Luci Baines Johnson (born July 2, 1947) is an American businesswoman and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. She is the younger daughter of U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
and his wife, former
First Lady
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (''née'' Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 when ...
.
Early years
Born in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, Johnson has an older sister
Lynda Bird
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (born March 19, 1944) is the elder daughter of the 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. She served as chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest childr ...
. Johnson's first name was originally spelled "Lucy"; she changed the spelling in her teens as a rebellion towards her parents. As her parents both had the initials LBJ, they named their two daughters to have these initials also.
Although her father was a member of the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
, her mother was an
Episcopalian
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
, and she and her older sister,
Lynda Bird
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (born March 19, 1944) is the elder daughter of the 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. She served as chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest childr ...
, were raised as Episcopalians. Johnson converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
at the age of eighteen, when she requested and received
conditional baptism
Mainline Christian theology (including Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anglican, Lutheran and most other Protestants) has traditionally held that only one baptism is valid to confer the benefits of this sac ...
. Johnson had been baptized with water and in the name of the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
at five months old by an Episcopal priest in Austin, Texas. Her rebaptism caused protests from leading figures in the Episcopal Church, which made headlines, as the Roman Catholic teaching does not require converts who are already baptized to receive baptism a second time.
[
She was sixteen when President ]John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Johnson heard of the assassination while attending a Spanish class at the National Cathedral School
National Cathedral School (NCS) is an independent Episcopal private day school for girls in grades 4–12 located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by philanthropist and suffragist Phoe ...
. She was unaware whether her father had been injured as well but realized he had been sworn in as the 36th President of the United States when Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agents showed up on her school campus a few hours later. She later attended Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies
Georgetown University School of Nursing is one of the eleven schools of Georgetown University. Founded in 1903 as the School of Nursing, it added three other health related majors in 1999 and appended its name to become the School of Nursing & Hea ...
but dropped out in 1966 as the school prohibited married students (Johnson married her first husband in August 1966). In 1966, she learned to cook from Zephyr Wright
Zephyr Wright ( née Zephyr Black; 1915 – April 25, 1988) was an African-American civil rights activist and personal chef for President Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson from 1942 until 1969. Wright was an influence of the passage of the ...
, the White House chef for the Johnson family.
Career
Since 1993, Johnson has been the Chairman of the Board and manager of LBJ Asset Management Partners, a family office
A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50-$100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer ...
, as well as Chairman of the Board of BusinesSuites, a national operator of executive suites, which she co-founded with her husband in 1989. She received a BLS in Communication from St. Edward's University
St. Edward's University is a private, Catholic university in Austin, Texas. It was founded and is operated in the Holy Cross tradition.
History Founding and early history
St. Edward's University was founded by the Reverend Edward Sorin, CSC ...
in 1997.
She is on the board of directors of the LBJ Foundation and has served on multiple civic boards, raising funds for The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin is the state botanical garden and arboretum of Texas. The center features more than 900 species of native Texas plants in both garden and natural settings and is home ...
and the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...
, acting as trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...
of Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, and as a member of the advisory board of the Center for Battered Women.[Baptism of Fire]
Time, July 16, 1965
In 2018, she attended the state funeral of George H. W. Bush alongside her husband Ian Turpin, her sister Lynda Bird Johnson Robb and brother-in-law Charles Robb.
Personal life
Marriages and children
On August 6, 1966, Johnson married Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
sman Patrick John "Pat" Nugent in front of 700 guests at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a large minor Catholic basilica and national shrine in the United States in Washington, D.C., located at 400 Michigan Avenue Northeast, adjacent to Catholic University.
...
in Washington, D.C. The wedding was broadcast on television (drawing 55 million viewers) and was featured on the August 19, 1966, cover of ''Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine.
They had four children: Patrick Lyndon (born 1967), a lawyer and a pilot in San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
; Nicole Marie (born 1970); Rebekah Johnson (born 1974); and Claudia Taylor Nugent (born 1976). The couple later divorced, and the marriage was annulled
Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...
by the Catholic Church in August 1979.
On March 3, 1984, she married Ian J. Turpin (born 1944), a Scottish-born Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
financier
An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...
; he is president of LBJ Asset Management Partners at LBJ Ranch
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch, and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, ...
. Through that marriage, she has a stepson.
Health issues
In April 2010, Johnson was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rapid-onset muscle weakness caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system. Typically, both sides of the body are involved, and the initial symptoms are changes in sensation or pain often ...
(also known as Landry's paralysis), an autoimmune
In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". P ...
disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is one of two components that make up the nervous system of bilateral animals, with the other part being the central nervous system (CNS). The PNS consists of nerves and ganglia, which lie outside the brain ...
. She was flown to the Mayo Clinic
The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...
in Rochester, Minnesota, to begin treatment. Johnson returned to Austin in May 2010. Her doctor called her case "less severe than usual," and she experienced a full recovery.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Luci Baines
1947 births
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American businesswomen
21st-century American businesspeople
American Roman Catholics
American people of Danish descent
American people of English descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Welsh descent
American philanthropists
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.
Children of presidents of the United States
Children of vice presidents of the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Former Anglicans
Living people
Luci Baines
St. Edward's University alumni
Texas Democrats
National Cathedral School alumni
Georgetown University School of Nursing alumni
21st-century American businesswomen
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome