Master of the Senate

The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume III (Part 1 of a 3-Part Recording)

By: Robert A. Caro

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Master of the Senate, book three of the Years of Lyndon Johnson, carries Johnson’s story through one of its most remarkable periods: his 12 years, from 1949 to 1960, in the United States Senate. At the heart of the audiobook is its unprecedented revelation of how legislative power works in America, how the Senate works, and how Johnson, in his ascent to the presidency, mastered the Senate as no political leader before him had ever done.

It was during these years that all Johnson’s experience—from his Texas Hill Country boyhood to his passionate representation in Congress of his hardscrabble constituents to his tireless construction of a political machine—came to fruition. Caro introduces the story with a dramatic account of the Senate itself: how Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun had made it the center of governmental energy, the forum in which the great issues of the country were thrashed out. And how, by the time Johnson arrived, it had dwindled into a body that merely responded to executive initiatives, all but impervious to the forces of change.

Caro anatomizes the genius for political strategy and tactics by which, in an institution that had made the seniority system all-powerful for a century and more, Johnson became majority leader after only a single term—the youngest and greatest Senate leader in our history; how he manipulated the Senate’s hallowed rules and customs and the weaknesses and strengths of his colleagues to change the unchangeable Senate from a loose confederation of sovereign senators to a whirring legislative machine under his own iron-fisted control.

Caro demonstrates how Johnson’s political genius enabled him to reconcile the unreconcilable: to retain the support of the Southerners who controlled the Senate while earning the trust—or at least the cooperation—of the liberals, led by Paul Douglas and Hubert Humphrey, without whom he could not achieve his goal of winning the presidency. He shows the dark side of Johnson’s ambition: how he proved his loyalty to the great oil barons who had financed his rise to power by ruthlessly destroying the career of the New Dealer who was in charge of regulating them, Federal Power Commission Chairman Leland Olds. And we watch him achieve the impossible: convincing Southerners that although he was firmly in their camp as the anointed successor to their leader, Richard Russell, it was essential that they allow him to make some progress toward civil rights. In a breathtaking tour de force, Caro details Johnson’s amazing triumph in maneuvering to passage the first civil rights legislation since 1875.

Master of the Senate, told with an abundance of rich detail that could only have come from Caro’s peerless research, is both a galvanizing portrait of the man himself and a definitive and revelatory study of the workings and personal and legislative power.

This is Volume 1. Don't forget to listen to Master of the Senate, Volume 2 and Volume 3.

©2002 Robert A. Caro, Inc. (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A wonderful, a glorious tale.... It will be hard to equal this amazing book. It reads like a Trollope novel, but not even Trollope explored the ambitions and the gullibilities of men as deliciously as Robert Caro does. Even though I knew what the outcome of a particular episode would be, I followed Caro’s account of it with excitement. I went back over chapters to make sure I had not missed a word.... Caro’s description of how [Johnson passed the civil rights legislation] is masterly; I was there and followed the course of the legislation closely, but I did not know the half of it.” (Anthony Lewis, The New York Times Book Review)

“A masterpiece.... Robert Caro has written one of the truly great political biographies of the modern age.” (Daniel Finkelstein, The Times, London)

“Mesmerizing.... [It] brings LBJ blazing into the Senate.... A tale rife with drama and hypnotic in the telling. The historian’s equivalent of a Mahler symphony.” (Malcolm Jones, Newsweek)

great book

u dont hear the back story's about president Johnson in history lesson but man was he ever something. what a great book on not only his rise in the Senate but the history of it itself

Must

anyone interested in history, civil rights, politics, or psychology.
The author does a great job showing the good, the bad and the ugly about LBJ, how government works, and ourselves. This title covers the 12 years Johnson was in the Senate and it is fascinating. There is a great history of the Senate to preface how Johnson changed it. It was so interesting to hear how the issues which were shaping the country played out in the halls of power. And after nearly 60 hours of listening I still can't figure him out. I also loved the reader. To me a good reader is one I'm totally unaware of. No phony accents or inappropriate inflections. I hope Audible gets the unabridged versions of the first two volumes of this work. I want more. I've wanted to read the series for years but never found the time. You don't need to read them in order, the author gives you what you need from the prior books to put these events into context. Loved it.

Don't let the 3 credit price stop you

Sure, I agree with others that 3 credits is high for any book. But this isn't just any book. You get over 50 hours of substantial, fascinating reading here. I know for a fact we have all spent 3 credits on three different books that won't equal the achievement of this one book. Plus I think of it as amortizing the "bargain" of getting volumes 1, 2, and 4 at only one credit each.

As others have mentioned, you do get a lot of backstory about the history of the US Senate in this book. Yes, it could be pretty dull under a less masterful writer, but it really is quite interesting here. It is amazing how thoroughly dysfunctional the Senate was (especially in the hands of the Southern minority) in the 50+ years prior to 1948. It actually makes FDR's accomplishments in the first 100 days all the more remarkable.

Even after Volumes 1 and 2 it is still remarkable to see the dichotomy that is Lyndon Johnson: the tenacity and hard-working ethic when he is engaged in a situation compared to the thorough disinterest if it doesn't suit is goals. He is a thoroughly political animal - and even though you know how the story ends, it is amazing and fascinating to see it play out. How can he - a junior freshman US Senator - tame the unruly beast that is the US Senate. Even though we know he does it (the name of the book!) it isn't at all clear how it can be done.

As good as those before it

Audible's 3-credits-for-1-book thing aside (and an explanation for that is in order, at minimum), Caro continues to deliver amazing work. Yes, it's occasionally repetitive and even strident; yes, it hammers on Johnson's faults and even seems relieved to turn to other characters' back stories; but it's just so massively researched that I'll take the quirks. What an education this series provides!

Excellent narration of a fascinating book

I've listened to the first two volumes, and now this one. The narrator kept my interest throughout the long explanations of the workings of the Senate and the various intrigues of LBJ.

Superb

What did you love best about Master of the Senate?

Caro's ability to portray Power epically, systematically and with humor.

What did you like best about this story?

The story of a crude, morally-unchallenged person, with an equally unchallenged sense of power.

What does Grover Gardner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A sense of listening to a superb story teller, as I drive. I look forward to more driving in order to continue Gardner's reading of the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

If you're prepared to pay, I'll think about it seriously.

Great story, poorly implemented

The book itself is great. Incredible detail, although Caro does go off on some tangents that seem to last for hours. Also, there are numerous sentences that are repeated--the repeats are only a few seconds long, but it doesn't say much for the editing (although given the length of this work, I guess one might expect a few things to slip by).

My main complaint is how these files are named. There are a total of 8 files for Master of the Senate. Here are a few examples of how they are named:

Master of the Senate Part 2 The Years of Lyndon Johnson Volume III (Part 1 of a 3-part recording)
Master of the Senate Part 1 The Years of Lyndon Johnson Volume III (Part 2 of a 3-part recording)
Master of the Senate Part 1 The Years of Lyndon Johnson Volume III (Part 1 of a 3-part recording)
Master of the Senate Part 3 The Years of Lyndon Johnson Volume III (Part 3 of a 3-part recording)

Clear as mud -- especially when you get them on your MP3 player with limited display info.

informative but take it with a grain of salt

Robert Caro enjoys a reputation for being very thorough in his examination of a subjects. but there are times in this book where he comes off as tedious and self-indulgent frankly. I think there is a watch word that all authors should be aware of then when you write about somebody and you cannot help but write as if you're on their side. I think that's a major problem with this book is that the author often cheerleads for his subject. and he often and freely admits that his subject is at best very flawed. one must read this work balanced against works authored by many of Johnson's critics. Roger Stone's book although there are others do come to mind. another book a Texan looks at Lyndon is more informative because that book by j Everett's Haley details much of what Caro goes over with a lot more precision and an economy of verse. that said this book does details and things that I did not know. what is particularly despicable is the destruction of Leland olds. as someone who is not very fond of communist and someone who thinks senator Joseph McCarthy was certainly on to something about the Truman administration I have to say that Lyndon Johnson's character assassination of Leland olds was particularly despicable. the fact that Truman didn't fight for olds as much as he would say Dean Atkinson or some of his other more learning advisors it's just a very sad affair it is true that Leland olds did associate with some very strange characters in the 1920s and he probably maintained those friendships. he probably entertain those intellectual ideas which are scary such as the technocratic state. it must be said that he was shot in the leg in Pennsylvania during a labor strike. the book ends with some discussion about his role on the military preparedness committee and in that story it reminded me a lot of this TV series about the mayor of Chicago I didn't last very long because it was hitting home and telling really good stories. much of this book is about Dick Russell who was a legend in the Senate before and after Lyndon Johnson. as much as I don't like blowing up the Eco of Robert Caro and increasing his legacy I will probably finish his books. but to the reader who reads this beware of this man

A great book. A deceptive pricing policy

Any additional comments?

Be careful. Audible has separated this *single* book into three "volumes" so that you must spend three credits if you want to listen to the entire thing. Had I realized this, I probably would not have purchased it.

LBJ was not a nice man

This book tells you everything you've ever wanted to know about the Senate. While this is the third volume of Caro's exhaustive biography of Johnson, it works well as a stand alone volume. Caro is a painstaking researcher and his attention to detail is impressive.

The reader, Grover Gardner, is wonderful as always.