one of the very foundations of environmentalism is the notion of stewardship. that our time on this earth is a temporal one. and that we have a duty to preserve and protect the natural gifts that have been entrusted with us.
and one of washington d.c.’s great and early champions of this notion, and of the idea that our nations simpler natural beauties are a quantifiable asset that we are obligated to protect was mrs. lady bird johnson.
history has told us that while her brutish husband had the ability to run roughshod over political adversaries from george wallace to bobby kennedy, that as first lady mrs. johnson was able to exert a quiet and determined influence on her husband that transcended political positioning. and it was her passion and belief that moved the president to use the legislative influence and the bully pulpit of the presidency to promote a nascent environmental awareness.
as the publication of rachel carsons ‘silent spring’ in 1962 began to move into the kitchens of average americans the concepts of mans destructive tendencies toward our earth, the call of lady bird johnson to take our natural resources as our own cause brought a simple human dimension to what had, for many people, been traditionally taken for granted. her simple expressions of the beauty around us carried with it a sincere truth that touched many people in ways that scientific reports and senate hearings could not.
this vision and this determination, among her other legacies, should mark mrs. johnson as a pioneer in the belief that we all share a responsibility to protect and preserve our fragile environment. and that our elected leaders are obligated to exercise that responsibility.
laurel says
I was a tot when the Johnson’s landed in the White House. Yet to this day I can hear my mom repeating Lady Bird Johnson’s plea that we all do something for the environment, such as plant a tree, a shrub or a bush (delivered in the appropriate drawl). Not a bad first memory to have of federal leadership: a call for environmental stewardship!