I visited the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library in Austin Texas earlier this year. Inside the library Lady Bird Johnson had her own office overlooking the University of Texas campus.
In the view from the office you can see part of a hike and bike trail in the city that she helped establish. Even as an international figure who could have worked on any issue around the globe she still took the time to focus on improving the quality of life in the city she loved. The people of Austin still benefit from her efforts and will for many years to come. That made a real impression on me.
“Though the word beautification makes the concept sound merely cosmetic, it involves much more: clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old landmarks as well as great parks and wilderness areas. To me…beautification means our total concern for the physical and human quality we pass on to our children and the future.”
- Lady Bird Johnson