A decaying caboose was resurrected from a rail yard in Pennsylvania and customized to create a platform from which Mrs. Johnson could deliver speeches while campaigning for her husband. The last of eighteen cars on the Lady Bird Special, it was fitted with a red-and-white striped awning and loud speakers.
with her audience, the first lady wanted the scoop on all the local doings to sprinkle throughout her speeches. She made special mention of everything from water conservation projects to programs at area colleges and strides being made to improve farm liv ing and income.15 On September 4, Lady Bird Johnson presided over a three-hour staff meeting to chart her course. 16 Following strict instructions "Don't take me to Atlanta; give me the hard ones" her staff spent the next several weeks pouring over maps and sorting through logistics, leaving the sched ule flexible enough so the train could stop at will. 17 The ten-day, fourteen-state plan was finally whittled down to a four-day, eight-state excursion. 18 The first lady's East Wing staff was led by the joyful Elizabeth ("Liz") Carpenter and the inimitable Elizabeth ("Bess") Abell, who handled everything that had a whiff of "social" attached to it. LBJ called them the "can do women," and they could spin their magic in an LBJ moment. 19 (LBJ announced one morning, "Let's have Congress down to the White House this afternoon"-and they did.)20 With the powerful backing of the president, Abell and Carpenter moved the home and office operations of the White House from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to
the southern railway and managed a campaign trip remembered as one of the savviest and most fun jour neys ever undertaken by a first lady. As Bess Abell reminisced about the 1964 whistle-stop in a recent interview, her face strained, her voice thickened, and tears trickled down her cheeks. She shook her head and whispered, "She was just so wonderful and I miss her so much." Only a woman like Mrs. Johnson (as she was called by her staff), could ignite such emotion and raw feeling fifty years later. Mostly remembered for her beautification programs, Lady Bird Johnson possessed a noblesse oblige and an uncommon grace, and she beautified just about everything she touched. Organizing the "Lady Bird Special" put Bess Abell's talent on display. As she wrestled with train timetables, menus, guests lists, and schedules, she remembered LBJ calling one Sunday afternoon, "Bess, how's the train trip coming?" "It's coming together, Sir," she answered, "but I still need a car with a platform. And, if it could be completely open, that would be great." LBJ connected her to a ready solution-Buford Ellington, a former official with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and former governor of Tennessee. Days later Bess answered her The Lady Bird Special 21