Biography

Lynda Bird was engaged to Bernard Rosenbach before she met the actor George Hamilton, who himself had been engaged to Susan Kohner. In 1966, Johnson and Hamilton began dating. Because of an increase in Secret Service protection of Presidential relatives resulting from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Hamilton-Johnson couple were one of the first to be protected by Secret Service agents.

Lynda Bird Johnson later married U.S. Marine Corps Captain Charles S. Robb in the East Room of the White House in 1967 in a service celebrated by the Right Reverend Gerald Nicholas McAllister. Her husband served with distinction in Vietnam. Charles Robb later became Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (1978-82), making her Second Lady of Virginia. Later, Robb became Governor of Virginia (1982-86), making her First Lady of Virginia. He also served two terms as U.S. Senator from Virginia.

On May 9, 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Robb to chair the President's Advisory Committee for Women. The committee of thirty worked to carry out Carter's mandate to promote equality for women in the cultural, social, economic, and political life of the United States.

Lynda Bird Johnson Robb served as Chairman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental (1996-2001), the nation's largest children's literacy organization. She continues to serve the organization as Chairman Emerita. She was a contributing editor to Ladies Home Journal magazine (1969-81). She serves on the Board of Directors of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Johnson was educated at the National Cathedral School for Girls, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. She holds an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Washington and Lee University and Norwich University and has been honored with a plethora of civic awards for her public service.

She is the mother of three, in her words, "almost perfect" daughters, Lucinda Desha Robb (1968), Catherine Lewis Robb (1970) and Jennifer Wickliffe Robb (1978).

In 2004, Lynda Bird attended the State funeral of former President Ronald Reagan, on behalf of her mother, Lady Bird Johnson, who was unable to attend because of poor health. She again represented her mother at the State funeral of former President Gerald Ford, who died December 26, 2006.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]