Johnson served as chairman of the executive committee at Bank of America, and also a director of the company.
He also served on the boards of Duke Power, Liberty Corporation, Alltel and Stephens, Inc. As former chairman and "Chairman Emeritus" of Augusta National Golf Club, Johnson held the chairmanship from 1998 to 2006 and directed two significant overhauls of the golf course,[6] allowed 18-hole network television coverage of the tournament for the first time,[6] and made significant changes in Masters qualifying procedures.
[10]For her part, Burk – whose childhood nickname was also Hootie[11] – was "called a man hater, anti-family, lesbian, all the usual things.
"[7] For his part, according to former CEO and chairman of Bank of America, Hugh McColl (friend[12] and member of Augusta National[13]), Johnson was portrayed as a Senator Claghorn type[12] – i.e., a blustery defender of all things Southern.
[14] Following the discord, which included Burk's launching a now defunct website augustadiscriminates.org,[11] two club members resigned: Thomas H. Wyman, a former CEO of CBS, and John Snow, following his nomination by then-President George W. Bush to serve as Secretary of the Treasury.
[12] Johnson had also been the first businessman who pushed to have the Confederate flag removed from the state house in Columbia.