Lady Bird Johnson has died. The former First Lady who urged us all to plant trees and shrubs to keep America beautiful was, like Mamie Eisenhower, a smiling and likeable presence alongside her presidential husband. She also took the time to send me a letter once. On the spur of the moment I decided in 1965 to invite LBJ and Lady Bird to my high school graduation in Paris, France. I had forgotten about it until a couple of months later I got a letter with “THE WHITE HOUSE” as the return address. I don’t have it anymore but I remember she politely declined my invitation while congratulating me on my “latest step down life’s highway.”
This was the second letter I got from the White House, by the way. In Christmas of 1961 when my dad was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, I sent a Christmas card to President Kennedy telling him I liked the way he handled the Berlin crisis (the wall had gone up on Aug. 13, 1961) and wished him a merry Christmas. I asked him to give my best to Jackie and the kids. About six weeks later my dad came in from work at noon on a Saturday with a letter with “THE WHITE HOUSE” as the return address. “What the hell is this?” he asked in his Army-officer-dad way. Turns out it was a hand-written letter from Ralph Dungan, a presidential assistant, thanking me, on behalf of the president, for my card. In later years I felt bad for having played a part in Dungan’s having to answer a letter from a 13-year-old kid.
According to the Kennedy Library:
Ralph A(nthony) Dungan (1923- ), was a Special Assistant to President Kennedy from 1961 to 1963. He served as an advisor on Latin American affairs, as a personnel advisor, and as the President’s liaison with the Catholic community.
He later served as special assistant to LBJ. I hope he didn’t have to deal with my graduation letter to Johnson. That would be just too unfortunate.
