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LBJ's wife 'Lady Bird' dies in US
Wife of president who led America during Vietnam War dies aged 94.
Last Modified: 12 Jul 2007 06:04 GMT
Lady Bird Johnson seen with former presidents Clinton and Bush at the White House in 2000 [GALLO/GETTY]

The wife of former US president Lyndon Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, has died at her home in Texas at the age of 94.

 

Mrs Johnson was an advocate for conservation and a devoted supporter of her husband's career.

She was also fully supported his decision not to seek re-election in 1968 – a decision many attributed to the turning tide of the Vietnam War and growing domestic opposition to the conflict.
 
A subsequent documentary said she had long feared the stress of the presidency would kill her husband.

She reportedly insisted that his speech announcing his plans include the definitive phrase "I shall not seek and I will not accept" his party's nomination.

 

"[She was] a steady, gentle presence for a mourning nation"

George Bush,
US president

Mrs Jonhnson was thrust into the position of first lady after the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963.

 

The Johnsons were two cars behind Kennedy in the motorcade as it travelled through Dallas.

 

Paying tribute to her on Wednesday, George Bush, the US president, said Americans "will always remember her with affection" pointing to what he said was her strength in the days after the assassination.

 

She "was a steady, gentle presence for a mourning nation in the days that followed," he said in a statement.

 

Ladybird Johnson outlived her husband by nearly 35 years - he died in 1973.

 

The former first lady had a stroke in 2002, which left her partially paralyzed, and was again in the hospital recently with a fever.

Source:
Agencies
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