Means of Ascent

The Years of Lyndon Johnson

By: Robert A. Caro

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Robert A. Caro's life of Lyndon Johnson, which began with the greatly acclaimed The Path to Power, also winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, continues - one of the richest, most intensive, and most revealing examinations ever undertaken of an American President. In Means of Ascent, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer/historian, chronicler also of Robert Moses in The Power Broker, carries Johnson through his service in World War II and the foundation of his long-concealed fortune and the facts behind the myths he created about it. But the explosive heart of the book is Caro's revelation of the true story of the fiercely contested 1948 senatorial election, for 40 years shrouded in rumor, which Johnson had to win or face certain political death, and which he did win -- by "the 87 votes that changed history."

Caro makes us witness to a momentous turning point in American politics: the tragic last stand of the old politics versus the new - the politics of issue versus the politics of image, mass manipulation, money and electronic dazzle.

©1990 Robert A. Caro, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Eye opener

A rare book that makes you see the world differently. Couldn’t stop listening, Brilliant reading.

Just Wish Grover Could Pronounce Ickes

My only complaint is Grover didn't pronounce Ickes correctly. I kept yelling at him in the car but it did no good. :-))

Great book, recording not great

Is there anything you would change about this book?

that are times when the recording gets softer and then louder

What was one of the most memorable moments of Means of Ascent?

Love the way LBJ is depicted throughout the book. It really makes you wonder what would have happened in the 1960s if box 13 had been re-examined.

Caro's genius continued

Surprisingly, the star of this volume is Coke Stevenson--not LBJ. Wonderfully told by the narrater.

mind boggling: a profound psychological profile

the most narcissistic individual serving his basest drives can inspite of himself do good while another individual, Coke Stevenson, is robbed of his Senate seat which proves to be a blessing. Fiction can not match the richness and irony of this amazing tale.

A book for all thinking Americans.

This book is more than a volume of a 5 part biography. It is an in-depth account of a period of a massive change in political history and an inside look at one of America’s most ruthless and driven leaders whose major failings as a human being didn’t prevent him from doing some important things for the poor and impoverished. A deeply flawed and often repugnant man, his story is mesmerizing. And Robert Caro’s research and writing are amazing. Thank you, Mr Caro.

If you are holding off on this one because it seems less interesting than the other entries, don’t.

I entered into Caro’s Years of Lyndon Johnson series with his Master of the Senate, partly because it seemed the most interesting, partly because it was the only title I could get from the library. Having torn through that, I made my way through the Path to Power. At this point, I thought, I might as well go chronological.

Though opening the book with LBJ’s signing of the Voting Rights Act, Caro writes that this entry doesn’t contain much of the goodness that makes Johnson’s often dastardly and sometimes just downright evil a complicated contradiction that fuels Caro’s portrayal. Indeed, Johnson does not do much with his time in congress following his failed first run for senate. Here is a story of a man treading water.

Caro describes Johnson’s promised time in the armed forces during the second world war, and how a single instance of bravery is exaggerated, in trademark Johnson style, a great campaign of honor. Caro also writes of Johnson’s purchase and operation of the radio station that would make Lady Bird quite wealthy.

The meat and potatoes of the book is Johnson’s 1948 run for the democratic nomination for US senate in an initial primary and then against only former governor Coke Stevenson. Stevenson, widely respected for his time in Austin, proves to be a formidable foe, and requires every weapon in Johnson’s arsenal to even be a competitive opponent. Like his biographical detours of Sam Rayburn and Richard Russell, Caro paints a great portrait of Stevenson, with a later coda that brought tears to my eyes.

The Snake that was Lyndon Johnson

The un-openable ballot box. WOW. It's easy to forget that low-life, cheating, sleazy politicians are as old as time itself. Lyndon Johnson was born a few generations too soon to get in on the recent political scandals. Of course, nothing that's happened today he hadn't tried and overcome several times over. It's amazing how he would stop at nothing to win. And nothing means just that. He was the most power hungry of the lot. Grover Gardner is truly the most gifted of narrators. He never deviates from unbelievable strong and steady. He could read the phone book over and over and make it interesting.

Ahead of His Time

This book is just like the other four I have read.....Absolutely Excellent. LBJ's means of ascent mirrors the path many politicians take today to get ahead. Lie, cheat, steal, and accuse his opponents of doing the dirty deeds he did himself, only he was better at it. LBJ demand the unquestioned loyalty of his subordinates and generally act like a dictator. Unlike most of the politicians that behave like he did, he was politically brilliant in attaining his ends. After reading five of Caro's LBJ books, I wonder what Robert Caro really thinks of LBJ? I can't really tell from his writing.

Not as stunning as Volume 1 but still a great work

The first volume of Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson was astonishing. The second volume tells an amazing story, but it doesn't match the scope of the first.

The theft of the 1948 election would make a great movie, which I'm surprised hasn't been made yet.