(CNN) -- Luci Baines Johnson was just 16 years old when she approached her father, President Johnson, with what she considered a reasonable request.



Luci Baines Johnson, left, and her older sister, Lynda Bird, pose inside the White House in 1963.



"I asked my father if we could have the Beatles come to play at the White House," she recalled. "I was very excited about it."



His response? A decisive no, "without even any moment of trying to soften the blow," Johnson said in a recent phone interview.



The president thought the move would be viewed as self-serving. His daughter, however, saw it as a chance to honor "a great talent" and strengthen ties between the United States and Great Britain -- not to mention a golden opportunity for her and her friends.



"I could see how different sets of folks could have either perspective. And I suspect my father could see that too," she said.



Luci Baines Johnson learned quickly of the scrutiny that came from being a first daughter. Her family moved into the White House in 1963, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.



Johnson was catapulted into the exclusive fraternity of White House families and embraced what she describes as a role she landed simply by chance. That fraternity has most recently expanded to include President Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia.



"I was an eyewitness to history, over and over, during my father's five years in the White House. And I wasn't elected to that option. I had no qualifications that provided me that privilege except an accident of birth," she said.  See famous first kids who grew up in the White House »



Johnson speaks fondly of the opportunity she was afforded to dine with kings and queens, meet the movers and shakers of her time, engage with the body of America and hold a front-row seat to history. While most of her memories fall into two categories -- "the fond personal memories" and "the fond memories of public privilege" -- there's one in particular that was a combination of both.



"My 17th birthday, I received a handwritten note from my father, the only handwritten note I have, telling me how much he loves me and how much he has delighted in having me as his daughter for all those 17 years," she said.



The note was dated noon, July 2, 1964.



Six hours later, in the East Room of the White House, Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination based on race or gender in public places, schools and places of employment.



"Can you imagine ever receiving a more momentous, glorious, exciting, thrilling birthday present that lasted forever and ever than something like that, that would change the world for all time and make it a much more decent place? That took place on my birthday," she said.



Life in the White House, however, came at a cost. Johnson and the first children before and after her will always have to "pay a big price in terms of personal time," she said. More than 45 years after she moved into the White House, she still receives requests for interviews about the time she spent there.



But the public's interest in first daughters is nothing new. Fanny Hayes, for example, who was about the same age as Malia when she moved into the White House in 1877, was followed by the media until the day she died. "She was an American celebrity," said presidential historian Doug Wead.



While the interest in first daughters has stayed steady, the pressure on the children has intensified, said Wead, author of "All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families."



"It's like the Miss America contest -- it's a real dilemma for the daughter of a president. She's supposed to be gracious. She's mocked and ridiculed if she isn't pretty," he said.
Who is a first daughter? Who follows first daughters? What has intensified over the years, according to the historian? What does Johnson say? What did Luci Johnson describe? Who describes being a first daughter as an "extraordinary privilege"? What has intensified? Luci Johnson described being what as an extraordinary privilege?
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question: Who is a first daughter?, answer: Luci Baines Johnson | question: Who follows first daughters?, answer: the media | question: What has intensified over the years, according to the historian?, answer: the pressure on the children | question: What does Johnson say?, answer: "I asked my father if we could have the Beatles come to play at the White House," | question: What did Luci Johnson describe?, answer: a role | question: Who describes being a first daughter as an "extraordinary privilege"?, answer: Luci Baines Johnson | question: What has intensified?, answer: pressure on the children | question: Luci Johnson described being what as an extraordinary privilege?, answer: the exclusive fraternity of White House families