I'm sorry to see that Lady Bird Johnson has died at age 94.

The daughter of a Texas rancher, Lady Bird Johnson she spent 34 years in Washington, as the wife of a congressional secretary, U.S. representative, senator, vice president and president. The couple had two daughters, Lynda Bird, born in 1944, and Luci Baines, born in 1947. The couple returned to Texas after the presidency, and Lady Bird Johnson lived for more than 30 years in and near Austin.

Former President George Bush once recalled that when he was a freshman Republican congressman from Texas in the 1960s, Lady Bird Johnson and the president welcomed him to Washington with kindness, despite their political differences.

He said she exemplified "the grace and the elegance and the decency and sincerity that you would hope for in the White House."

As first lady, she was perhaps best known as the determined environmentalist who wanted roadside billboards and junkyards replaced with trees and wildflowers. She raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to beautify Washington. The $320 million Highway Beautification Bill, passed in 1965, was known as "The Lady Bird Bill," and she made speeches and lobbied Congress to win its passage.

It's sad to see members of that generation go, as their collective wisdom seems to go with them.

People in those days used to be much more civil, and they got along despite their political differences. How she must have suffered seeing her husband being called a murderer night after night on national television. I'm sure that despite her experience in politics and in social decorum, nothing had prepared her for that.

She had dignity and class, and I see in her death another reminder that all of us could do better.