Amazon.com

Robert Caro's Master of the Senate examines in meticulous detail Lyndon Johnson's career in that body, from his arrival in 1950 (after 12 years in the House of Representatives) until his election as JFK's vice president in 1960. This, the third in a projected four-volume series, studies not only the pragmatic, ruthless, ambitious Johnson, who wielded influence with both consummate skill and "raw, elemental brutality," but also the Senate itself, which Caro describes (pre-1957) as a "cruel joke" and an "impregnable stronghold" against social change. The milestone of Johnson's Senate years was the 1957 Civil Rights Act, whose passage he single-handedly engineered. As important as the bill was--both in and of itself and as a precursor to wider-reaching civil rights legislation--it was only close to Johnson's Southern "anti-civil rights" heart as a means to his dream: the presidency. Caro writes that not only does power corrupt, it "reveals," and that's exactly what this massive, scrupulously researched book does. A model of social, psychological, and political insight, it is not just masterful; it is a masterpiece. --H. O'Billovich ... Read more

Reviews (104)

Best of the Three Volumes
After reading all 1,040 pages of this biography cum political history there is something to be said for the book. Richard Caro does not admire LBJ. But there is much not to like about LBJ. In the worst way he was deceitful, manipulative, crude, selfish, cowardly, and dishonest, however he was also smart, a very hard worker, willing to make sacrifices to serve ambition, a student of human nature and thrived on politics. He knew what he had to do to get power and, when he had power, he knew how to use it. Caro's research is thorough yet he does not get lost in minutia. There is not a dull page in this tome. For an historian he has a smooth, if not elegant, writing style - reminiscent of David McCullough or Doris Kerns Goodwin.
While this book covers only about 12 years of Johnson's life, it is rich in politics and history. For each biographical episode Caro sets the historical foundation to better understand the flow, the impact and importance of events. A compelling example of this concerns civil rights legislation. Caro does not limit his investigation to the weeks and months preceding the passage of the voting registration law of 1957, rather he goes back to Reconstruction and gives an historical thread up to the 1950's just to get the proper perspective. In this connection, LBJ for years stood with the South and shamelessly blocked civil rights legislation - doing do as a Senator, as minority leader and then as majority leader. It was at the 1956 Democratic convention that he got a rude awakening. He sincerely believed that he had a respectable chance at the nomination for president. It was there he learned that in the eyes of the rest of the country he was just another southern bigot. For the 1960 presidential run he would have to change that image by becoming a champion of civil rights. In executing this turn-around and orchestrating the passage of the first civil rights bill in 72 years Johnson's performance is truly masterful. History and personal ambition came together to serve the county. You can take the last 200 pages of this book alone and sell a 100,000 copies!

Caro Delivers on LBJ Again.
As usual, Mr. Caro's work on LBJ is excellent. In particular, the book starts with a very absorbing overview of the US Senate, showcasing the concept of the founding fathers to make the Senate a bastion of calm and reason. However, he also shows the Senate's inherent flaws so keenly exploited by the southern senators who for many generations successfully fought off Civil Rights legislation. Mr. Caro includes a sobering and retrospective view of the Senate's inherent isolationism to include "what if" the Senate had ratified the Treaty of Versailles and America had joined the League of Nations.

As an historian with a deep background in 20th Century America, I have a professional interest in the topic, but so should any reader with an interest in 1950's America, in particular during the tumultuous challenges brought on by the Cold War and the fight for Civil Rights .

However, this book definitively showcases LBJ's years in the Senate. He remains a larger-than-life figure in American politics and his "history" is truly extraordinary.

A master work with a central flaw
I have read all three of Robert Caro's volumes on LBJ with fascination. Caro is unsurpassed as a researcher, and while there is far too much repetition here (similar evidence marshalled to make a similar point) and too wide a sense of relevance (was it necessary to spend a chapter, for example, on Coke Stevenson's happy marriage AFTER he lost the 1948 Democratic Primary for the Senate to LBJ?) and a lot of stagey writing, too (eg, thundering one-sentence paragraphs), the degree to which Caro succeeds in reconstructing a context for the most minute of LBJ's machinations gives priceless insight and makes this a truly exciting work to read.
The great flaw of these books, however, is that they make Johnson a one-dimensional character, a tireless self-seeker and manipulator of men and women who cannot live a day without furthering his ambitions. In the service of his cause, Caro's Johnson never commits himself, never gives a hint of his true views, if he has any. He started out as a New Dealer but with Southern Conservatives he always behaved like one of them. Then finally, added to this portrait of the shamelessly sycophantic bully, Caro also would have us believe that Johnson all along was an idealist who really wanted to help people, a trait that Caro sees expressed in LBJ's heroic early performance as a teacher of poor Texas children. This assessment will be borne out by the record of LBJ's presidency (Caro is still at work), when Johnson did abandon his Southern base and revert to the emulation of his original model, FDR. But there is no way that the Johnson has described so far will be able convincingly to be transformed into the idealistic reformer president Caro hints at in volume theree. The complexity of motivation simply isn't there in these three volumes. Caro's LBJ seems always to be approached through the eyes of others, whereas LBJ's own point of view remains elusive.
LBJ's life makes a fascinating story--that of a man who used every dirty trick in the book on his way to the top, then tried to use his position to help people. Caro's book would have been better titled LBJ and the Art of Corruption, for he shows that part of the story brilliantly--how money and power work together (roughly, power equals money squared). It's the other side of the story that is unconvincing here, and we are still left wondering Who is the real LBJ?

Like chinese food: an hour later, you're hungry again
I should start by saying I feel badly that I am only giving this book two stars, but I think the biggest factor affecting the rating should be the book's substance and general tone, and that is what I take issue with. That said, I will point out that the style of writing is classic and the sort that only appears in great works of nonfiction. Caro really is a very skilled writer and others should emulate his phraseology.

The problem with the book is that, even though it's 1000 pages long, it feels oddly unsatisfying. I read it through and found myself asking, "Wait, how did he get control of the Senate again?" When you really look at it, Caro tends to say things like, "If so-and-so senator couldn't be persuaded by money or by concessions [or whatever else], then Johnson would just use his power to get the vote." Caro seems to keep using this phrase - Johnson would just use his "power" - to explain things. But that doesn't explain anything, and when you dig down to see what it means, Caro doesn't have any more of an answer than anyone else. He fails to really convey the "why" of things - why no one would vote for Estes Kefauver to get one some committee, or why everyone followed Russell's word so closely, or why the Policy committee decided so much. Any attempt to explain it just hits up against some well-written but basically empty passage saying how "clever" or "feared" or "powerful" Johnson or Russell was.

The real reason for this failure is the basic exaggeration of Johnson's power. Caro makes him out to be the wisest, cleverest person since Solomon. But instead of being "Master of the Senate," Johnson is really just "Master of His Times." That is because Johnson, instead of imposing his will on the majority, like some seem to believe, really just shepherded the pre-existing will to passage. The heart of the book, the struggle over the 1957 Civil Rights bill, proves this. It passed not because Johnson singlehandedly made them do it, but because there was finally enough liberal support, coupled with Republican votes, to make it happen. Johnson may have insisted on making the deal, but any majority leader in office at the time could have done so as well.

So the book's main failure is one of emphasis. By devoting so much well-written copy to a great story (but re-telling it with Johnson as the prime mover), Caro gives too much credit to his subject, and his slippery definition of the exact source of Johnson's power is a symptom of this. Many future politicians will surely try to use this book to imitate Johnson's feats; too bad there really isn't anything particularly exceptional to learn from them.

4 Volumes on a Dead Man. What a Waste of Time
4 Volumes on a Dead Man. What a Waste of Time.

Homo-Erotism of a Dead President. LBJ Dead since 1973.
I am always curious why smart people devote years obsessed with dead people, not to mention dead people from the long past.

It must be a man acting out their homo-erotic fantasies out of another man. Of course, LBJ was Texas roughneck, cowboy, and Robert Caro, the pencil-neck geek must find this guy attractive.

LBJ died in 1973 from a Heart Attack. He got kick out after one term in office, the Vietnam War was a diaster. The welfare state left us with billions in debt.

All this can be debated in academic circles. But why devote three books to a man dead since 1973.

Robert Caro, please get a life, a real job. All humans born, live and then die. The USA life expectancy is about 72. We can debate politics and so on.

Weak males tend to be attracted to strong, dominating males and that explains why Robert Caro is devoting three books to a dead man. ... Read more

Book Description

Part One Of Three Parts

THE PATH TO POWER reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the superhuman drive, energy and urge to power that fueled LBJ. It is the first part of Caro's project and brings LBJ from childhood to Washington.

Johnson showed political genius early on. His boyhood, filled with friendship and maneuver, set the stage for later moves. He consolidated power in powerful friendships and, in D.C., leveraged the loyalities of his youth.

"Here as never before is Lyndon Johnson--his Texas, his Washington, his America--in a book by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author that brings us as close as we have ever been to a true perception of political genius and the American political process." (Publisher's Source) ... Read more

Reviews (62)

A great read, but.....
This huge first volume of Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson tells the story of Johnson's life up to the time of his defeat in the Texas senatorial election of 1941.

I enjoyed the book very much, staying up late into the night to read more, yet having now finished it I thought that - somewhat perversely perhaps - the book's weaknesses as a biography were its strengths as a more general work of historical analysis.

Although the book is about Johnson, Caro doesn't restrain himself from letting his focus shift away from Johnson for long stretches: for example, the natural history and settlement of the Texas Hill Country are described in detail (fascinating to someone like me who knew next to nothing about these subjects); and the lives of other people who were important to Johnson are described in great detail (Sam Rayburn in particular).

I was happy to follow Caro down these roads, as he wrote so compellingly - for example, the descriptions of women's lives in the Hill Country should destroy a few rural myths. Other historians would have abbreviated or summarised such descriptions to the absolute minimum necessary to add to the reader's understanding of the context of the subject's life, whilst maintaining the overall focus on the subject himself. Indeed, at times, Caro loses sight of Johnson completely, and the book becomes more of a general history.

I felt that Caro made up his mind that Johnson was an utterly unscrupulous and amoral politician, totally devoted to the acquisition of power. The picture he paints of Johnson and of American democracy is unflattering - elections and politicians are there to be bought - money is everything. We're in a precursor stage to the "military-industrial complex". Even where Johnson did good, Caro's praise is brief (for example in his determination to force through the rural electrification program). I thought that there needed to be a better balance - surely there were issues other than money and gerrymandering that decided elections in the US? Or am I being naive?

Also, if Johnson the man was such a hated person, why did he evoke such loyalty? It seems too dismissive to explain this by stating that other people were furthering their own self-interest through Johnson.

I feel somewhat churlish at criticising a book I enjoyed so much, but I will read the next volume!

The autoritative LBJ biography.
Caro's work is simply flabbergasting. I read the 768 page book in a week flat (and ordered Vol. 2 at the mid-point to ensure I could seamlessly continue).

The key to the work is the way in which Caro is able to take a complex set of events and explain it in the context of a central theme. For example, Caro uses the building of the Marshall Ford dam to explain the urgency with which Herman Brown and Alvin Wirtz worked to get Johnson elected to the House.

In short, the book is well-written, thorough, and smart. Caro adds the extra value we require of a historian -- that is, he doesn't merely retell events, he places them in a coherent context so that we can understand what made LBJ. In the end, the portrait is a complex but ultimately scary one of power sought for power's sake.

The greatest biography in print
The Path to Power is probably the greatest biography ever written.

I'm a Texan, but a Republican, and I never particularly admired LBJ for his political decisions. However, he's a fascinating study in contemporary politics. Even if you hated Lyndon, he was the most masterful politician of the 20th Century.

This book is a 24 karat gold winner. I've probably re-read it twenty times and each time I learn something else.

The Washington Post called it "a book of radiant excellence". That is a gross understatement. This book transcends everthing I have ever read about American politics.

It captures the true feelings, emotions, ambitions, and everything else about America in the middle of the 20th century.

This is the most compelling book I have ever read. You have to read it too. Get it now. You'll love me and thank me later for recommending it.

4 Volumes on a Dead Man since '73. Get a Life Please
Homo-Erotism of a Dead President. LBJ Dead since 1973.

I am always curious why smart people devote years obsessed with dead people, not to mention dead people from the past.

It must be a man acting out their homo-erotic fantasies out of another man. Of course, LBJ was Texas roughneck, cowboy, and Robert Caro, the pencil-neck geek must find this guy attractive.

LBJ died in 1973 from a Heart Attack. He got kick out after one term in office, the Vietnam War was a diaster. The welfare state left us with billions in debt. All this can be debated in academic circles. But why devote four books to a man dead since 1973.

Robert Caro, please get a life, a real job. All humans born, live and then die. The USA life expectancy is about 72. We can debate politics and so on. LBJ has been dead for 31 years.

Weak males tend to be attracted to strong, dominating males and that explains why Robert Caro is devoting three books to a dead man.

Fabulous book
I picked up this book on a recommendation from a coworker who said that LBJ was the most intriguing character of all the America presidents. I've read several past presidential biographies and I felt that LBJ's legacy and history were important for me if I were to grasp the motivating forces behind Civil Rights history and Vietnam.

This book exceeded my expectations and turned out to be a gripping read. Caro gives his reader story, character, and research. The length of this book is its strength because he gives the reader so much context for the events. Before talking about how LBJ brought electric power to his impoverished home district for example, Caro breaks away for a 14 page illumination of the realities of day to day to living without electricity entitled "The Sad Irons". Where many other biographers make their subject the sole focus, Caro generously supplies his reader with the details that make you empathize for the characters he portrays. In that sense, I put this book almost up there with Richard Kluger's "Simple Justice" for its ability to create vibrant vivid history.

Caro does see LBJ in a somewhat negative light, although he tries to temper his criticism with understanding of why he became the way he is. Caro respects the political genius of Johnson in his admiration for Johnson's work ethic and drive during the 1937 campaign for Congress. He also admires how LBJ did take pride and gain satisfaction for the individual voters that he presented and the benefits he won for them as a Congressman.

Yet I expect a Macbeth as I read Caro's later volumes. Caro disapproves of Lyndon's unwillingness to take a stand and reveals how the Lyndon Johnson succeeded in part because he was a "professonal son" exceedingly capable of earning the good graces of those with the power to help him be they Sam Rayburn, President Roosevelt, or even the college president as he struggled to earn tuition.

So many episodes in this book will linger. I almost wish LBJ had been an anonymous teacher after hearing how successful he was in the two positions he held early on in his career. The power that he earned through his stint as unofficial Congressional campaign manager is amazing as is his ability to balance New Deal rhetoric with conservative financial backing.

Besides LBJ you gain the story of his rural district, a lesser know side of the New Deal, the beginnings of the awesome power of Texas Oil and understanding of democratic politics.

I could go on so much, but all I can say is if you are at all interested in LBJ this book will be worth the effort.

5 stars!

--SD ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the opening pages of Flawed Giant, readers meet adowntrodden politician whose greatest ambition--the presidency--istantalizingly close but seemingly out of reach. JFK's elder by almost20 years, Johnson was a reluctant and unenthusiastic vice president.When he finally realized the office, his satisfaction there was marredby his difficulty in reconciling his deeply held beliefs and politicalexpediency. In this sequel to the critically acclaimed Lone Star Rising,biographer Robert Dallek concentrates on Johnson's White House years.In addition to expertly covering the major events of Johnson'spresidency, Dallek probes lower-profile episodes that help exposeJohnson's character. His agonizing search for a vice president in 1964is one such example--in order to salve his ego, Johnson was adamantthat he should win reelection without a Kennedy on the ticket andresisted both the Democratic party and Robert Kennedy right up until the convention.

Dallek is skilled at laying bare the man's complicated and evencontradictory nature. At diplomacy, Johnson often seemed like a loud,brash American, yet successful trips to Southeast Asia and Africa asvice president prove his occasional adroitness in this area. One ofJohnson's Achilles' heels, it seems, was paranoia; a firm believer inthe fact that knowledge is power, Johnson rarely communicated his trueintentions or feelings, even to his closest confidants or cabinetmembers, until the last. And he secretly tape-recorded thousands ofconversations with people at all levels of government. Dallek aversthat Johnson's impenetrability is the reason why much of his action onVietnam defies explanation. And the dark cloud of the war now largelyobfuscates Johnson's impressive congressional record. Careful toneither vilify nor deify his subject, Dallek devotes large sections ofthe book to both Vietnam and Johnson's major accomplishments in thearea of reform and funding for programs such as civil rights, Medicare,clean air and water, the NEA, public broadcasting, and food stamps.

This engrossing biography is peppered throughout with snippets of its subject's trademark: colorfully idiomatic speech that brings himvibrantly to life. Based upon exclusive interviews with Lady BirdJohnson and Bill Moyers, as well as recently released papers andtranscripts, Dallek's biography is a major contribution to thecollective understanding of this man whose passions had a major impacton American society. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Sympathetic but the Fairest work on LBJ
LBJ, a very complex and contrdictory man, is often remembered for the failings of the Great Society and is often blamed for U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Thus, him and Richard Nixon have unfairly become the scapegoats of an entire generation. One thing that I deeply admire about Johnson was his partiotism but, unfortunately, his partiotism and his idealism were not a good mix. It was a noble gesture to try and end poverty and fight a limited war at the same time, but economically and socially, it was just not feasible. His policy of "Guns" and "Butter" drove the United States into domestic chaos and shattered the economy to an extent that it is still suffering from the Johnson years. My main criticism of Dallek would be the fact that he downplayed Johnson's patriotism and belief that Vietnam was a just cause. After McGovern won the party's nomination in 1972, Johnson became somewhat disillusioned with the party and continued to support Nixon in the war. There is little emphasis on the fact that Vietnam was a just war, but the Johnson administration, composed of JFK's elite advisors, manhandled the war in such a way that the national will never was able to recover and thousands of people were lost because of those blunders. Other than the aforementioned criticisms, 'Flawed Giant' is the most definitive work on Johnson and is recommended to and student of U.S. History.

Definitive Johnson
Robert Dallek's concluding volume on Lyndon Johnson completes what is to date the definitive biographical account of Johnson's life. Flawed Giant primarily deals with Johnson's Presidential years and is a bit more sober in tone than the lyrical Lone Stare Rising. But Dallek provides a fresh look at the difficult decisions facing a conflicted man with absorbing detail. This is no small feat, as the events of Johnson's life from 1961 to 1973 have been picked apart by biographers, historians and journalist again and again. It is unfortunate that the middlebrow, popular accounts of Johnson's life by Robert Caro have received so much attention. The result has been that serious biography on this subject has not been given it's day in the sun. I should note that Robert Dallek's comments about Mr. Caro have been much kinder to the popular writer than mine. Flawed Giant is a must read for those interested in American history and politics.

Skip this one!
Dalleck is a third rate historian who has produced a poorly-written, pro-LBJ screed that provides almost new information. Read Robert Caro and learn the truth.

A Fine Sequel
Unlike some other reviewers, I was not disappointed by this sequel to Lone Star Rising. LBJ was so complex, and so was his Presidency. I've read many books on him and often get the impression given by the parable of the elephant and the three blind men: each writer gives a part of the description of the 'elephant' that was Johnson, but no real complete picture. Mr. Dallek comes closer, in my opinion, to representing the complete picture of Johnson and his Presidency, than others. I've always viewed Johnson in the same mold as FDR, in terms of scope of personality and ability to place a personal stamp on his Presidency. Both mean had such great assets and achievements, and both had great shortcomings. The difference that comes to mind immediately is Johnson's lack of confidence in many judgments and life-long lack of self-confidence; this is well-illustrated in this book. Unlike Roosevelt, Johnson lacked the ability to disguise his motives and emotions in an ongoing manner.

Like other reviewers, I only wish there had been greater coverage of Johnson's Vice-Presidential years. I've never read any detailed history of this period in Johnson's life, other than the feuding with the Kennedy clan. There's probably a book here for someone willing to spend the time and effort.

Dallek's writing is much more balanced than the books by Caro, and I think history will prove them of greater value.

An excellent biography of a complex president.
This is the second volume of a two-volume biography; the first is "Lone Star Rising", which covers Johnson's life up until his run for the vice-presidency with JFK; this volume covers his years as vice president, president, and his short retirement.

Dallek does a very good job of showing both the positives and the negatives of a man who he demonstrates clearly deserves the title of the book. Johnson is unquestionably a giant of American history; his domestic accomplishments, most notably pushing the Civil Rights Act through congress (something that few other men could have accomplished in the same position, given that Johnson had more influence with southern politicians who were inclined to oppose the act than most liberal democrats at the time) are certainly undeniable. Yet his flaws were spectacular too, notably his handling of the Vietnam war; it isn't just that he escalated the war from a minor, we-had-a-few-advisors-over-there situation to a situation in which thousands of Americans were dying; it isn't just that he refused to pull out when it became apparent that we weren't going to win the war anytime soon, and that Americans by and large didn't support the cost in lives of staying the course. It's that he lied repeatedly about our prospects there in order to build support for something that he knew perfectly well people wouldn't support if they knew the truth, and that he became downright paranoid on the subject, considering anyone who disagreed with him on it to be a "commie dupe" and a "traitor". It's that he subtly undercut the presidential campaign of Hubert Humphrey, his own vice-president and the man most likely to continue his domestic policies, in favor of Richard Nixon, because Nixon's stance on Vietnam seemed more in keeping with his own.

Dallek does an excellent job of detailing all of this, and having read this book, I am both more aware of the good Johnson did, and more aware of the reasons why, prior to reading this book, I did not credit his presidency for that good; all I knew prior to reading this book was the negative side of the story, and not even all of that. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

MEANS OF ASCENT is the second book in the LBJ trilogy. It carries Johnson from his 1941 Senate defeat through WW II and on to the securing of his fortunes, both economic and political.

Caro tells this story with an eye for detail. He focuses not only on Johnson, but on Johnson's "unbeatable" opponent, former Texas Governor Coke Stevenson. As the political duel between the two men quickens, it moves with all the drama of the perfect Western. Caro has us witness a momentous turning point in American politics: the tragic last stand of politics of issue versus politics of image.

"One of the most important political biographies of our time...the picture of a man on his way up, regardless." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board) ... Read more

Reviews (61)

Easy, now...
I have to disagree with the universal 5 stars this book gets from other reviewers here.

First, readers not familiar with Caro should know that he uses LBJ as a springboard to do a larger social history. In the first book, this included fascinating insights into what daily life was like in rural Texas and rural America in the early part of the 20th Century.

One weakness of this 2nd volume is that, despite an early go at Johnson's WWII service & early time in Washington, Caro largely narrows this focus down to Texas itself, a particular election, LBJ's opponent in that election, and finally even to one flunkie in the Texas political machine. This somewhat derails both the social history aspect and the LBJ-biographical aspect.

(Readers who don't want to have some of the story given away shouldn't read the rest of this review.)

Caro tips his hand with this book. In the first volume, Caro says Johnson stole all his early elections, even little ones. Caro tells the tale so well in that book that the whole story becomes rather shocking, even in today's politically cynical age. Here, Caro says Johnson stole his big Senate election. It's becoming quickly apparent that Caro is prepared to tell us that Johnson stole literally every single election he ever ran in during his entire life. I think only the biggest Johnson-loathers around would buy this premise on its face.

Still, this a fantastically-written narrative, and I eagerly await the 3rd volume. But, in the end, let's hope that Caro's whole story doesn't simply boil down to the thesis that "LBJ is not only as bad as you've ever heard...he's WORSE." Given how much of his life Caro has devoted to this work, and how much time and money we readers have devoted to it as well, it would be a shame if Caro's sweeping narrative proves to ultimately be that narrow.

Fantastic -- a must read
Anyone interested in the history of US Politics must read this book. It tells the true story of Lyndon Johnson's role in the Second World War. It also discusses Johnson's hatred of the House of Representatives. It is too big. It is, as Caro puts it, "too slow," for Johnson. The only way to get power in the House is to wait. Johnson, impatient and itching for real power, has none. Sitting in the Naval Affairs committee, ruled by Dictator Vinson, Johnson has no power. He would have to wait many, many years until he would possibly, if at all, reach the chairmanship. Handicapped by ancestral health problems (Johnson men died in their 60's), he realizes this path is "too slow".

Having lost the Senate race in 1941 to W. Lee (Pappy) O'Daniel, he gives it another shot in '48. O' Daniel is not running because of the mockery he made of himself in Washington. Even worse, Coke Stevenson, a Texas Legend runs. In perhaps the most monumental and competitive political race in the history of Texas, Johnson wins by a mere 48 votes, but not after a investigation into those votes and a legal battle. You cannot miss the story of this election. I flew throught the book, and you will too. With absolutely impeccable prose and style, Caro does it again with Means of Ascent.

Stolen Election
The 1948 Texas Senatorial race is the centerpiece of this outstaning 2nd volume of Caro's epic biography of Lyndon Johnson. Caro spends the first half of the book documenting Mr. Johnson's "war years". The second half is devoted to this controversial election. Mr. Caro's writing flows and he does an outstanding job of setting up time and place. I cannot wait to read Volume 3.

Spellbinding and Spectacular
After having read Robert Caro's Path to Power, the first volume of his monumental trilogy on the life of Lyndon Baines Johnson, I came away with the feeling that although Johnson was an utter scoundrel, he had a few redeeming qualities. Now that I've read Path to Power, any redemption Johnson had earned in my eyes has been stripped away.
In this volume, Caro lays bare once and for all the evidence that anyone of any political stripe should need to discover that Johnson was driven solely by naked ambition and was utterly bereft of principle or scruple. No one or nothing was sacred if it stood between him and the power he craved.
In his losing 1941 Senate race against the charlatan Pappy O'Daniel, Johnson ran on a platform of Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Roosevelt. He made a public show in Washington of being one of FDR's most devoted lickspittles. Yet behind the scenes, he made deals with some of the most anti-Roosevelt money men in Texas and was able to convince them that he was really a conservative. Johnson narrowly lost that election and the lesson learned was that he had to steal more votes than he supposed his opponent to have stolen and then not have them counted until after the "last" votes were in.
Reading between the lines, I can guess that FDR was finally on to him as Truman certainly was.
Then there was the matter of his "heroic" war record. Even today when a candidate's claims are so much easier to check for veracity we have those who brazenly lie a la LBJ about their wartime service.
LBJ comes off at his worst during the 1948 Democratic Senatorial primary in which he and his minions stole the election from former Governor Coke Stevenson by arranging the stuffing of ballot boxes and in some cases, paying voters to vote for Johnson. When the "results" were contested by Stevenson, Johnson and his legal team lied and cheated their way through the system all the way to using a Supreme Court Justice to install Johnson as the official Democratic candidate for the US Senate.
A few people come off as heroes: Coke Stevenson himself, Circuit Court Judge T Whitfield Davidson, Federal Master in Chancery William R Smith and a handful of reformers in Jim Wells County and other South Texas counties who had the real courage to stand up to jefe George Parr, his enforcers and his pistoleros. Others include the very brave indeed Mexican-American residents of those counties who were willing to publicly testify that though they were counted as having voted, they had in fact not voted at all or had voted for Stevenson.
Besides those whom the reader would expect to be slimeballs, Abe Fortas, Tom Clark,and Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black emerge from the sordid affair bathed in the stench of corruption.
Although its obvious that the author is developing an increasing distatse for Johnson, he does not neglect showing the shrewd and forward looking side of the man. Johnson proves himself many times to be a keen reader of men and part of his political success stems from his ability to make snap decisions on what is and isn't going to work as far as campaigning goes. The story of his brilliant strategy of barnstorming the state by helicopter as his better known and hugely popular opponent Coke Stevenson slogs along county by county the old fashioned way is one of the high points of the book.
It was that modern and then novel approach, coupled with his use of polling, vicious ad hominem attacks on Stevenson and mass mailings thinly disguised as newspapers that put Johnson in the position that stealing a few thousand votes could win the election for him. At the beginning of the campaign, almost no one outside his camp thought he had a chance of winning.
I recommend this spellbinding and spectacular book to anyone interested in politics. Its a reminder to all of us how ignoble the quest for office can be, and a warning to all of us that we must constantly be on guard to ensure the fairness and sanctity of the principle of one man, one vote.

Fascinating political shootout, but may overdo the rehash
Other reviewers on amazon have found this to be the weakest of Caro's three published volumes on LBJ, and while I haven't read volume 3 yet, I agree that this book is not without its flaws. Principally, Caro spends an enormous amount of time rehashing the events of volume 1, often in exactly the same language as in the earlier work. I agree with the reviewer below who asserts that this may have been stronger as a 200-250 page tag to Caro's earlier volume.

Yet the story does focus on 3 major details in Johnson's life that are essential to understanding his future relationship to the American public and the manner in which he would wield Senatorial and Presidential power. First, Caro goes into the facts behind Johnson's war service and exposes the political fuel for his service and how he subsequently exaggerated or outright lied about his military record to gain political favor. Not the most important thing in the book but definitely interesting new info.

Secondly, Caro reveals how Johnson leveraged his political influence to gain control of a fledgling radio station and turn it into the foundation of his personal fortune. This is a major revelation as it demonstrates that Johnson, while frustrated politically during the 40s, found a way to gain a fortune using his political contacts.

Lastly, the entire second half of this book focuses on the Senate primary between Johnson and Coke Stevenson. Caro, while respecting Johnson's energy and creativity in pursuing his aims, considers this an entirely tragic episode in Texas and American politics. The manner in which Johnson obtained funds and outspent his noble candidate bothers Caro. More importantly, Caro feels that Johnson's stolen votes in many ways were the foundation of the credibility gap in Texas politics and in the later Johnson presidency. Caro makes a special point to show how Johnson relished the fact that he used his guile to steal votes, even showing a picture of himself with those he purchased the votes from to a reporter as president. Many reviewers feel this book is too negative on Johnson, but I am convinced by the facts given that a negative position on Johnson is warranted, especially given the amorality of the tactics he used in winning the election.

Where I was less convinced was in the nobility of Coke Stevenson as Johnson's foil. Sure Stevenson did not appear to steal votes in the manner of Johnson or vacillate in his positions or really go negative in attacking his candidate. But on the other hand, Stevenson exhibited debilitating tactical blindness and stubborn pride in not directly confronting Johnson's attacks or changing his style in some ways to meet changing times. Stevenson may have had more integrity, but I also feel that he was a deeply conservative politician who was more interested in his political principles than in the political reality he faced. Caro spends so much time portraying him as "Mr. Texas" that I feel he glosses over many of his faults. While Stevenson was a better man, I am not sure he would have been an effective Senator and the United States may have been worse off having him as Senator. I felt that Caro's dislike for Johnson, though justified, led him to distort his portrayal of Stevenson.

Overall, though this is a good book which could have been done just a little bit better. It remains a fascinating read and a vital addition to Caro's masterful biography that is worthy of your time and effort.

4 stars. ... Read more

Book Description

Doris Kearns Goodwin's classic life of Lyndon Johnson, who presided over the Great Society, the Vietnam War, and other defining moments the tumultuous 1960s, is a monument in political biography. From the moment the author, then a young woman from Harvard, first encountered President Johnson at a White House dance in the spring of 1967, she became fascinated by the man—his character, his enormous energy and drive, and his manner of wielding these gifts in an endless pursuit of power. As a member of his White House staff, she soon became his personal confidante, and in the years before his death he revealed himself to her as he did to no other.

Widely praised and enormously popular, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream is a work of biography like few others. With uncanny insight and arichly engrossing style, the author renders LBJ in all his vibrant, conflicted humanity.
... Read more

Reviews (17)

Too Psychological
This book by Doris Kearns Goodwin has too much of one thing and not enough of a couple of things. This book has too much psychoanalysis, relating every decision Johnson made back to his childhood, or his parents. One thing this book lacks is interesting stories. LBJ was probably the most colorful President in history, yet this book depicts him much differently. Finally this book lacks a lot of information about his time in the Senate. LBJ was a much more successful senator than president, yet this book flies through the Senate years. The stuff about the Presidency is great though and you do understand this man better after reading this book.

BOOOORRRRRIIIINNNNNGGGG!!!!
Dull, dull, dull.

This author spends so much time babbling about the inner workings of LBJ's mind, you'd think she was his therapist.

Not a serious historial work.

Dull
I am (was?) a great admirer of Doris Kearns Goodwin's work. "No Ordinary Time" was a masterpiece of historical writing. But this early biography of Johnson just doesn't stand the test of time. It's MUCH too theoretical and lacks narrative drive. Johnson was an immensely interesting figure. It says everything that this book makes him dull.

Very good historical biography
I wanted to find an biography on Lyndon Johnson because I was doing a reading of a script for a screenwriters class based on his life. I chose this book because I do not usually read such detailed historical books. This book was very easy for me to read and understand. I was pleased that the background about his childhood was included because I wanted that for my research. I also think it is very interesting to learn about what makes a leader great - how he was raised, etc... I think this is a good book for someone who wants to get a thorough understanding of the complete life of Lyndon Johnson.

For the Casual Reader
This was the first book that I ever read on LBJ. I really enjoyed it at the time, and still do. In later readings, I found the works of Caro and Dallek to be more accurate, but Goodwin does a fair job. Particularly of interest is the time she spent with LBJ, something neither Caro nor Dallek can claim. Good if you want to read one book on Lyndon Johnson. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Robert Dallek's brilliant two-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson has received an avalanche of praise. Michael Beschloss, in The Los Angeles Times, said that it "succeeds brilliantly." The New York Times called it "rock solid" and The Washington Post hailed it as "invaluable." And Sidney Blumenthal in The Boston Globe wrote that it was "dense with astonishing incidents." Now Dallek has condensed his two-volume masterpiece into what is surely the finest one-volume biography of Johnson available. Based on years of research in over 450 manuscript collections and oral histories, as well as numerous personal interviews, this biography follows Johnson, the "human dynamo," from the Texas hill country to the White House. We see LBJ, in the House and the Senate, whirl his way through sixteen- and eighteen-hour days, talking, urging, demanding, reaching for influence and power, in an uncommonly successful congressional career.Then, in the White House, we see Johnson as the visionary leader who worked his will on Congress like no president before or since, enacting a range of crucial legislation, from Medicare and environmental protection to the most significant advances in civil rights for black Americans ever achieved. And we see the depth of Johnson's private anguish as he became increasingly ensnared in Vietnam. In these pages Johnson emerges as a man of towering intensity and anguished insecurity, of grandiose ambition and grave self-doubt, a man who was brilliant, crude, intimidating, compassionate, overbearing, driven: "A tornado in pants." Gracefully written and delicately balanced, this singular biography reveals both the greatness and the tangled complexities of one of the most extravagant characters ever to step onto the presidential stage. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Biography
This is the best book out there on LBJ. Dallek covers his entire life from start to finish. Lyndon Johnson was a towering and caring man. This book really tells his story.

fascinating biography that paints a complete picture
Professor Robert Dallek provides an incredible biography of one of the most complex presidents of the twentieth century, LBJ. Readers obtain insight into a compassionate yet deceitful individual who believed in his populist social reforms; Professor Dallek believes LBJ was motivated by an impoverish childhood. Of most interest is how LBJ anguished over the Nam War that just seemed to get worse everyday and he finding no way out of the quicksand. Also interesting is the self comparison to JFK and RFK.

Well written and easy to read, LYNDON B. JOHNSON: PORTRAIT OF A PRESIDENT is a fantastic bio of an individual who wielded power like an emperor yet had a fragile ego. His legacy includes Medicare, environmental protection, and noteworthy improvements in civil rights but is often overshadowed by Viet Nam. Many of LBJ's accomplishments still impact Americans today thirty-five years after he left office. Professor Dallek provides the complete picture of the man in a fascinating biography that paints an interesting picture (pros and cons), not the anecdotal generalizing spin that is seen too often today. This is a great bio worth reading by everyone especially historical and political science fans.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Book Description

Transcribing, editing, and explaining the most powerful moments from hundreds of hours of newly released LBJ tapes, Michael Beschloss has added another lasting treasure to the American historical record. Reaching for Glory exposes the inner workings of the Johnson presidency from the summer of 1964 through the summer of 1965.

From behind the scenes, you will hear Johnson pulling the strings of his presidential campaign against Barry Goldwater and pursuing his feud with the new senator Robert Kennedy. He agonizes over Martin Luther King, Jr., and the bloody march on Selma, Alabama, and twists arms on Capitol Hill to pass voting rights, Medicare, and more basic laws than any American president before or since. Above all, you will hear him sending young Americans off to Vietnam while privately insisting that the war can never be won.

Winding Johnson's voice and exclusive excerpts from Lady Bird Johnson's private diaries into a gripping narrative, Michael Beschloss provides context and historical insights, showing how profoundly LBJ changed the presidency and the country. Reaching for Glory allows us to live at Lyndon Johnson's side, day by day, through the dramatic, triumphant, and catastrophic year of a turbulent presidency that continues to affect us all. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

As GRIPPING as a movie...reveavling LBJ's true SECRET
This is truly an astounding book. Now, years later, we finally know the truth: Lyndon B. Johnson was not merely a tragic president who stuck to his guns and fought a war he mistakenly believed he could win (with various political restrictions on the military).
He was, this book proves beyond a shadow of a doubt in its lively transcripts of his secretly taped phone conversations, a tragic president who stuck to his guns and fought a war he firmly believed would be LOST no matter WHAT.
He didn't want to lose, but he didn't want to be the one to pull out, so he got in deeper and deeper, losing sleep and agonizing all the way -- and the consequences to his administration and the country were catastrophic.
There are a slew of reasons why you should read (or gift) this amazing book.
The main one: true, it does give you perhaps more than you wanted to know about LBJ (but I don't care WHAT some reviewers have said: I LOVE the sections where he is flirting with Jackie Kennedy)...but if you read it you get a clear idea of how a president operated -- and many parts of this book are so dramatic and gripping, they read like a movie script. In fact, I can see the Oliver Stone movie now..
Historian Michael Beschloss makes it seem easy when you read it, but transcribing and annotating (so you know through footnotes what LBJ is referring to when he talks and get some historical context..and know when LBJ is spinning) these conversations taped between 1974 and 1965 could not have been easy. Yet, he gives you the meat and you get to "know" how LBJ thinks and, politically, works.
It shows Johnson, warts and all, as a man who could have been one of the very best presidents because of his skills, will and sincere desire to serve. But it shows a highly conflicted, contradictory, at times paranoid and highly depressed man. On the night of his monster landslide 1964 election he is angry and "down," steaming over Bobby Kennedy's influence and possible future machinations. As he presses and manipulates to get his Great Society legislation passed, he's leaking info on election opponent Barry Goldwater, keeping the lid on information regarding his number one aide's role in a sex scandal. He talks of victory in Vietnam, but repeatedly tells politicos and his wife that there is absolutely no way the U.S. can ever win, and he is tormented by his terrible choice and unwanted role. He wants to help the poor and the blacks, but will talk a little more "southern" if he has to while talking to someone who doesn't quite agree with him to make them think he's on their wavelength.
The famous Gulf of Tonkin resolution? Even Johnson believed it may not have happened. But he took the resolution in Congress and ran with it -- using it to justify the war he knew he the U.S. could not win.
In Feb. 1965 he told a Senator "a man can fight if he can see daylight down the road somewhere. But there ain't no daylight in Vietnam. Not a bit."
If you went back and contrasted his public pronouncements with what he was saying privately, it would be shocking indeed: pep talks to the country (and troops) to the contrary, he never felt we could win. Meanwhile, he kissed J. Edgar Hoover's you-know-what to keep hoover on his side (actually, they had been neighbors in Washington and Johnson had carefully kept Hoover on his side for years) in his battle against Goldwater, Kennedy and others.
Not all of the book is about the sad, deceitful slide into Vietnam. Many of the transcripts deal with his election campaign, domestic legislation...but by the end of the volume Vietnam is devouring LBJ alive as it did the country and the innocence and joy of the early 60s.
I read this book rather quickly. It was an INCREDIBLE experience. Read it and you're a fly on the wall in the White House.

Finally! the story is told!
I don't mean LBJ's real thoughts about the Vietnam war, although obviously that is a great revelation. I mean that I know why it took Michael Beschloss so long to finish this follow-up to "Taking Charge"....these tapes are tough to listen to. They are not the entertaining excerpts of the previous volume. The '64-'65 excerpts show more of LBJ's warts, and cover painful ground, primarily concerning the war in Vietnam. Also, there is so much material that, unlike with the first volume, I found myself getting bored at times. Surely Beschloss himself must have found putting this volume together more difficult.

Of course, the fact that negative and humdrum things characterized part of the Johnson's presidency during the two years covered was not Beschluss's fault. But I felt some material, most notably some of the well-wishing calls made by the President and Lady Bird to friends, could have been left out or shortened.

Speaking of Lady Bird, however, she becomes a larger and refreshing presence in these tapes. Johnson apparently looked to her as his best critic (in the best sense of the word); she is heard giving him feedback about many speeches. In an era where we tend to think of Hilary Clinton as the first "co-president", it is interesting to learn how much Johnson relied on his wife.

Although it might not be a CD set to take to the beach, I still recommend the audio version of this work (not the written version; Johnson's delivery is an indivisible component of his personality). These annotated tape excerpts are nothing less than a piece of history.

LBJ's Secrets Revealed
Michael Beschloss's "Reaching for Glory" is a follow- up book to "Taking Charge". Both of these books contain secretly taped White House conversations from the Johnson presidency. This book covers from early Fall, 1964 through late summer, 1965.

LBJ shows, through his own words, how frustrating and stressful life can be in Washington, especially when engaged in an unpopular war. Read as LBJ expresses his disgust with those who oppose the war while at the same time admitting in private that the Vietnam War cannot be won. He felt that the commitment had been made and there was no way to turn back, even though the chances for victory were slim to none.

Besides the Vietnam War, LBJ has a full plate of other problems to deal with. Racial tensions at home, civil rights, voting rights, the Great Society, possible Communism in the Dominican Republic, and a sex scandal involving one of his closest aides has the president up in arms and stressed to the max. LBJ seems exhausted throughout most of this book, and consistently in a bad mood. He battles depression and anxiety throughout this year of his presidency, knowing that things are not the way they should be and feeling helpless to make them any better.

LBJ was worried about his legacy and always wanted to be remembered as the next Lincoln or FDR and not as "another Harding" as he would often say. But he didn't really get a chance to fulfill his desires as president, thanks to the Vietnam War and other obstacles. He was paranoid and distrustful of most everyone, including many of his friends. Aside from his immediate family, his relationships were not very strong at all during this time in his presidency.

"Reaching for Glory" is, overall, a fun and informative book to read. You feel like you're eavesdropping on the former president and his associates as they converse on the phone. It's all here, with only a small amount of editing and it shows what life was like in the LBJ White House as he tackled the difficult issues during his second year in office.

a must for LBJ enthusiasts!
I listened to the cassette versions of "Taking Charge" and "Reaching for Glory" when they first appeared. I listened to "Reaching for Glory" again after two LBJ bios and LBJ does indeed come alive. LBJ was, in the words of Robert Dalleck, a flawed giant. So many contradictions, so much hypocrisy - but yet - not... he was just LBJ.

The tape system which proved to be Nixon's downfall was also used by LBJ and JFK. Luckily for us 40 years later, we have wonderful insight into LBJ and the operation of his administration. The cassette versions are abridged, but getting to hear the actual recordings is fantastic. I anxiously await the third volume of the trilogy.

Listening to the tapes is truly compelling and interesting!
After having thoroughly enjoyed the previous tapes and book in Reaching for Glory, Michael Beschloss again delivers an amzaing account of President Lyndon Johnson's years during the continuing entanglement of Vietnam and the Civil Rights years. Also featured are the interesting relationships he had with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Kennedy, and a horde of other notables that characterized the 60s. The tapes leave little out- to LBJ's private worries about Vietnam, the behind-the-scenes arm twisting and politicking, and the issues of elections and affairs. Michael Beschloss' book itself is good reading, but for the true feeling of the subject material, listening to these tapes of his many secretly recorded conversations is much more revealing a look. ... Read more

Book Description

Like other great figures of 20th-century American politics, Lyndon Johnson defies easy understanding.An unrivaled master of vote swapping, back room deals, and election-day skulduggery, he was nevertheless an outspoken New Dealer with a genuine commitment to the poor and the underprivileged.And he was also a representative figure. Johnson's career speaks volumes about American politics, foreign policy, and business in the forty years after 1930. As Charles de Gaulle said when he came to JFK's funeral: Kennedy was America's mask, but this man Johnson is the country's real face.

In Lone Star Rising, Robert Dallek, winner of the prestigious Bancroft Prize for his study of Franklin D. Roosevelt, turns to this fascinating "sinner and saint" to offer a brilliant, definitive portrait of a great American politician. Based on seven years of research in over 450 manuscript collections and oral histories, as well as numerous personal interviews, this first book in a two-volume biography follows Johnson's life from his childhood to his election as vice-president under Kennedy. We see Johnson, the twenty-three-year-old aide to a pampered millionaire Representative, become a de facto Congressman, and at age twenty-eight the country's best state director of the National Youth Administration. We see Johnson, the "human dynamo," first in the House and then in the Senate, whirl his way through sixteen- and eighteen-hour days, talking, urging, demanding, reaching for influence and power, in an uncommonly successful congressional career.

Dallek pays full due to Johnson's failings--his obsession with being top dog, his willingness to cut corners, and worse, to get there--but he also illuminates Johnson's sheer brilliance as a politician, the high regard in which key members of the New Deal, including FDR, held him, and his genuine concern for minorities and the downtrodden.

No president in American history is currently less admired than Lyndon Johnson. Bitter memories of Vietnam have sent Johnson's reputation into free fall, and recent biographies have painted him as a scoundrel who did more harm than good. Lone Star Rising attempts to strike a balance. It does not neglect the tawdry side of Johnson's political career, including much that is revealed for the first time. But it also reminds us that Lyndon Johnson was a man of exceptional vision, who from early in his career worked to bring the South into the mainstream of American economic and political life, to give the disadvantaged a decent chance, and to end racial segregation for the well-being of the nation. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Not Enough Personality
Robert Dallek has the right idea about LBJ. In his forward, he addresses the problems with villifying him, and sets out to do him justice. In this he succeeds. But LBJ does not come alive in Dallek's work, as he does in Caro's. Despite good intentions, Dallek disappoints.

Presenting the good Lyndon
Dallek's biography has the virtue of being written by someone who clearly admires Johnson. As such, it is somewhat of a counterweight to Robert Caro and I suggest both be read for balance.

Nevertheless, in presenting the "good Lyndon", Dallek downplays the worst of Johnson. There is nothing particularly wrong with this (Dallek certainly doesn't ignore the flaws, just tends to gloss over them a little), but it does lead to a fairly tepid book, one that is nowhere near as much fun to read as Caro's. Thus, if I could only read one (which of course many readers will do considering the length of both Caro's and Dallek's presentations), I would read Caro's. Caro's second and third volumes (covering the 40's and 50's, roughly the second half of the Dallek volume being discussed here) are possibly the best political biography ever written. It is against that "competition" that Dallek's book must be weighed and I found, in the balance, that Dallek's work is merely ordinary.

The Landmark LBJ Biography
Dallek's two-volume examination of LBJ is a dramatic and nuanced examination of one the most complex figures in 20th century American history. Even almost three decades after his death, there are no shortage of people who see LBJ as the ultimate villan of American politics. Many people of this camp dislike Dallek's work, because he puts his subject in his context.

While Dallek does not excuse the sort of election fraud in which LBJ engaged, he does explain that it was wide spread. Some find this an unacceptable defense, but one should note that the sorts of tricks he describes have been wide spread in the US for most of the 19th and early 20th century. To dismiss LBJ for engaging in such activities who require similar condemnation of every US president from Adams to FDR.

Dallek in fact, is unflinching in discussing LBJ's negative side. His pension for strong arming opponents, his abuse of his staff, his womanizing and drinking, and his dirty tricks are all layed bare. At the same time, Dallek reviews how crucial LBJ was as part of the New Deal and his brave role as a champion of civil rights.

The other major LBJ biography by Caro is far less balanced in its approach to this complex and ultimately tragic figure. For a truly great and complete biography of LBJ, I suggest that you read this one.

The soft focus version ...
If you are a postmodern thinker and a fan of Lyndon Johnson, this is the biography for you.

Dallek attempts to create the image the Johnson was pretty much like any other Texas politician of the times who came from hardscrabble poverty to politics. However, Johnson is the only one who became majority leader of the senate and later president, so one tires quickly of almost all differentiations being on the positive side. It gives the impression that Johnson prevailed because he was two dimensional (good and bad) and the rest were just evil.

This is Lyndon Johnson Lite.

I gave it three stars because basicly its a good read for children and adults who don't want to know negative details about their icons.

Fascinating Look at a Public Man
John Connally, former Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of Texas, who was very close to LBJ for many years once said that Johnson was a "strange and complex man who could be whatever he wanted to be", cruel or compassionate, crude or charming, selfish or generous. These traits are illustrated well in Robert Dallek's two volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. Fortunately, recent years have shown a more realistic view of Johnson as this complex man and not just the warmongering fiend the anti-Vietnam War people perceived more than 30 years ago. One of the most important points that Dallek brings out is that LBJ learned lessons from Franklin Roosevelt's deceptive policies of trying to bring the US into war with Nazi Germany, against American public opinion (which the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ultimately proved unnecessary) and applied them to his almost surrepitious effort to engage American troops in South Vietnam. I highly recommend these 2 books for anyone interested in American History or the study of political leadership. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good work on LBJ
This is a fine and targeted work on LBJ. For anyone who is looking to find a quick read on LBJ, this one is a winner. Also, for anyone looking for a quick read on LBJ who already has a great deal of knowledge about him, this one is still a winner.

The text itself by the author is great. Yet, what really shines are the essays and documents which come later. They provide for a truly non-partisan insight into the career and Presidency of LBJ. They show a flawed man who gave us Medicare, Medicaid, 3 civil rights laws, Head Start, labor law reform, environmental protection and other renewal programs, but also gave us the Vietnam War. What comes out is a great paradox of power and a strange view on political compassion. ... Read more

Book Description

A fascinating portrait of two giants of twentieth-century politics locked in a conflict that defined their era. Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy loathed each other. Politics, of course, is full of heated rivalry, and the nature of the game is more often defined by power and personality than by ideas. But the animosity between these two was of a different order, marked by a bitterness so acute and abiding that they could barely speak in each other's presence. After the death of John Kennedy, they were the dominant political personalities of the 1960s. Each spent the decade listening for footsteps, looking over his shoulder, making few important decisions without first considering the feud. Their antagonism spawned political turf battles across the United States, and it captivated the newly powerful media, which portrayed their every disagreement as part of a deliberate battle to claim the legacy of the fallen president. Memoirs, biographies, previously unexamined documents, and scores of interviews have provided threads of this story, and Jeff Shesol weaves them into a gripping and coherent narrative that reflects the profound impact of this relationship on politics, civil rights, the war in Vietnam, and the war on poverty. Like a Greek tragedy played out on a nation's center stage, this book provides a prism through which to view two men, their times, and the nature of power.

"Our President [JFK] was a gentleman and a human being; this man [Johnson] is not. . . . He's mean, bitter, vicious--an animal in many ways."--Robert F. Kennedy, 1964

"Johnson and Kennedy's battle is the white noise in the background, the political education of their successors in the White House and Congress. It is a textbook on the impact of personality on politics. It is great reading, and great history."--from the Introduction ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Clearly the best of the recent JFK/LBJ/RFK/White House books
Recent months have seen the publication of a spate of books regarding presidential politics in the turbulent decade that was the 1960s. Taking Charge, The Kennedy Tapes, Shadow Play, LBJ's War, Kennedy and Nixon, The Walls of Jericho, The Living and the Dead, Guns and Butter, Dereliction of Duty, The Other Missiles of October---all these books offered some insight into the thoughts, beliefs, actions and geopolitical decisions of the men (and they were all men) who ran our country during that difficult and often painful period. Many of them are well-researched, some are well-written, a few have become best-sellers, but all of them are missing a vital piece of the puzzle, a flaw which leaves each of them, for all af their research and erudition, strangely unsatisfying and incomplete. This magnificent new book supplies that vital missing piece and, in doing so, paradoxically renders each of the others both more valuable and at the same time obsolete.

Shesol's thesis, which he amply substantiates with tapes, documents and personal interviews, is that the feud between RFK and LBJ was pivotal not only in the later stages in their respective political careers, but also in a wide range of policy decisions taken by Johnson, as President, and Kennedy, as Attorney General and then as Senator from New York. He enlivens his book with commentary and anecdote from a variety of important figures of the time, inclding Arthur Schlesinger, who is also quoted approvingly on the dust jacket. This is both an important piece of historical research and a thoroghly enjoyable read.

This delightfully written, important, book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the Vietnam War, the Johnson Presidency, the catastrophic results of the Great Society which we are still living with today, or, indeed, the 1960s in general. It should certainly be read in preference to any of the other books mentioned above.

An excellent study of the effect of power on personality.
What comes to the fore in this book is that power influenced both LBJ and RFK negatively -- especially with respect to their treatment of each other. During the 1960 presidential campaign and then during the JFK administration, Robert Kennedy's innate dislike and scorn of LBJ was put into practice by his uniquely powerful position within JFK's cabinet. Clearly, RFK held the upper hand from 1960 through 1963, and he used his influence to shut LBJ out of important meetings and events and to make sure that LBJ's role was little more than that of "water boy." LBJ, for his part, fumed at the repeated slights from RFK during JFK's tenure, and -- as Shesol well demonstrates -- allowed the hurt and resentment that had built up during those three years to play much too large a role in his decision-making calculus during his own administration. If anything, LBJ's well-documented personal insecurities (which may have reached the level of clinical paranoia by the time he left the presidency) and mastery of the political game made his ostracism of "all things RFK" even more effective than RFK himself had ever been able to manage.

What all this means is that the personal animosity that these two important men felt toward one another was best effected by each during his own time of greatest power and influence. As a result, the talents and resources that each of these two great public servants had available to contribute were underutilized (at best) or squandered (at worst) at a time when the country desperately needed both men to help see it through some of its most difficult times. To the largest extent, Shesol does not ascribe greater fault or worse judgment to either man, and indeed he cannot, as each took advantage of his own personal power to minimize the influence of the other. That is the sad theme underlying Shesol's important and fascinating book.

I wish I had written this book
This was a wonderful book. Having recently read Master of the Senate, by Robert Caro, and Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur Schlesinger, this seemed the natural next read. I was not disappointed. The author presents a balanced account of both men. It is not a biography of either man, instead telling of the years in which their lives ran together. Their disagreements are told in great detail, through the eyes of participants on both sides. One advantage to this is that the reader sees not only the character of RFK or LBJ, but of their staffers, like Dick Goodwin or George Reedy. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in politics or history, and a great follow up to reading a full scale biography of either man.

AT SWORDS' POINTS
Robert Kennedy and LBJ were truly at political, ideological and philosophical swords' points. As one reviewer aptly noted, was their "feud" really one that defined the 1960s? That point is questionable at best, doubtful at worst. The very position these men occupied during that period (Attorney General and later Senator/President respectively) certainly does command the world's interest and attention.

Both men are drawn in stark relief to each other. One point I think is worth mentioning is that they really did have a lot in common. Both men were very bright, very aggressive and very determined. Both men had strong convictions and personalities to match. As has been duly recorded over time, one major point of contention was the Vietnam War.

I agree with one reviewer who questioned the harsh description of Johnson's character. I happen to believe that Johnson was a good, effective administrator. As for the Vietnam War, he inherited that headache and as an unfortunate consequence, followed bad advice about that war instead of bailing out sooner. RFK seemed to feel LBJ was wholly responsible for the war escalation. He neglected to note in his arguments and criticisms of President Johnson that the Vietnam conflict began in the late 1950s! (ca 1957, under Eisenhower's administation). During President Kennedy's tenure in office, the Vietnam conflict was well underway, but it is interesting to note that this author does not really point out that fact.

In this reading, one gets the feeling that Robert Kennedy was still working to protect the interest and reputation of his late brother. Since President Johnson assumed office after President Kennedy's death, one could sympathize with the Attorney General's resentment of anyone assuming that office.

The whole description of the "feud" is really a clashing of ideologies; it is really the parting of ways over issues. This author, to his credit does a thorough job in researching this subject and portrays historical events accurately.

It is hoped that in time, the general perception of LBJ will be softened; LBJ was by far and away the most progressive administrator on domestic issues since FDR. LBJ had more bills enacted during his tenure in office than any other president to date. He took a strong stand on environmental, education and civil rights issues that have positive impacts to this day. He was the president who negotiated and succeeded in securing public/subsidized housing, Head Start programs for underprivileged school children; MediCaid/MediCare and the 1965 Voters' Rights Acts which have today a positive impact on the large number of minorities who vote today. It is the opinion of this reviewer that President Johnson was a good and decent man whose many bills, budgets and proposals have had many positive impacts on the world as we now know it.

Robert Kennedy, the tireless worker who actively became involved in Civil Rights after the death of his brother, provided a parallel view of the work Johnson was already immersed in. Both men shared a vision and a quest for a better world with more advantages extended to all persons and with the rights of all persons more fully protected and enacted.

Robert Kennedy was in many ways not too different from President Johnson in objectives.

An interesting argument taken a touch too far
After reading this book, one can hardly contest the author's assertion that Johnson and RFK disliked, feared and resented each other even more than is the case in most political relationships. That no doubt arose largely because of the exceptional circumstances created by JFK's assassination. But did their feud really "define a decade"? No, because the political and social canvas on which their rivalry was played out was far greater than the author allows. That said, the book is extremely well researched, and the wealth of primary sources that