Champion of Conservation, Loyal Force Behind LBJ

It was coincidental that Mrs. Johnson shared her husband's initials, but it was by his choice that his daughters, his dog Little Beagle Johnson, his LBJ Ranch and the LBJ Co. would bear his brand, the ultimate power symbol among Texans.

Despite his wife's obvious business acumen, Johnson continued to exclude her from his political world -- dismissing her with "See you later, Bird" when conversation turned to politics -- but that began to change after he suffered a massive heart attack in 1955. She remained by his side for weeks afterward, not only sleeping in his hospital room but also managing to run the household, care for the children and stay in touch with his congressional office.

Johnson gradually began soliciting her opinions and even taking her advice on issues and strategy. As Caro noted, Johnson came to realize she had an intuitive feel for how a speech or an issue would play to the general public. "Somebody else can have Madison Avenue. I'll take Bird," Johnson told people.

"She already had this dignity, no matter how he yelled at her, but she transformed herself from the shy young woman afraid of speaking in public into the poised, dignified, gracious first lady the American people would come to admire in later years," Caro said. "It's an act of willpower and heroism that is very thrilling."

That she would someday be the nation's first lady was not something she expected, Mrs. Johnson told The Post. Despite her husband's power and influence in Washington, he did not harbor presidential aspirations, she said.

"I think Lyndon always had a great reverence for the presidency, also sizable -- should I call it -- fear? I do not think that at any time he figured on getting to the presidency."

Nonetheless, Johnson flirted unsuccessfully with that possibility in 1960. When John Kennedy offered him second place on the Democratic ticket, Mrs. Johnson counseled her husband against meeting with Robert F. Kennedy, the candidate's brother and campaign manager. The younger Kennedy didn't like Johnson -- the feeling was mutual -- and advised his brother not to choose the older, more experienced Texan as running mate.

Mrs. Johnson told The Post that her husband accepted John Kennedy's offer for one reason: "He didn't think Kennedy could win without him, and that with him, if he put in his whole stack -- as he would have expressed it -- that might just pull it off and win."

In the opening days of the 1960 Kennedy-Johnson campaign, Kennedy asked her to take on an expanded role. Jacqueline Kennedy was pregnant and worried about a miscarriage. "Would Lady Bird carry the load on the women's end of the campaign?" he asked. Mrs. Johnson agreed without hesitation.

During the 71 days of the campaign, she traveled 35,000 miles, made 16 stops in 11 states and appeared with her husband at an additional 150 events.

One of those events was in Dallas, four days before the election. A crowd of about 400 all-white, well-dressed Dallas women confronted the Johnsons in the heart of downtown. One conservative heckler bashed Mrs. Johnson over the head with a sign that read "Let's Ground Lady Bird." Another spat in her face.

Mrs. Johnson started to yell at the second woman, but her husband covered her mouth with his hand. "Hush," he told her, then motioned for her to walk more slowly through the melee. With TV cameras rolling, he realized the political value of the images that Americans would see on the evening news.