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)

Complete audio book cheaper on Google play

This is an amazing book I loved the first part but learned that you can get the performance uninterrupted of Google play for cheaper than the three parts here on audible. The 2* performance is entirely due to the way they broke it up. Two books I can see but a broken up chunk should be at least 20hrs.

A must for the politics tragics!

As an Aussie, I knew very little about LBJ but I had heard these Caro books were brilliant. How right that is. I particularly appreciated the depth of the background in the history and working of the US senate and Caro's portrayal of this complex and flawed man is unflinching and compelling. I highly recommend it for anyone, but for any politics tragic, it's an absolute must. Seven stars.

That’s a spicy meatball

I love this series about a monster. This is the only worthy audio version - don’t go with the abridged swill.

Very insightful

Very insightful book about the lengths people can go to cultivate relationships and acquire power.

Gripping! At times so affective

Frequently affected me so much I had to stop listening. Caro is a master story teller, painting characters so well that one gets incensed my their treatment. Can’t wait for the next LBJ book. Have read three so far. Dazzling masterful works!

A masterful history of LBJ and the U.S. Senate

Would you listen to Master of the Senate again? Why?

It's a 50 odd hour book, and I've listened to it twice. It is without question one of the best political biographies ever written. Moreover, while it never loses sight of LBJ, it's a tour de force in legislative tactics, legislative power, and the personalities that dominated the Senate in the middle of the 20th century, in the years immediately preceding the civil rights movement. Men who today are largely forgotten, but were giants in their era - Richard Russell, Everett Dirksen, Hubert Humphrey, Scoop Jackson - come alive in its pages.

What other book might you compare Master of the Senate to and why?

Robert Caro is virtually unique in the way he approaches his subject. He takes nearly 15 years, on average, to write each of his books. His research is impeccable, and the way he approaches each of the major figures in the book -- often setting aside the narrative to devote 70, 80 pages to delve into them and probe who precisely they are and why they matter -- is really incredible. I'm not aware of any other other historian who takes such an approach. For an example, see the chapter on Richard B. Russell, the senior Senator from Georgia, the Chairman of the Senate's Southern Caucus, and, in Caro's term, the Greatest Field General of the Old South since Robert E. Lee. Wow.

Any additional comments?

Robert Caro is an outstanding writer, but his books are not for everyone. His style of writing is incredibly indulgent. He takes a 1000 words to make a point that other biographers will make in 85. If you enjoy his writing, as I do, you'll love it. But it's not for everyone.

Amazing book!

Great book as expected. What a rip off that they split it into 3 though

Audio problems when used with Waze.

I don't think this is particular to this book, but if I am listening to audible in the car at the same time as I am using Waze for directions, Audible doesn't pause while Waze announces a turn or directions. Hoopla has worked out how to do this. Only improvement I can see for an otherwise great experience.

Excellent... For a political biography

Very interesting. Enjoyed the level of detail and strong narrative.

It was, still, a political biography, however. If you like this kind of thing, you'll love this.

Masterful.

Part 1 is a wonderful history of the US Senate. The depth and breadth of the reporting is excellent.