Dec. 7, 1963 - The Johnsons moved into the White House today, taking up residence at the mansion they had visited often as guests since the Roosevelt era. Mrs. Johnson took a major hand in supervising moving of the family’s personal belongings from their Spring Valley home, but she said it would be a month before the family was settled. In a statement, the new First Lady said: “I will try to be balm, sustainer, and sometimes critic for my husband; to help my children look at this job with all the reverence due it; to get from it the knowledge their unique vantage point gives them and to retain the light-heartedness to which every teenager is entitled. For my own self, my role must emerge in deeds, not words.” The younger Johnson daughter, Lucy Baines, 16, moved in with her parents. The other daughter, Lynda Bird, 19, is attending the University of Texas at Austin. The Johnsons moved into the mansion a day after Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy moved out. The widow of the President left some flowers and a welcome note for the Johnsons. There will be no entertaining at the White House until after the 30-day period of mourning which President Johnson proclaimed after President Kennedy was assassinated. In contrast to usual first family moving days, the atmosphere in the White House today was solemn. The mansion still is in black-draped mourning for the late President.
