• 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
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (3,408 ratings)

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The Passage of Power  By  cover art

The Passage of Power

By: Robert A. Caro
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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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.

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Brilliant!

The Passage of Power is book #4 in Robert Caro’s biographical masterpiece on the life of Lyndon Johnson. Because of Caro’s detailed and objective review of LBJ’s life and career, Johnson will take his rightful place in the history of the United States. Each book in this series (he alludes to one more to come) rates five stars for research, for writing and for entertainment value. LBJ is a fascinating character and one worth taking a look at in the Age of Trump. Book #3, Master of the Senate, sets the stage for The Passage of Power which covers LBJ’s hesitant bid for the Presidency in 1960, his humiliation as Vice President by the Kennedy brothers and then the crucial seven weeks after the assassination when Johnson hit the ground running and demonstrated that he had talents that the Kennedy’s should have made use of but didn’t. LBJ used his intricate knowledge of Senate rules, procedures and personalities to manage Kennedy’s tax and civil rights bill through the Congress—an accomplishment JFK would never have achieved. It took Johnson, a Southerner, who over the years had ingratiated himself with the powerful Southern senators Richard Russell of Georgia and Harry Bird of Virginia, to locate and use the levers of power and achieve what was considered almost possible. Clearly, he may have been the greatest salesman of all time. He had all the traits of the great salesman: he was not afraid to make the call, he was clear about what he wanted, he was persistent and a closer without equal. He was ruthless, willing to threaten or cajole, capable of flattery, if that were needed, or shifting to hardball as required. He put pressure on the press to fake up their news. In one fascinating anecdote, Caro tells the story of how LBJ demanded and got a letter from the Houston Chronicle promising to support him during his term as President. His leverage: the Chronicle owners also owned a bank and wanted to merge with another financial institution. Johnson promised to kill that deal unless he received the letter. And before his demanded the letter he also asked for removal of a critical investigative reporter who was replaced by a Johnson admirer.

The assassination of Kennedy perhaps saved Johnson from scandal over the immense wealth he had managed to achieve during his years in Washington. Life Magazine was getting ready to release a cover story on his affairs after a huge team of reporters had spent months investigating him and a Senate subcommittee was, on the day of the assassination, taking testimony from an insurance broker who had provided kickbacks for government business via Johnson’s conduit Bobby Baker.

LBJ was an amazingly talented and tortured individual. In volume one Caro covered his early years of deprivation when the Johnson family’s decline made him a laughing stock in the community. LBJ was unbelievably ambitious and vowed that he would become president of the USA. An assassin’s bullet made this possible. He might have become one of the greatest President’s in American history had it not been for the Vietnam War, an event sure to be covered in great detail in what one guesses will be the final volume of Caro’s study of LBJ. Historian’s and avid readers of biography can give Caro a standing ovation. Quite the most brilliant biography ever written.

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The greatest biography ever written!

Authors often make their protagonist a hero (or a villain). In this biography Caro does neither. He gives you a realistic depiction of a leader. LBJ is a man with many faults. He is neither hero nor villain. He is a gritty bare knuckle sort of man who will do anything to advance his goals be they personal or political. LBJ will not let anything stand in his way. I admired him, pitied him and reviled him.

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Caro is a consummate biographer!

Robert Caro is a gifted writer/researcher. I only wish he could have narrated this illuminating portrait of LBJ. Outstanding!

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Power is where power goes

This is the fourth book in Mr Caro’s series on Lyndon Johnson. These books are not a personal biography but do constitute a sort of political biography of him, as the material covered is almost entirely political in nature. This book basically covers the years from 1960 through mid 1964, although there is also information about Mr Johnson’s failed attempt to win the 1960 Presidential nomination and his reasons for accepting the Vice Presidential nomination in spite of his constantly saying that he would not do so. As Johnson is quoted, “Power is where power goes”.

While the book is essentially about Lyndon Johnson there are also very interesting portraits of those around him - John F Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, the Kennedy advisors Larry O’Brien, Kenneth O’Donnell, Bill Moyers, Theodore Sorensen and others. There is a great deal of information about Johnson’s powerlessness as Vice President and his repeated attempts to find some way to exercise power, all of which failed. The book also gives perhaps the most detailed description that I have ever read of the tense relationship between Johnson and Robert Kennedy, going back to the early 1950s, and the reasons for the intense dislike each felt for the other.

As Mr Caro makes clear, the 4 years that this book covers showed a very different face of Lyndon Johnson. One of the main characteristics of Johnson’s life was the constant search for power, his acquisition of that power and his exercise of it, sometimes ruthlessly, while these 4 years cover a time when Lyndon Johnson was first almost completely powerless as Vice President and then constrained by his need to retain the services, if not loyalty, of those in the Kennedy team after the President was assassinated, so his exercise of power was restricted to his successful attempts to pass the Kennedy tax cut and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the book is clear on exactly how he did that in spite of the fierce opposition of some of the most powerful figures in Washington.

Mr Caro is clearly impressed by Johnson’s actions immediately after the Kennedy assassination and the steps he took during the first weeks after that terrible event as well as his ability to convince the Kennedy loyalists to stay in his administration in spite of their dislike and distrust of him. His ability to pass legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his knowledge of the levers of power, his ability to convince powerful people like Earl Warren and Richard Russel to serve on what became known as the Warren Commission and his general knowledge of government and how it worked only served to remind me that there was a Lyndon Johnson before Viet Nam and that he was a master at the use of power. While Mr Caro’s view of Lyndon Johnson during these 4 years is largely positive but he also details some of his misuse of power. There is some discussion of where Mr Johnson’s wealth came from since he was originally very poor, there are details about his attempts to silence reporters and newspapers looking into his past and how he ignored the legal restrictions on what was supposed to be a blind trust of his assets while in office, but also discusses his real attempts to help the poor through his anti-poverty initiatives and the way he desegregated at least one local Texas club by personally visiting with one of his black secretaries, knowing that no one in the club would prevent the President from visiting, no matter who was with him.

Viet Nam ended up consuming the Johnson Presidency so it is impossible to know how history might have viewed this man had the nation not been so divided over the war, but this book makes clear that Viet Nam was not just a tragedy for the country as a whole, but was a personal tragedy for Lyndon Johnson as it eclipsed almost everything else he had done as President. A man who might otherwise have been remembered for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Anti-Poverty program he created ended up being remembered as the man who ended up fighting, and losing, a war in a far-off country for reasons not many people today even remember.

The book is very well written and at times I found myself so interested in some of the material being covered that I was reluctant to stop listening. The fact that such a long book never became boring, and the masterful narration of Grover Gardner, made this book a great purchase and one I feel I can recommend to anyone interested in how politics and power work, how the US government functions and how people in power, even when the dislike each other intensely as did Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy, can still function in difficult situations. If, instead, you are interested in a biography of Lyndon Johnson you will have to look elsewhere.

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A very Long Book

This very long book could have been written and understood in about half the time. The author's intent is to cover the period 1958-1963 and it did. It also gave background on Johnson's upbringing, which contributed to the book. Crystal clear, the conflict between the Kennedys and Johnson. It's also apparent that Johnson's political acumen was critical to the transition after JFK's assassination to both continuity and making the presidency his own. Also notable, his successful passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after a history of reelection from a segregated South. Finally, he was a ruthless politician. I've had enough LBJ, don't intend to read the other three books on his life and political career.

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Great Book and Narration Well worth the listen

I must admit that I am not a great fan of Lyndon B. Johnson-especially since I place great blame on him for the Vietnam war. That being said, upon finishing this book I acquired a great deal of respect for President Johnson- especially in light of the way he handled himself during the time period that is covered in this book. The humiliation that he faced while serving as Vice President and his ability to hold up to being ostracized by the Kennedy White House inner circle during the Kennedy Administration are very well portrayed in this book- and have in part changed my opinion of him. But my greatest respect for him is reserved for the way in which he almost single handedly pushed through the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As he always does, the author does a great job in describing and analyzing all of the events from Johnson's election as Vice President to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Grover Gardner does a great job (as he almost always does) narrating the book. I am really looking forward to his next volume on Johnson's life.

This book is well worth the listen.

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LBJ vs Bobby Kennedy

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

LBJ is a charismatic character whether he is liked or not.

What did you like best about this story?

The deep hatred between Lyndon Johnson and Bobby Kennedy was shocking in its depth, intensity, and bitterness.

Which scene was your favorite?

Several scenes at the Los Angeles Democratic convention in 1960 between then Presidential nominee John Kennedy and Johnson. Kennedy wanted Johnson whether to help carry Texas or simply to have Johnson removed as senate majority leader. Was the choice Kennedy's dad? Bobby Kennedy was appalled by the choice trying his best to removed Colonel Cornpone from the ticket.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, if it were at all possible I would have.

Any additional comments?

Robert Caro has me anxiously awaiting the future LBJ vollume(s).

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The accidental president -

You have to give LBJ credit (and I'm not an American). He could be abrasive but it is obvious that he had the best interest of his country in mind at all times. It is hard to imagine him being graceful but he took on the role at one of the most awkward and divisive times in American History with a grace which is surprising, given his background and history and with as significant dignity (in pubic) that must have made American's proud.

The story was well documented, which is frequently not the case, with biographies.

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It's Just a Shot Away.

I would recommend reading the first 3 volumes of LBJ's senate years and then The Passage of Power. This volume describes his transition from the most powerful man in the Senate to the powerless Vice President of JFK.

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Lyndon Johnson at his best

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

This is one of the better books about an American president. At times it tends to drag because the author goes into so much detail, but I had trouble putting it down, even though I was not a Johnson fan.

Who was your favorite character and why?

LBJ. Now I appreciate his trials and tribulations.

Which scene was your favorite?

Johnson's actions after the assassination of Kennedy were amazingly crafted.

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

The same as the book title.

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