Every member of LBJ’s family had the initials LBJ (even the dog).

Johnson family portrait

If you think the Kardashians’ insistence on giving every member of the family a first name starting with the letter “K” is a bit much, wait until you hear about the 36th president of the United States. One assumes it was a coincidence that Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife Claudia, better known as Lady Bird, both ended up with the initials LBJ, but it was certainly intentional to have both their daughters and one of their many dogs continue the trend. Lynda Bird Johnson was born on March 19, 1944, and Luci Baines Johnson followed on July 2, 1947. The final LBJ, Little Beagle Johnson, was a free spirit with a habit of running away.

In addition to being a quirky family tradition, this affinity for initials seems to have been a political move on LBJ’s part. He instructed one of his congressional assistants to refer to him by his initials long before his Oval Office tenure, telling the aide, “FDR–LBJ, FDR–LBJ. Do you get it? What I want is for them to start thinking of me in terms of initials.” Johnson, whose “Great Society” program was inspired by the New Deal, greatly admired Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and it’s hard to fault his political instincts given that LBJ became vice president thanks to another president with famous three-letter initials: JFK.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

A trip to the bathroom saved LBJ’s life during World War II.

A year and a half after becoming a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve, Johnson was called to active duty in the days following Pearl Harbor. His only bombing run followed on June 9, 1942, and he might not have survived were it not for a fortuitously timed bathroom break. Originally meant to take an observer’s seat on a B-26 known as the “Wabash Cannonball,” LBJ excused himself to use the restroom and ended up boarding another bomber instead. His plane, nicknamed the “Heckling Hare,” landed safely, whereas the Cannonball was shot down in New Guinea with no survivors. The Heckling Hare almost didn’t land safely either, however, as its electrical generator failed in midair and the crew barely made it back to base. LBJ received a Silver Star from General Douglas MacArthur for his actions, greatly boosting his political career.