Popular US First Lady and conservation campaigner

Lady Bird Johnson, who died on 11 July, 2007, aged 94, was the widow of former US President Lyndon B Johnson and one of the longest-lived First Ladies in American history.

She was a popular First Lady who showed relentless support for her husband during difficult political times.

Known throughout her life as “Lady Bird” as opposed to her real name, Claudia, she dedicated her life to her love of nature, working tirelessly on conservation projects.

She will remain best known for her involvement on the Highway Beautification Act often referred to as ‘The Lady Bird Bill’.

Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson was born into a wealthy family on December 22, 1912 in Texas USA. She was given the nickname Lady Bird Johnson after her nursemaid allegedly commented that ‘she was as pretty as a lady bird’.

Her mother died when she was six and her aunt raised her. Lady Bird studied journalism and art and graduated from the University of Texas in 1934. 

She met and married Lyndon Baines Johnson in the same year and they had two daughters. He became American President in 1963, after the assassination of John F Kennedy, and Lady Bird took her place as First Lady.

She always had a love of nature since a child. As First Lady, she implemented a beautification project to improve the physical environment of Washington, D.C.. She raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the project and campagned personally for the 1965 Highway Beautification Act.

Her husband remained in the White House until 1969. He died four year later, but Lady Bird remained a public figure. She spent the 1970s working on the Town Lake Beautification Project.

In 1982, on her 70th birthday, she co-founded the National Wildflower Research Center to protect and reintroduc native plants. The organisation was a great success and a new centre was opened in 1994, renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in 1998.

Her health began to fail in 1993 when she had a stroke and became almost blind. Another more severe stroke in 2002 left her unable to speak and reliant on a wheelchair. She lost her sight in 2006.

Lady Bird Johnson died at home with her family in Texas on July 11, 2007, aged 94.

She was a popular First Lady, admired for her courage and relentless support of her husband during the turbulent Vietnam War. She said of her time at the White House: "A lot of it was desperately painful, but on balance I loved it."

She received a large collection of honours and medals for her work, including the most esteemed civilian award the Medal of Freedom in 1977. She was honorary chairwoman of the national Head Start program and was involved in project promoting the work of women.

She will be best remembered for her tireless campaign to improve the natural environment. Without her passion for conservation, American highways would not look the same and many endangered wildflower species may have been lost.

The current President Bush remembers: ''President Johnson once called her a woman of ideals, principles, intelligence, and refinement. She remained so throughout their life together, and in the many years given to her afterward'.