Master of the Senate

The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume III (Part 1 of a 3-Part Recording)

De: Robert A. Caro

Narrado por: Grover Gardner

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • Master of the Senate, Book Three of The Years of Lyndon Johnson, carries Johnson’s story through one of its most remarkable periods: his twelve years, from 1949 to 1960, in the United States Senate.

A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years

At the heart of the book 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—the titan of Capital Hill, volcanic, mesmerizing—and a definitive and revelatory study of the workings and personal and legislative power.

Gripping Biography of a flawed man

What did you like best about this story?

The details of Johnson early political life and the way the politics was conducted in the senate

Any additional comments?

Would like to see the earlier volumes of this biography on Audible

Less Than The First Two Volumes

Caro’s work in terms of research and background storytelling remains excellent! My biggest concern with this volume is the extent to which he covers deep detail into those who have important but limited impact on LBJs history. Even in the case of his great mentor, Richard Russell, we learn far more than necessary about Russell’s personal development prior to becoming a senator. Caro obviously did extensive research across LBJs life, much of which was impactful, but his multi-generational histories about ancillary characters was excessive.

My biggest concern after finishing this edition is with Audible, or whomever segmented this third volume into three pieces. The first two volumes were presented in whole. Now I must spend three Audible book credits to read the third volume. This seems very much like a used car bait & switch to me. Bad on you for this one Audible.

More than a bio of Johnson, a bio of politics

I can't recommend this book high enough. Master of the Senate is rich with history of not only Johnson's time in the Senate, but with a history of how the structure of the Senate and other branches of government work together. If that sounds a little boring, don't be mislead. This book is written in a way that makes the complex machinations of Washington politics alive and rich.

It also follows Johnson's personal rise in politics and is relevant today because it gives us an example of how someone gains and uses power. The specific details of history may change, but human nature doesn't, so it provides a perspective on events happening at this very moment in local, national, and global politics.

I've read the first two volumes (Path to Power, and Means of Ascent) in print. Unfortunately, they are not available from audible.com at this time. Luckily you can safely read just Master of the Senate without having read the first 2 volumes. (I agree with the first reviewer here, Audible, please add these fantastic books.)

Be warned though, there is an abridged version here on audible.com as well as the unabridged. Look for the 3 volume set to get the full story.

Great Book

This is a great book. I have listened to many non-fiction titles on Audible and this is one of the most gripping.

Absolutely amazing!

Absolutely amazing!

The in depth story telling makes you feel like you are there, in the senate, in Johnson's office, in Texas!