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c-span now. your front row seat to washington, any time, anywhere. a long, long line of solemn, respectful people all along the hill from robert e. lee's home as we wound up at the grave site. the grave site was covered with flowers. we stood a moment in silence. then we turned around and left, ea saying our own words.

>> after visiting president john f. kennedy's grave, just days after his assassination lady bird was confronting a new life as first lady of the united states. she lived in the white house from 1963 to 1969, some of this country's most tumultuous years through the civil rights movement, vietnam and political assassinations. you'll hear her in her own voice, how she experienced that time, featuring footage from c-span's video library. >> wednesday, january 8th, state of the union. it was one of those days that you have the feeling that everything that's gone before

the last two weeks at any rate was leading up to, working up to how sir hillary must have felt when he at last reached the top of everest. it seemed like we had a long road up a high mountain and day by day we'll been pulling and hauling and this was the day we came to the top and fell on our face or stood up and planted. [ no audio ] his wife and that was the start of i know that mrs. johnson would have liked that. on the other side, i had susan and helen.

and nobody watched with more interest than helen. behind us were the wives of the cabinet members and the wives of the supreme court and also hobart taylor and jay taylor. i noticed tucked away on the step was wendy marcus, young and eager and ready to grab life by the forelock. i'm glad she made it inside the door. the room began to fill up with pomp and display that always takes place on these occasions. how many times i've seen it. the house was in its seat. then with a loud announcement in came the senate. i think next comes the -- getting bigger all the time. where they finally found room for them, i don't know. and then the cabinet and the

court occupying the front rows. and this most pontifical voice of fish bait miller. how could there ever be a replacement for fish bait. he said the president of the united states. in walked lyndon flanked by old friends of longstanding. and went up to the podium right in front of speaker mccormick and senator carl with the flag behind him. stick em mccormick, gray and craggy and white haired. a charming, lively face. rather humorous. i wonder how many people in chamber were struck with the thought that there is a dramatic something there that says take

care. my favorite line was actually about the first. i'll be brief, for our time is necessarily short and our agenda is already large. [ no audio ] i want it done so that the house and the senate will look better to the nation as much as i want it to be done for lyndon's good and the democratic party's good. by all odds, the most important thing to me in the speech was where he said this administration here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in america. i ask this congress and all americans to join with me in that effort, with a pretty heavy accent on education, on retraining, on health. i like that line about a

thousand dollars invested in salvaging an unemployable today can return -- in his lifetime. >> yes, ma'am. >> i thought that you looked strong, firm and like a reliable guy. your looks are splendid. the closeups were much better than the distance ones. there were more close-ups than there were distance ones. i think it was a little too fast, not enough change of pace, dropping voice at the end of sentence. there was a considerable pickup in drama and interest when the questioning began. your voice was noticeably better and your facial expressions

noticeably better. the mechanics of the room were not too good, because although i heard you well throughout every bit of it, i did not hear your questioners clearly. >> well, the questions won't talk. >> some of them you could hear, but generally you could not hear them very well. every now and then you need a good, crisp answer for change of pace. that's why i was very glad when you answered one man with the answer of "no" to both of the questions. i thought your on vietnam was good. i really didn't like the answer on the -- because i think i heard you say and i believe you actually have said out loud that you -- country this year. i don't think you can -- say

it's convenient for people. >> i'm not going out of this country. i didn't say where i'd go. i didn't say i'd go out of the country at all. >> no. >> i reaffirmed that i wouldn't go. >> i see. well then i didn't get the meaning of it but everybody else did. outstanding things were that the close-ups were excellent. you need to have the opportunity to study it a little bit more and read it with a little more conviction and interest and change of pace. >> well, they criticize you for taking so much time. they want to use it all for questions. then the questions don't produce any news and you don't give them news, you catch hell. my problem was trying to get through before ten minutes and i

still ran ten minutes today. i took a third of it for the questions. i could have taken, if i'd read it like i wanted to, 15 minutes. i didn't know what to cut out. i thought that every -- he'd get his name in the paper and publicize it good. >> i believe if i'd had that choice i would have said -- used 13 minutes, 14 for the statement. in general, i'd say it was a good b-plus. how do you feel about it? >> i thought it was much better than last week. >> well, i heard last week, see, and didn't see it and didn't hear all of it. at any rate, i felt like you had sort of gotten over a hump, psychologically and in other

ways. it will be interesting to hear everybody else's reaction. -- a reasonably early dinner with us. i got my 10:00 date. you can do anything you want to about getting another couple to eat with us. let me know and i love you very much. >> okay. bye. >> at a cross roads between past and fure, we face many problems together. economic prosperity is another. we have reached good and workable solutions in the past through this partnership. it takes men in wasngton to care about the people of the south and i takes citizens here at home with a vision of the future. today, many parts of the south

pren one of the nation's proudest pictures of progress. a democratic victory means we ll face new challenges togeer with imagination. we draw on the past but we do not plan to turn back. >> i have campaigned across this country in 24 states discussing the issues, learning from your views. lady bird has been my closest and most valuable campaigner. i urge her to show you something of her impression of the last few weeks. >> these have been inspiring days for me and for our daughters. together we have been in 49 states. it was like a capsule of

americana, a telescoped course in the geography and history of the people who make up this land. you're bound to come back with a closer kinship and a better understanding of the people you work for. i loved campaigning beside my husband and providing the companionship and reassurance and continuity. like every wife, to also cheer as the moment requires. occasionally i was flattered to be asked to take on assignment on my own. one colorful and picturesque time that especially stands out in my memory, the four-day whistle stop train trip with 47 stops through eight states in the south, from virginia to louisiana. i remember so well the farmers, the little boys hanging off the boxcars, the woman who told me she had gotten up early and

milked 20 cows before coming to the depot. i can never forget them. that was the kind of country where i grew up. but the important thing about it was it showed the intense interest of the people in their government. there are many things a travel, even a hurried campaign traveler, learns. you think what a diverse and wonderful and strong country this is. i know i am better for knowing it better. then you learn that for the most part these are good times in america and we want to keep them that way. we learn that first in the hearts of most of the citizens in this country is a desire to keep america strong and to keep the world at peace. that is what all americans will really be voting on tomorrow, whether they live in the south or the north or the east or the

west. >> beautification to my mind is far more than a matter of cosmetics. for me it describes the whole effort to bring the natural world and the manmade world into harmony. drug out of the historic potomac some 50 years ago, columbia island is a gift of nature and man. i'm so pleased that this piece of land challenged this committee and we have concentrated much of our efforts and gifts in preparing it as a magnificent gateway to the capitol. having been there when the daffodils were planted, having seen them in their drifts of yellow along the slopes of the river, having watched almost

every one of those trees go into the ground and envisioned how that expanse is going to look next spring, you can be sure that i shall return. [ applause ] >> you're watching american history tv where you're listening to lady bird johnson in her own words. in march of 1968, as the vietnam war raged on, lbj announced he would not seek reelection. that year lady bird opened up the white house, as had her predecessor jacqueline kennedy to the american public via television cameras. this was recorded by the white house naval photographic center. >> many years ago when i was the wife of a brand new texas congressman, i snapped photographs outside these iron gates. i never imagined that one day i would live on the other side of that fence. like many tourists, i had the

distinct feeling that this house belonged in part to me. i think that's a feeling that everyone who visits here shares. just like the thousands who come here each year, i was impressed by the majesty of the great state -- the first floor and proud of the history that ran through even of them. like the passerby doesn't always realize is that there are two sides to the white house, the official side that remains in the public eye, and the private side that the public rarely sees. the living quarters for the president and his family. this i. actually. it's the west end of the long haul. it's the end of the long haul. it's the

nerve center and crossroads of all family activities. an intimate place, and yet busy. it belongs to all the family. psychologically, when you cross that threshold, you feel that you are at home. that you are inside your own house. you can put on a robe and slippers and curl up with a good book. we gather here on climactic occasions, such as the immediate moments following the state of the union message or another major address to the nation. we usually invite those who work on the speech who had contributed to the advance, on those nights, this room has been filled. it has the same electric quality of a broadway opening. after the performance, you're anxious to hear the reviews. although we've had some thrilling successes, and high moments of pride, there

were some chilly moments to. happier painful, this is where the initial public reaction is seen by the president. this is where his family shared this experience. this room is also a listening post for the tone of the day. when we have no engagements in the evening, i come in here with some of my work that isn't so demanding and wait for lyndon to come home from his work. you can see his office from here. the lights may be on until 8:00, or maybe 9:00, or 10:00. sometimes he does not come home for dinner until after midnight. it's not very far for a minute to commute, but in terms of his responsibilities, there is a great distance from here to there. i recall being up here as lyndon brought in latest acquisition for our old book

collection, and lucy emerge from the kitchen with the pan of brownies she had made. at the same time, knowing that lyndon was down there only a few hours away, but the ten cyst nights of all where the lights on in the cabinet room and the television -- on executive avenue. perhaps it was the crisis of the middle east in june 67. sooner or later, the lights would go out, and then a few moments, i would hear an eagle voice down the hall call out, where's bird? and i'd know he's home. really home. like the living room in any american home, this room has its personal touches. bookshelves that reflect individual interests of the

family. old and treasured friends. one of the things that i am proud to leave as a reminder of our time here is the addition to the white house collection of paintings. thomas sully has portrait of fanny campbell, his sheared romans and i love it. this is a really most recent acquisition for the permanent collection. the gypsies girl. the first painting acquired during our stay at the white house was -- i saved my favorite, america sat for last. you can almost feel the love between the mother and her love for the children. look at that little girl. is she wondering with the small child is going to be to her life? it's such a deer painting. it seems to set the tone of the room. it's where the family shared so many personal and intimate moments.

where we felt we were the heart of the house. really at home. >> president lyndon baines johnson died in 1973. lady bird lived on until 2007, dying at the age of 94. you will hear now from the last part of her life as she reflected on her continuing work and on lbj's legacy. >> what do you think, now what do you hope, but what do you think will be in long term history, lyndon johnson's legacy? >> -- >> what will people remember 50 years from now? >> i don't know. he would have liked it to be education, for instance. that's where he placed all his hopes on. he said it's the only path forward out of poverty. it is the one thing that can't be taken away from you. it's education. i

think it will probably be civil rights, and it is so particularly and appropriate, that it should've been a southern president. who managed to do that -- very painful loss of good friends from the south. i don't think -- they intended to go on forever. i think, i'm just a professional southerner. as bred as a professional texan. >> how much influence did you have on him react? >> i just think he made his own path and decisions. i think we all knew it was going to happen

someday. because and yes, it would be like a mixed master, sort of. i think it will be over top education. >> where is vietnam going to fit in? >> as a wretched obstacle along the way, which he could not solve. he couldn't escape. he couldn't shake off. >> when did you see

him at his lowest? >> during those days, i think when the bags began to come off. they would come in at night on a freight train. and i don't know whether this was good planning, but several times, i would be on my way back from my trip to new york. from somewhere and at the station is our get off. there would be freight trains and there was bags being unloaded. put on to -- i don't know what kind of vehicle. i knew what he was doing. and i knew i couldn't help him. >>

did you try to help in a new way? >> yes, yes, of course. >> what would you do? >> i just say you're doing the best i can, and i think a lot of those people understand it. and it really isn't, there isn't much you can do in a situation like that except to say i'm here. >> thank you for joining us on american history tv for this special look at lady bird johnson in her own words. next week, you will hear from betty ford, who was seen as a thoroughly modern and candid first lady. american history tv's first ladies series is also available as a podcast. you can find it wherever you get your podcasts. first ladies