Texas, nation mourn loss of Lady Bird Johnson

Born in the tiny town of Karnack in East Texas, Mrs. Johnson attended public schools and later enrolled in a private school in Dallas. She then was graduated with honors from The University of Texas at Austin with bachelor's degrees in history and journalism. In her later life, she was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree from UT and was appointed as a member of the Board of Regents of the UT System. She and the late President Johnson were married in 1934. Three years later, LBJ ran for and was elected to the U.S. House, beginning Lady Bird's life in the public eye. She was able to successfully transform that newfound prominence into a bully pulpit for all matters environmental - from the planting of a million daffodil bulbs along the Potomac River near the U.S. Capitol, to ensuring passage of the Highway Beautification Act, to founding the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

In 1977, then-President Gerald R. Ford presented Mrs. Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. The inscription on the award gives testament to the legacy of this Texas legend, "In councils of power or in homes of the poor, she made government human with her unique compassion and her grace, warmth and wisdom."