White House Weddings: Lynda Bird Johnson and Chuck Robb
A year prior to the wedding of Julie Nixon to David Eisenhower, there had been another daughter of a president who was wed, this time in the White House. On December 9, 1967, Lynda Bird Johnson, the elder of the two daughters of President Lyndon Baines Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, married U.S. Marine Corps Captain Charles S. Robb in the East Room of the White House in 1967 in a service celebrated by the Right Reverend Gerald Nicholas McAllister. Captain Robb had served with distinction in Vietnam.
Lynda Bird Johnson was born on March 19, 1944. Her mother, Lady Bird, had suffered three miscarriages, and her doctor spoke pessimistically of her chances of having more children, although the Johnsons would later have a second daughter, Luci. Lyndon Johnson suggested that she be named for both her parents and she was named Lynda Bird. She was engaged to Bernard Rosenbach before she met the actor George Hamilton, who himself had been engaged to Susan Kohner. In 1966, Johnson and Hamilton began dating. Because of an increase in Secret Service protection of Presidential relatives resulting from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Hamilton–Johnson couple were one of the first to be protected by Secret Service agents. When that relationship broke up, she began dating the man who became her husband and the two were married the following year.
Charles Robb was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County, Virginia. He attended Cornell University before earning a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1961. He joined the United States Marine Corps and later became a White House social aide. It was there that he met his future wife. Robb went on to serve a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he commanded Company I of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines in combat, and was awarded the Bronze Star and Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Star. Following his promotion to the rank of Major, he was attached to the Logistics section (G-4), 1st Marine Division.
On the day of his eldest daughter's wedding, CBS broadcast an interview with President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, in which they spoke about their life in the White House. In the interview, recorded the previous day, Johnson called his “three girls,” including his wife, the “great pluses” in his life. When asked if he had a favorite daughter, LBJ replied that he had never known any parents who had a favorite and that, while recognizing their differences, he loved both of his daughters equally. He described Lynda Bird as ambitious and studious, while Luci Baines was creative, “very gay, and not concerned with being Phi Beta Kappa or leading the class or making the honor society.” He compared Luci to his mother, while Lynda was more like his wife: conservative, prudent and business-oriented.
Asked to assess his future son-in-law, Johnson voiced admiration for Robb’s handling of a press conference a week before the ceremony. He said he liked his daughter’s fiancé “very much.” Robb was 28 at the time and was a military aide at the White House and a Captain in the U. S. Marine Corps. He was scheduled to serve in Vietnam, so the wedding was arranged so the couple would have a little time together before he left.
Preparations were reported by the press, and Johnson was careful to let taxpayers know that the wedding was on his tab. He joked that he would have to take out a substantial loan to pay for it. Lynda had seven bridesmaids and she gave each of them a bird-shaped gold pin inscribed "Lynda 12967". Robb gave his groomsmen a gold cuff links.
The ceremony was held at 4 p.m. in the East Room, which was decorated with topiaries and red ribbon. Bishop Gerald Nicholas McAllister officiated in front of a wall screen of seasonal evergreens and lit white candles. The bride wore a $1200 long-sleeved, high-necked gown designed by Geoffrey Beene, with no lace—quite different from the wedding dress worn by Lynda’s sister Luci at her wedding a year and a half previously. Lynda’s veil was long, and she carried a bouquet of white flowers. Her seven bridesmaids wore long-sleeved, seasonally-red velvet gowns. Matching velvet bows with streamers were pinned in the bridesmaids’ hair and they carried bouquets of matching red flowers.
After the ceremony, the bride and groom left under a saber arch formed by six Marine captains. The wedding party followed, and the group went upstairs at the White House for photos. The 650 guests were asked to leave the East Room for a short time so the space could be decorated for the reception. Once ready, the room was re-opened and guests were welcomed back in for cocktails before the buffet was served. The couple returned, received guests, enjoyed their meal, cut the cake (a lemon flavored pound cake), and had their first dance. Music was provided by the Peter Duchin Orchestra, including a song written for the wedding called "It's Always Lynda." Later, the couple left the reception, flying off in a helicopter.
The couple are still married, and Charles Robb went on to have a distinguished career as the 64th Governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986, and as a United States senator from 1989 until 2001. In 2004, he co-chaired the Iraq Intelligence Commission. On May 9, 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Lynda Robb to chair the President's Advisory Committee for Women. She later served as Chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest children's literacy organization. She was a contributing editor to Ladies Home Journal magazine and now serves on the Board of Directors of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The couple have, in the words of Lynda Robb, three "almost perfect" daughters: Lucinda Desha Robb (born in 1968), Catherine Lewis Robb (born in 1970) and Jennifer Wickliffe Robb (born in 1978).
Lynda Bird Johnson was born on March 19, 1944. Her mother, Lady Bird, had suffered three miscarriages, and her doctor spoke pessimistically of her chances of having more children, although the Johnsons would later have a second daughter, Luci. Lyndon Johnson suggested that she be named for both her parents and she was named Lynda Bird. She was engaged to Bernard Rosenbach before she met the actor George Hamilton, who himself had been engaged to Susan Kohner. In 1966, Johnson and Hamilton began dating. Because of an increase in Secret Service protection of Presidential relatives resulting from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Hamilton–Johnson couple were one of the first to be protected by Secret Service agents. When that relationship broke up, she began dating the man who became her husband and the two were married the following year.
Charles Robb was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County, Virginia. He attended Cornell University before earning a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1961. He joined the United States Marine Corps and later became a White House social aide. It was there that he met his future wife. Robb went on to serve a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he commanded Company I of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines in combat, and was awarded the Bronze Star and Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Star. Following his promotion to the rank of Major, he was attached to the Logistics section (G-4), 1st Marine Division.
On the day of his eldest daughter's wedding, CBS broadcast an interview with President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, in which they spoke about their life in the White House. In the interview, recorded the previous day, Johnson called his “three girls,” including his wife, the “great pluses” in his life. When asked if he had a favorite daughter, LBJ replied that he had never known any parents who had a favorite and that, while recognizing their differences, he loved both of his daughters equally. He described Lynda Bird as ambitious and studious, while Luci Baines was creative, “very gay, and not concerned with being Phi Beta Kappa or leading the class or making the honor society.” He compared Luci to his mother, while Lynda was more like his wife: conservative, prudent and business-oriented.
Asked to assess his future son-in-law, Johnson voiced admiration for Robb’s handling of a press conference a week before the ceremony. He said he liked his daughter’s fiancé “very much.” Robb was 28 at the time and was a military aide at the White House and a Captain in the U. S. Marine Corps. He was scheduled to serve in Vietnam, so the wedding was arranged so the couple would have a little time together before he left.
Preparations were reported by the press, and Johnson was careful to let taxpayers know that the wedding was on his tab. He joked that he would have to take out a substantial loan to pay for it. Lynda had seven bridesmaids and she gave each of them a bird-shaped gold pin inscribed "Lynda 12967". Robb gave his groomsmen a gold cuff links.
The ceremony was held at 4 p.m. in the East Room, which was decorated with topiaries and red ribbon. Bishop Gerald Nicholas McAllister officiated in front of a wall screen of seasonal evergreens and lit white candles. The bride wore a $1200 long-sleeved, high-necked gown designed by Geoffrey Beene, with no lace—quite different from the wedding dress worn by Lynda’s sister Luci at her wedding a year and a half previously. Lynda’s veil was long, and she carried a bouquet of white flowers. Her seven bridesmaids wore long-sleeved, seasonally-red velvet gowns. Matching velvet bows with streamers were pinned in the bridesmaids’ hair and they carried bouquets of matching red flowers.
After the ceremony, the bride and groom left under a saber arch formed by six Marine captains. The wedding party followed, and the group went upstairs at the White House for photos. The 650 guests were asked to leave the East Room for a short time so the space could be decorated for the reception. Once ready, the room was re-opened and guests were welcomed back in for cocktails before the buffet was served. The couple returned, received guests, enjoyed their meal, cut the cake (a lemon flavored pound cake), and had their first dance. Music was provided by the Peter Duchin Orchestra, including a song written for the wedding called "It's Always Lynda." Later, the couple left the reception, flying off in a helicopter.
The couple are still married, and Charles Robb went on to have a distinguished career as the 64th Governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986, and as a United States senator from 1989 until 2001. In 2004, he co-chaired the Iraq Intelligence Commission. On May 9, 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Lynda Robb to chair the President's Advisory Committee for Women. She later served as Chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest children's literacy organization. She was a contributing editor to Ladies Home Journal magazine and now serves on the Board of Directors of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The couple have, in the words of Lynda Robb, three "almost perfect" daughters: Lucinda Desha Robb (born in 1968), Catherine Lewis Robb (born in 1970) and Jennifer Wickliffe Robb (born in 1978).