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.

Must be among the highest quality Audio books available

The quality of research and story telling is superb. The objectivity and seeming accuracy having been gotten from several sources of the character of LBJ is equally stellar. The book is remarkably informative about everything from the structure of society, to the rise of a man to power who was not at all likely to be able to do so, and of course the behind the scenes perspective on JFK and a presidential administration.

Excellent in every way, as are the rest of the books in the series, and also his biography of Robert Moses.

Highly suggested from a voracious listener of audio books here on audible.

The best biography I’ve read on anyone.

I’ve read all available biographies on all presidents from Geo Washington to LBJ (so far) and this is the best of all them. Can’t wait until the 5th volume comes out.

Caro is a master in this genre. Wonderful!

Although the cast of characters is large, the care for detail taken by Caro paints an extraordinarily vivid picture of their behavior and their motivations. One senses that Caro carefully weighed each bit of historical information to see what political prism was used in its writing and thereby divines a balanced truth about the events. Since much has been written about those times, and since we are talking about politics, it would have been very easy for Caro to buy into the writings of respected historians and the spin with which they were written. Instead, he takes pains to document a true picture in a way that makes him stand a cut above other historians. It is a big book and is indeed filled with detail but it he still manages to make it exciting.

Required reading for everyone involved in national politics

There is no value in wishing to advance any policy at the level of the federal government without understanding how a policy is made the law of the land. Lyndon Johnson got the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Medicare, and scores of other Acts passed because he knew how the House and Senate really operate, and knew how to get the votes he needed to have these Acts passed. The Master of the Senate - volume that precedes this one - provides the best portrait in print of how legislation gets passed, and it's not anything like what you learned in civics class. This volume shows how Johnson got the Kennedy program, including the Civil Rights Act, passed after Johnson was thrust with no warning into the presidency. This, after Kennedy's complete failure to get Congress to pass his inspiring and very popular programs. Caro is thorough and he writes well, so these long volumes are a pleasure to read. The audiobooks in this series are also very well narrated.

A stirring psychobiography

Where does The Passage of Power rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a brilliant picture, compelling in its historical detail, of the complexity of a deeply flawed hero at a pivotal moment in American history and, for those of us who remember, many of our own lives. I am frankly awed by the author's ability to be so close to his subject while maintaining the perspective of distance. The narration was perfectly attuned to this, a voice with the cadence of Cronkite to complement the memories of those troubled times.

Superb reading of enthralling account

The audible version is superb; and the account by Robert Caro extraordinary. A must listen. Highly recommended.
Hope to find the next volume.

Great biography by a great author!

What did you love best about The Passage of Power?

Its masterful storytelling of the time in history it covers.

What did you like best about this story?

How LBJ responded to the challenge of suddenly assuming power and needing to build a legislative record in so little time.

Poiniete

The description of JFK's assassination brings evokes emotion. The characters from that time come to life. It was like you were there

Great story, great narrator.

A perfect follow up to Master of the Senate. Can't wait for the next book.

Grover Gardner is the best narrator around.

Inside the transition from Kennedy to Johnson

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

Caro's extraordinary research of details and intimate conversations provides an amazing view of how LBJ was able to implement and build on Kennedy's agenda. I listened as I walked and each step of journey was memorable. There are few historians that have captured a time and its politicians with the vibrancy and urgency of this writer.

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

His reading was smooth yet gripping and made this work of history as exciting as a novel