Lynda and Luci Johnson
Two Unique First Daughters
Lynda Bird and Luci Baines Johnson, the daughters of the thirty-sixth U.S. president, Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Claudia "Lady Bird," were very different from one another in terms of personality and lifestyle. Lynda, like her mother, was introverted. Luci, on the other hand, was rebellious. She was most definitely her father's daughter. Each Johnson sister contributed to presidential history in her own unique way.
Lynda Bird Johnson (1944- ): "The Introverted One":
The first-born Johnson daughter, Lynda Bird, took after her mother. She was introverted and very proper. Lynda was a student at the University of Texas-- Austin when her father became president following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. She was, of course, an excellent student and made very good grades. (Lynda transferred to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., after her father assumed the presidency. She did so at the urging of her mother, who wanted Lynda to have full Secret Service protection. Lady Bird also felt that she needed extra help at the White House.) In addition, Lynda followed her mother's example of doing everything carefully and "by the book." During her father's administration (1963-69), Lynda came out of her shell and even dated George Hamilton, a major movie star of the period. She eventually married Captain Charles "Chuck" Robb, a marine officer and leader of the White House color guard. Lynda and Chuck's 1967 wedding was the first to take place in the White House in 53 years. (The previous White House wedding had taken place in 1914, when then-President Woodrow Wilson's daughter, Nell, married her father's secretary of the treasury, William G. McAdoo, in the mansion's East Room.)
Luci Baines Johnson (1947- ): "The Pretty One":The Johnsons' second daughter, Luci Baines, whom the brash,colorful Lyndon referred to as the "pretty one," was decidedly more like her gregarious father. Luci had a childlike zest for life and frequently embarrassed her mother and sister. Unlike her prim and proper sister, Luci had a rebellious streak. For example, she converted to Roman Catholicism on her eighteenth birthday. Lynda, a devout and observant Episcopalian, was horrified by this. Lyndon and Lady Bird, who were also Episcopalian, were surprisingly accepting of their daughter's religious conversion. At age 19, Luci married Pat Nugent in a flashy ceremony. In 1967, Luci gave birth to the Johnsons' first grandchild, Patrick Lyndon Nugent. Indeed, news of Luci's youthful antics provided the American public with some much-needed comic relief during a time marked by the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War and civil unrest at home.
Source:
Harris, Bill. The First Ladies Fact Book, p. 586. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2005.
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