a standing Tuesday night dinner date and either one of us can cancel if we get a better offer, but she's the only one that gets a better offer. I don't think there is a better offer."

Answer: Bess Truman

Elizabeth "Bess" Wallace Truman (February 13, 1885 - October 18, 1982) was 97 at the time of her death. Harry Truman lived to age 88, which placed him younger than only Presidents Ford, Reagan and John Adams at the time of Mrs. Johnson's death.

Ellen Axson Wilson was 54 when she died of the kidney ailment Bright's Disease in 1914, the only First Lady to have died during her husband's presidency. (Note: Rachel Jackson died in December, 1828, after her husband Andrew had been elected, but before he was sworn into office; thus, she was never officially the First Lady of the United States).

Mary Lincoln died at the age of 63, Pat Nixon was 81.