Lestat, the vampire narrator of Anne Rice's most recent book, Blood Canticle, begins the novel with a harangue against its readers.
Lyndon Johnson died in 1973, four years after the Johnsons left the White House. The longest-living first lady in history was Bess Truman, who was 97 when she died in 1982. Johnson was born Claudia Alta Taylor in 1912. A nurse called her Lady Bird, a nickname she hated, but it stuck, reports CBS News' Harry Smith. The daughter of a Texas businessman, Johnson grew up to be one of the country's most influential environmentalists.
Johnson was a Democrat from Texas, who served as a United States Representative from 1937 to 1949 and as a United States Senator from 1949 to 1961. He spent six years as Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader, and two as Senate Majority Whip.