She was a gracious and dignified lady. I remember the TV satirists having great fun with her plea that each of us "plant a tereee or a buuush or a shruuub." But we all did plant something.

The White House didn't have the glitz and glamour of the Kennedy years but there was a certain elegance. And it came from Lady Bird. While Johnson exposed his gall bladder surgery scar or picked up the family dog by the ears, Lady Bird was always a lady.

They, of course, inherited Viet Nam. Sad, bitter times. I did not envy her living in the spotlight. My feeling was that she would have preferred not to.

RIP, First Lady.