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Show Bird's Lady Iiz Carpenter calls her job the handling of women, dogs and old brocades. To the Johnson family its much more than that BY FRANCES SPATZ LEIGHTON resident Johnsons favorite career girl, Li Carpenter, is a living, breathing example of the heights that loyalty and brains can lead to. Although she is the top girl around the White House, she has remained hearty and outspoken in spite of her high office. Officially, lix is Lady Birds (ness secretary and staff director. Unofficially, dies also the chief taster, nibbler, and eater. High position has not changed her. Well, shes put on maybe she has changed a bit weight. , But isnt that natural, when shes called to the family quarters of the White House every time Lady Bird has luncheon guests? She must eat politely. And every time there is a tea, she does her duty with those supercharged, tidbits. Wont of all for the waistline, she and her husband, Les, attend a social function or banquet at embassies, the White House, or hotels every night of the week and weekends, until they are "'ready to drop. When they reach that point, they meet at the end of the day, take one look at each others glased eyes and silently head for home. The next morning its the same old routine, up before 7 in order to be at the White House at 8:30 so that Us can get some work done befortfany id her three assistants and crew of secretaries' arrive. A White House limousine is at her disposal, but usually she prefers to have Les drive her. She also insists .upon being the (me to pack her childrens lunches for school, although theres a calorie-unlimit- ed -- cook-housekeep- er. Its a humbling experience to pack lunches, says lit, and I need it to remind me after the life is not all champagne. night before that Shes again reminded of how earnest her life is when the phones start ringing at 9 and continue to beat a tattoo all day - 150 calls is average. V She must speak for the first Lady. She must protect her from prying questions, yet be truthful and open with the press. She must help the First Lady with her speeches, be available at a moments notice to give any member of the Johnson family, including LBJ himself, the benefit of her thinking on any vital problem. And above all Us must roll with the punches. This can include explaining why the First Lady left some shacks standing on her property in Alabama, and permits tenants to live in them they had asked to live there, would have no place else to go, and live practically rent-fre- e. On other occasions she must be able to tell the press whether the beagles have forgiven the President for indulging in They have. And if Lynda is still speakBeroie. She is. ing to her In her lighter moments, Lis calls her job "the handling of women, dogs and old brocades. Therev are people who dont much know or care who is President, but simply must write to find out how that darling piece of Chippendale is getting along at the White House, she declares; What did Lmdji Bird wear? ear-pulli- ng. ex-fian- cf, Us can bear with questions about the Chippendale, but she just cant abide the reporters who ask the type question. One woman got a jolt when she called Lis from Boston to ask if she woulddescribe Mrs. Johnson's taste as "ample elegance, on one such trip. Iis answered sharply, No, I wouldnt and volunteered her opinion that there wwe more important things to ask. Its been a long haul up the ladder for Iis the kind of story you wouldnt believe if you read it fictionalised. And Lis wouldnt have believed it could happen to her either when she first got married. She was a , sweet, slim, young bride in to be the June, 1944, with but one ambition perfect wife. She cooked fantastically complicated dinners for her naval lieutenant husband for three days. But in a great moment of truth, on the fourth day, Lis threw down the mop, rushed out to the United Press office in Philadelphia and got a job as a reporter. She hired a housekeeper; retired from the kitchen, and has never been back except when the spirit moves her "Providentially not too frequently, says Les. Though she modestly plays down her role, it is known around official circles that she jiad a big-p- art backstage in kicking off the President's program of hiring women to top positions in Government. She didnt have to push hard. As Vice' President, Johnson had taken great pride in helping to bring into existence the Kennedy Commission on the Status of Women. He also helped get tiie Equal Pay Bill passed, guaranteeing women the same wages as men for equal work. Shed already dime her pushing because when Johnson was Vice President, Iis was his Executive Assistant, the first woman ever named to the post. Johnson had stolen her away from her previous employer, her husband, who had (tq mgk is) |