Lyndon B. Johnson

=== Failing health ===
[[File:LBJ-Ranch-1972.jpg|thumb|Johnson wearing a [[cowboy hat]] at his ranch in Texas, 1972]]

In March 1970, Johnson suffered an attack of [[angina]] and was taken to [[San Antonio Military Medical Center|Brooke Army General Hospital]] in [[San Antonio]]. He had gained more than {{convert|25|lb}} since leaving the White House; he now weighed around {{convert|235|lb}} and was urged to lose considerable weight. Johnson had also resumed smoking, having not smoked since his near-fatal heart attack in July 1955. The following summer, again gripped by chronic chest pains, he lost {{convert|15|lb}} in less than a month on a crash diet.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In April 1972, Johnson had another heart attack while visiting his daughter, Lynda, in Virginia. "I'm hurting real bad",<ref name="LastDays" /> he confided to friends. The chest pains returned nearly every afternoon {{mdashb}} jolting pains that left him frightened and breathless. A portable [[oxygen tank]] was kept by his bed, and he periodically interrupted what he was doing to lie down and don the mask. He continued to smoke heavily and, although nominally on a [[low-calorie diet|low-calorie]], [[dietary cholesterol|low-cholesterol diet]], kept to it only intermittently. Meanwhile, he began to experience severe abdominal pains, diagnosed as [[diverticulosis]]. His heart condition rapidly worsened and surgery was recommended. Johnson flew to Houston to consult with heart specialist [[Michael DeBakey]], where he learned his condition was terminal. DeBakey found that despite two of Johnson's coronary arteries being in urgent need of a [[coronary bypass]], the former president's heart was in such poor condition that he likely would have died during surgery.<ref name="theatlantic1973"/>