The Passage of Power

The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Book 4

By: Robert A. Caro

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 32 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Critics Circle Award, Biography, 2013

The Passage of Power follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his career - 1958 to 1964. It is a time that would see him trade the extraordinary power he had created for himself as Senate Majority Leader for what became the wretched powerlessness of a Vice President in an administration that disdained and distrusted him. Yet it was, as well, the time in which the presidency, the goal he had always pursued, would be thrust upon him in the moment it took an assassin’s bullet to reach its mark.

For the first time, we see the Kennedy assassination through Lyndon Johnson’s eyes. We watch Johnson step into the presidency, inheriting a staff fiercely loyal to his slain predecessor; a Congress determined to retain its power over the executive branch; and a nation in shock and mourning. We see how within weeks - grasping the reins of the presidency with supreme mastery - he propels through Congress essential legislation that at the time of Kennedy’s death seemed hopelessly logjammed and seizes on a dormant Kennedy program to create the revolutionary War on Poverty.

Caro makes clear how the political genius with which Johnson had ruled the Senate now enabled him to make the presidency wholly his own. This was without doubt Johnson’s finest hour, before his aspirations and accomplishments were overshadowed and eroded by the trap of Vietnam.

It is an epic story told with a depth of detail possible only through the peerless research that forms the foundation of Robert Caro’s work, confirming Nicholas von Hoffman’s verdict that “Caro has changed the art of political biography.”

©2012 Robert A. Caro (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Interesting

LBJ was a complicated man but an astute politician. The book's timeframe is right after the killing of JFK.

Engaging Read

Forth book of 5(fifth volume still coming) and this a great read in the Vice Presidency and beginning of the Presidency. Caro again brings a through description.

Masterpiece

Probably the sexiest and most accessible of the 4 books in the series to-date.
Captivating. Epic. Enlightening.

Gifts

These books and these recordings are great gifts to history. Do yourself a favor and listen to everything Caro has written. Riveting. Brilliant.

Never Thought I Would Go Through All Four

Caro captivates your attention from the stories of Lyndon Johnson’s ancestors settlement in the Hill Country of Texas until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Fabulous.

A must read for people who love politics

You can learn so much from this text. But even more so, it is a joy to read. One of the truly excellent books I have ever read.

Book great. Audible sux

Every day I come back to the book and audible, wants to start me all over again. I’m gonna give audible the Logan Roy treatment.

Great History Well Told

Would you consider the audio edition of The Passage of Power to be better than the print version?

What can I say. I have listened to each part of this wonderful history series. Caro is brilliant in his scholarship and story telling.

A thoroughly enjoyable listen and insight into LBJ

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

An excellent insight into an important person in history and his relationship with the Kennedy's.

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

The book is very long and we listen on long, long drives. Therefore I have time to do other things as well.

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

Insights into American political history: how the legislature works

Any additional comments?

An excellent follow-up to Master of the Senate.
After listening to interview of the author by Charlie Rose, mt question is "Why was Ina, Robert's wife not a co-author?"

Caro does it again

What made the experience of listening to The Passage of Power the most enjoyable?

Robert Caro continues his artfully told and absorbing account of Lyndon Johnson. It doesn't get any better.