The Years of Lyndon Johnson
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The Years of Lyndon Johnson is a biography of Lyndon Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, by the American writer Robert Caro. Three volumes have so far been published, running to more than 2,000 pages in total, and dealing with Johnson's early life and Congressional career. Despite its status as a work in progress, the series has already been critically acclaimed as a masterpiece of modern American historical writing.
Book One: The Path to Power (1982)
Caro retraced Johnson's life by temporarily moving to rural Texas and Washington, D.C., in order to better understand Johnson's upbringing and to interview anyone who had known Johnson. The Path to Power covers Johnson's life through his failed 1941 campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Book Two: Means of Ascent (1989)
The second volume, Means of Ascent (1989), commences in the aftermath of Johnson's first Senate bid and continues through his election to that office in 1948. Much of the book is taken up with his bitterly contested battle in the Democratic primary against Coke Stevenson.
Book Three: Master of the Senate (2002)
The third and last published volume, (2002; ISBN 0394528360) chronicles Johnson's rapid ascent and rule as Majority Leader in the Senate. The 1,167 page work examines in particular Johnson's victorious battle to pass a civil rights bill addressing African-Americans. Although its scope was limited, the ensuing Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first such legislation since Reconstruction.
Master of the Senate was published by Alfred A. Knopf on April 23, 2002 to great critical acclaim, and won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award.
Forthcoming volumes
Caro is currently at work on the last volume, tentatively entitled The Presidency. He has also said that he plans subsequently to produce an edited, single volume edition of the books.
Themes of the series
Throughout his books, Caro examines the acquisition and use of political power in American democracy, from the perspective both of those who wield it and those who are at its mercy. In an interview with Kurt Vonnegut, he once said: "I was never interested in writing biography just to show the life of a great man," saying he wanted instead "to use biography as a means of illuminating the times and the great forces that shape the times — particularly political power."
Caro's books portray Johnson as alternating between scheming opportunist and visionary progressive. Caro argued, for example, that Johnson's victory in the 1948 runoff for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate was achieved through extensive fraud and ballot box stuffing. Caro also highlights some of Johnson's campaign contributions, such as those from the Texas construction firm Brown and Root; in 1962 the company was acquired by another Texas firm, Halliburton, which became a major contractor in the Vietnam War. In addition, Caro argued that Johnson had falsified reports of winning a medal during his World War II naval service. Despite these criticisms, Caro's portrayal of Johnson also notes his struggles on behalf of progressive causes such as the Voting Rights Act.
Influence of the series
While the books are highly accessible, it is politicians in particular who have responded most vividly towards The Years of Lyndon Johnson.
For example:
- Former Senate majority leader Thomas Daschle once told Roll Call newspaper after reading Master of the Senate that: "I think the thing you learn from reading that magnificent book is that every day, this body makes history."
- Former Vice President Walter Mondale described Master of the Senate as a "superb work of history".
- In Britain, the former Conservative Party leader William Hague nominated Means of Ascent as the book he would most like to have with him on a desert island, in the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. He later wrote: "I explained that it was the best political biography of any kind, that I had ever read. I said it conveyed more brilliantly than any other publication what it really feels like to be a politician... When a fourth volume finally completes the set, this will be nothing short of a magnificent history of 20th century America."
- Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, said of the series: "It's a wonderfully written set of books. The stories are quite breathtaking... These books challenge the view of history that politics is just about individual manoeuvring. It's about ideas and principled policy achievements. That's what makes it one of the great political biographies."
- Michael Howard, another former UK Conservative Party leader, encountered the series after swapping houses with Robert Caro for a holiday. He said: "For Caro writing a biography is writing a thriller - in Johnson's case, a western. You can't stop turning the pages. He doesn't like Johnson, but the facts are there so you can make your own judgments. I can't recommend this book highly enough."
External links
- [Most honored biographies]: Master of the Senate ranks near the top with its numerous honors
- Robert Caro's personal [website]
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