17. Lyndon Johnson wrote books and enjoyed his ranch
In 1955 Lyndon Baines Johnson suffered his first heart attack, which nearly killed him, and the up-to-six-pack-a-day smoker quit smoking. On the day of his successor’s nomination, Johnson boarded the plane to take him home, lighting a cigarette as soon as he was aboard. Chastised by his daughters the ex-president told them, “I’ve now raised you girls. I’ve now been president. Now it’s my time.” Johnson took his former speechwriter, Harry Middleton, with him to his ranch in Stonewall, Texas, to help in the drafting of a book describing his policies and decisions, and in his memoirs. Johnson’s ranch was a working ranch, and for that reason, he chose the University of Texas at Austin as the site for his Presidential Library.
Johnson left office in 1969, and by the following year his habits of smoking, bourbon and branch, and ignoring his doctor’s dietary restrictions (when Lady Bird wasn’t around to enforce them) led to attacks of angina and at least two heart attacks. Johnson rallied to endorse George McGovern in 1972, but his steadily declining health prevented him from campaigning beyond the issuing of statements and occasional interviews. By early 1973 he was fighting congestive heart failure, diverticulitis, and other health issues, though he continued to enjoy cigarettes, smoking heavily until nearly the end. He died in January, 1973, at his ranch, at the age of 64.