All The Presidents' Daughters Of The 1960s And '70s
By | October 23, 2018
Growing up with famous parents can be challenging, but if your dad is the President of the United States, that makes it even more difficult. Famous First Daughters and their president dads have that special father-daughter relationship, on steroids -- fathers always want to protect their little girls, and daughters tend to idolize their dads. Imagine doing that in public, with a powerful POTUS dad and political enemies slinging endless mud at him. First Daughters of President Dads in the '60s and '70s saw an assassination, a resignation in disgrace, a high school prom, a wedding, and the usual trials and tribulations of growing up. Sure, the White House might be a cool place to live, but you have to deal with Secret Service and the media circus and being forced to attend stuffy state dinners. During the 1960s and 1970s, several of the Presidents brought their daughters with them to Washington. Do you remember these groovy First Daughters of the '60s and '70s?
Caroline Kennedy
Little Caroline Kennedy was just three years old when she moved into the White House with her dad, President John F. Kennedy, her mother, Jackie Kennedy and her baby brother, John Jr. The media loved to capture images of her playing in the Rose Garden and in the Oval Office, in part because it helped to cement Kennedy’s image as a family man. Sadly, Caroline’s stay at the White House was short-lived. When her father was assassinated in 1963, she moved to New York with her mother and brother and spent the remainder of her childhood mostly out of view of the media spotlight.
Lynda Johnson
When her father, Lyndon B. Johnson, suddenly became the President of the United States after the assassination of Kennedy, Lynda Johnson was still a teenager, just 19 years old. A few years later, she and actor George Hamilton became romantically involved…much to the delight of the media. The romance fizzled, however, and Lynda began seeing Marine Captain Charles S. Robb. The couple had a lavish White House wedding in 1967. Robb would later become Governor of Virginia and a U.S. Senator.
Luci Johnson
Luci Johnson, the younger sister of Lynda Johnson, and daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson was also a teen when she moved into the White House. The sixteen-year-old had heard the news of Kennedy’s assassination while she sat in her high school Spanish class and she spent the entire class worried that her father may also have been hurt. It wasn’t until the Secret Service showed up at her school a few hours later that she realized that her father had been sworn in as the next President of the United States.
Julie Nixon
Unlike her older sister, Tricia who preferred to stay out of the spotlight, Julie Nixon was a staunch supporter of her father, Richard Nixon, particularly when the news of the Watergate Scandal broke. Julie was only 20 years old when her father became president…and she was a new bride. She married David Eisenhower, the son of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, just weeks before her father took the oath of office. She worked as a journalist and didn’t back down from the media when they roasted Nixon. She even stood by his side as he resigned from the presidency.
Susan Ford
President Gerald Ford’s only daughter amid three sons, Susan Ford joined her father in the White House when she was only 17 years old. She finished out her high school education in Washington, DC and she even went to her prom in the White House’s East Room. After her mother, Betty Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer, Susan worked to raise awareness about the disease. She even helped to have October declared Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Amy Carter
The youngest child and only daughter of President Jimmy Carter, Amy moved into the White House as a four-year-old. Her parents tried to give Amy a normal childhood and the White House journalists reported her sleepovers in the White House tree house. An active tomboy, Amy loved to ride her bike and roller skate and climb trees, all of which kept the Secret Service hopping.
Later, Amy Carter became known as a political activist, frequently participating in protests and voicing her criticism for U.S. foreign policy. In 1986, she was arrested, with Abbie Hoffman and 13 others, for protesting CIA recruitment on the campus of UMass-Amherst. Amy provided illustrations for a 1996 children's book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, written by her famous dad.