Lady Bird Johnson was someone who possessed a strong sense of environmental identity, which is defined as the sense of self that is conceptually interdependent with or connected with the natural world. Her strong affiliation for nature can be attributed to her childhood experiences.

The loss of her mother at a young age had led to Lady Bird Johnson seeking comfort from nature, with the hope that she would be able to see her mother as part of the nature, such as the clouds or the sunset. Her inherent desire to seek comfort from nature underlines the biophilia hypothesis, which is the innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other life forms. As such, she ended up spending most of her childhood interacting and exploring the nature, with her favourite place being the Caddo Lake back at her hometown in Texas. She was also given more opportunities to interact with nature as she grew up, when her aunt brought her on field trips to natural areas. The positive experiences and the familiarity with nature underlined her appreciation for nature, which drove her to take actions to improve the natural environment, as observed from her activism in areas related to conservation during her time as First Lady and well into her retirement.

Click on to read about her conservation efforts