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The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4
Alfred A. Knopf
May 2012
On Sale: May 1, 2012
Featuring: Lyndon Baines Johnson; John F Kennedy; Robert Kennedy
736 pages
ISBN: 0679405070
EAN: 9780679405078
Kindle: B0062B0844
Hardcover / e-Book
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Paperback (May 2013)
Non-Fiction Biography
Book Four of Robert A. Caroโs monumental The Years of Lyndon Johnson displays all the narrative energy and illuminating insight that led the Times of London to acclaim it as โone of the truly great political biographies of the modern age. A masterpiece.โ The Passage of Power follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his careerโ1958 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 assassinโs bullet to reach its mark. By 1958, as Johnson began to maneuver for the presidency, he was known as one of the most brilliant politicians of his time, the greatest Senate Leader in our history. But the 1960 nomination would go to the young senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. Caro gives us an unparalleled account of the machinations behind both the nomination and Kennedyโs decision to offer Johnson the vice presidency, revealing the extent of Robert Kennedyโs efforts to force Johnson off the ticket. With the consummate skill of a master storyteller, he exposes the savage animosity between Johnson and Kennedyโs younger brother, portraying one of Americaโs great political feuds. Yet Robert Kennedyโs overt contempt for Johnson was only part of the burden of humiliation and isolation he bore as Vice President. With a singular understanding of Johnsonโs heart and mind, Caro describes what it was like for this mighty politician to find himself altogether powerless in a world in which power is the crucial commodity. For the first time, in Caroโs breathtakingly vivid narrative, we see the Kennedy assassination through Lyndon Johnsonโs 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 weeksโgrasping the reins of the presidency with supreme masteryโhe propels through Congress essential legislation that at the time of Kennedyโs 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 Johnsonโs finest hour, before his aspirations and accomplishments were overshadowed and eroded by the trap of Vietnam. In its exploration of this pivotal period in Johnsonโs lifeโand in the life of the nationโThe Passage of Power is not only the story of how he surmounted unprecedented obstacles in order to fulfill the highest purpose of the presidency but is, as well, a revelation of both the pragmatic potential in the presidency and what can be accomplished when the chief executive has the vision and determination to move beyond the pragmatic and initiate programs designed to transform a nation. It is an epic story told with a depth of detail possible only through the peerless research that forms the foundation of Robert Caroโs work, confirming Nicholas von Hoffmanโs verdict that โCaro has changed the art of political biography.โ
 Media BuzzFresh Air - NPR - February 17, 2014
Fresh Air - NPR - May 13, 2013
Colbert Report - May 6, 2013
Charlie Rose - January 22, 2013
On Point - December 27, 2012
All Things Considered - November 18, 2012
Charlie Rose - July 27, 2012
Meet the Press - July 15, 2012
Charlie Rose - May 28, 2012
PBS News Hour - May 10, 2012
Colbert Report - May 9, 2012
Diane Rehm Show - NPR - May 8, 2012
CBS Sunday Morning - April 29, 2012
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