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Show "But this didn't mean she wasn't in favor of his accepting second place on the. ticket when John F, . Kennedy, the Presidential nominee, offered it to him. While many of her husband's backers believed nominahe should turn down the to it. him take tion, she urged The campaign found her on the political trail 35,000 miles of smiling, speaking, and handshaking. One incident of that cam paign challengedjier fortitude greatly. The Johnsons had just entered a" hotel for a luncheon when they were stopped by an angry group carrying placards that read: "Johnson is a traitorVJohn-so- n is a Judas." Someone muttered "There's Lady Bird. Spit on her." Shaken, Lady Bird, managed to walk through the lobby calmly. After that, she vowed sheiwould fight harder than eve'r for her husband's victory. "Throughout the 1960 campaign, she. played her role with such aplomb and politicaT know-hothat Robert Kennedy, then his brother's campaign manager, declared:. "Lady Bird carried Texas." While her husband was Vice President, she accompanied him on f trips abroad, wwnng 120,000 miles in 30 countries. In those days, Lady Bird, as Second Lady of the land, often was called upon to rinch-h- it for Jacqueline Kennedy at White House receptions and official luncheons. band's campaign fund. The money, she assured her father in the businesslike manner that always has been hers, would only be an advance against her inheritance from'lier mother.' The loan was readily granted' The campaign was a tough one. Despite her shyness' in public, Lady Bird worked as doggedly "as her husband. She accompanied him on trips. laoiminiv ilia art rtf aKolriinflr Viarifta anH rttiplrincr babies under their chins. 5he addressed women's clubs .and called on old classmates (both her hus band's and her 'own), making them promise to ' 'turn out and vote. She mounted soapboxes in parking lots and stood On Saturon street corners talking to passers-bcrowds in the with she shopping mingled days areas. The theme was always the same: vote for Johnson; yote for my husband. "She's so pretty and sincere that her husband one citizen remarked.-Ocertainly must be election day, Aug. 10, 1937, the vote showed that the district agreed. Lyndon Johnson, heard, the good news whlle'flat on his back in a hospitaC where two days before he had been operated on. for acute appendicitis. As husband and wife kissed in triumph, they knew their political partnership now was beginning in earnest. included Bird learning all , Partnership for Lady husband's in counties her about the Congressional , district and Memorizing the names of , as" many constituents as possible. It also meant becoming' a reliable weather vane of public reactioiTtohis " political ideas. But above all, it meant erasing the dividing line between their public life and their private life. At 2 o'clock in the morning; the eager, new Congress- manjdght have a ppli.ticaliP8pJratipn,Then Lady Bird) who jottamtlely ltkd leaiWtJying'ia n lege, would have-t-o take a letter press that inspiration. v" ' that-would- him with his' speeches. Mary TCainer7wh0VHi Lyndon Johnson's secretary, recalls: "Mr. son would take a speech home and read it to Lady Bird. She would then discuss different words and suggest some changes. He had great respect for . her criticism." : her husband became when 5During World War II, ; ' er - . ! She therefore was no newcomer to the White House-whshe moved ihere JnJl963as Tirst Lady. Assessing her new role, she said simply: "I will try to be balm, sustainer, and sometimes critic of my husband. I will try to have my children look at this job with all the reverence it is due, rto get Irom it the Knowledge tneir unique vantage retain the lighthearted- ness to which every teen-agis entitled. "For myself," she added; my role must emerge '' in deeds, not words." JThe deeds have emerged with the innovations she has introduced.?There have been "Lady Bird into rrurial areas of. the current scene. There have been regular White women. And she has House lunches for "can-do- " become the first First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to make speeches on world conditions. In the White House, the Johnsons have established their own tone. There is a new. informality d a friendliness that is the culmination of long their lives to incTuaeoffier years The , people. upstairs aining room, lor instance, was J' rarely seen by anyone but close friends when.other Presidents were in the White House, but it has, under the Johnsons, often been pressed into serv ' . ice for public functions.Lady Bird's day in the White House is almost as crowded as her husband's, proclaiming the truth of - her assertion,..'! want to be a useful First Lady." There is evidence that the public, too, sees Mrs. Johnson as "a "useful" First Lady. Not since the , days of Eleanor Roosevelt has so heavy a proportion of a Ffrst Lady's mail consisted of "tell it to : . the President" letters, is perhaps too busy Believing that the President to listen to them, the writers turn to Mrs. Johnson who, they feel," not only has the ear of her- . husband but also a profound interest in world and domestic affairs. intgeamandjo ex 4U. - SCHREIBER en A Friendly Critic A journalism major at college, she also b3ped -- 1 By FLORA RHETA Her Role As First Lady - managed his Congressional office and watched over his political fortunes in Texas. He was sta- tioned in Australia when she wrote him that she had obtained 20,000 voter signatures on a petition endorsing his renomination ai Congressman. He , remarked to friends': "I knew that with Lady Bird in running my affairs I wouldn't be forgotten m if it. i j. . J - v was or ne . lexas. wasningion The political partnership tisstrmed even greater dimensions in 1960, when Johnson, after much soul searching, decided to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination Lady Bird, dressed in a white sailor hat with the name Lyndon B. John son stitched around the brim, traveled the length .and breadth of the land, sounding her husband's praises, wnen ne- aian i receive uie. jiuHiiiiauuii,. she admitted her disappointment. "He would have made a noble President" was the . way she put it.. . w " ' effective in aiding Lyndon Johnson's political career despite her shyness in public spotlight! . n ," been remarkably ial y top-notch- For 27 years she has . j 1 A . 1 I V) m mm . v- - -- Family Wwkly, January 17,1985 |