Liz Carpenter; press secretary for Lady Bird Johnson; at 89

March 21, 2010|Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — Liz Carpenter, an author and former press secretary for Lady Bird Johnson, died yesterday at an Austin hospital after contracting pneumonia last week, said her daughter, Christy. Mrs. Carpenter was 89.

On Nov. 22, 1963, Mrs. Carpenter scribbled the 58 words that Lyndon B. Johnson delivered to the nation when he returned to Washington, D.C., from Dallas after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy:

“This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help and God’s.’’ Later, Mrs. Carpenter wrote that she could not take all the credit for Johnson’s speech: “God was my ghostwriter.’’

Mrs. Carpenter was Lady Bird Johnson’s press secretary from 1963 to 1969. She served as assistant secretary of the US Department of Education under President Carter, on the International Women’s Year Commission under President Ford, and on the White House Conference on Aging under President Clinton.

She was a cofounder of the National Women’s Political Caucus and cochaired ERAmerica, which fought for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Mrs. Carpenter got to know the Johnsons while working as a reporter for a Washington news service with her husband, Leslie.