Author: Robert A. Caro File Type: epub The Years of Lyndon Johnson is the political biography of our time. No presidentno era of American politicshas been so intensively and sharply examined at a time when so many prime witnesses to hitherto untold or misinterpreted facets of a life, a career, and a period of history could still be persuaded to speak. The Path to Power, Book One, reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and urge to power that set LBJ apart. Chronicling the startling early emergence of Johnsons political genius, it follows him from his Texas boyhood through the years of the Depression in the Texas hill Country to the triumph of his congressional debut in New Deal Washington, to his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, of the national power for which he hungered. We see in him, from earliest childhood, a fierce, unquenchable necessity to be first, to win, to dominatecoupled with a limitless capacity for hard, unceasing labor in the service of his own ambition. Caro shows us the big, gangling, awkward young Lyndonraised in one of the countrys most desperately poor and isolated areas, his education mediocre at best, his pride stung by his fathers slide into failure and financial ruinlunging for success, moving inexorably toward that ultimate impossible goal that he sets for himself years before any friend or enemy suspects what it may be. We watch him, while still at college, instinctively (and ruthlessly) creating the beginnings of the political machine that was to serve him for three decades. We see him employing his extraordinary ability to mesmerize and manipulate powerful older men, to mesmerize (and sometimes almost enslave) useful subordinates. We see him carrying out, before his thirtieth year, his first great political inspiration tapping-and becoming the political conduit for-the money and influence of the new oil men and contractors who were to grow with him to immense power. We follow, close up, the radical fluctuations of his relationships with the formidable Mr. Sam Raybum (who loved him like a son and whom he betrayed) and with FDR himself. And we follow the dramas of his emotional life-the intensities and complications of his relationships with his family, his contemporaries, his girls his wooing and winning of the shy Lady Bird his secret love affair, over many years, with the mistress of one of his most ardent and generous supporters . . . Johnson driving his people to the point of exhausted tears, equally merciless with himself . . . Johnson bullying, cajoling, lying, yet inspiring an amazing loyalty . . . Johnson maneuvering to dethrone the unassailable old Jack Garner (then Vice President of the United States) as the New Deals connection in Texas, and seize the power himself . . . Johnson raging . . . Johnson hugging . . . Johnson bringing light and, indeed, life to the worn Hill Country farmers and their old-at-thirty wives via the districts first electric lines. We see him at once unscrupulous, admirable, treacherous, devoted. And we see the country that bred him the harshness and nauseating loneliness of the rural life the tragic panorama of the Depression the sudden glow of hope at the dawn of the Age of Roosevelt. And always, in the foreground, on the move, LBJ. Here is Lyndon Johnsonhis Texas, his Washington, his Americain a book that brings us as close as we have ever been to a true perception of political genius and the American political process.**Amazon.com ReviewThe profound understanding of the uses and abuses of power Robert Caro displayed in his 1974 biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker, is a scathing achievement the author surpassed with panache in this, his second book. Caros dogged research and refusal to accept received wisdom results in an eye-opening portrait that unforgettably captures the titanic personality of Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973). Though stronger on Johnsons duplicity and naked self-promotion than his intelligence and charm, Caro nails it all. He chronicles the evolution of an attention-demanding youth from the Texas hill country into a seasoned congressman who would abandon his ardent espousal of the New Deal as soon as it ceased to be expedient. The dirty details begin with college elections that earn young Lyndon a reputation as a crook and a liar Caro goes on to unravel financial shenanigans of impressive ingenuity. Johnsons consuming desire to get ahead and his political genius unencumbered by philosophy or ideology are staggering. The White House, Great Society, and Vietnam lie ahead when the main narrative closes in 1941, but the roots of Johnsons future achievements and tragic failures are laid bare. This biography may well stand as the best book written in the second half of the 20th century about personal ambition inextricably linked with historic change. --Wendy SmithReviewWinner of the National Book Critics Circle Award Proof that we live in a great age of biography . . . [a book] of radiant excellence . . . Caros evocation of the Texas Hill Country, his elaboration of Johnsons unsleeping ambition, his understanding of how politics actually works are---let it be said flat out---at the summit of American historical writing. --Washington Post A monumental political saga . . . powerful and stirring. Its an overwhelming experience to read The Path to Power. --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times Not only a historical but a literary event. An epic biography . . . A sweeping, richly detailed portrait . . . vivid [with] Caros astonishing concern for the humanity of his characters. An awesome achievement. --Peter S. Prescott, Newsweek Stands at the pinnacle of the biographical art. --Donald R. Morris, Houston Post The major biography of recent years. Brilliant . . . Magisterial . . . Caro has given us an American life of compelling fascination. A benchmark beside which other biographies will be measured for some time to come. --Alden Whitman, Los Angeles Herald Examiner An ineradicable likeness of an American giant. Caro has brought to life a young man so believable and unforgettable that we can hear his heartbeat and touch him. --Henry F. Graff, Professor of History, Columbia University Epic. A brief review cannot convey the depth, range and detail of this fascinating story. Caro is a meticulous historian. A monument of interpretive biography. --Michael R. Beschloss, *Chicago Sun-Times Book Week *Splendid and moving. At this rate Caros work will eventually acquire Gibbon-like dimensions, and Gibbon-like passion. . . . Caro is a phenomenon . . . an artful writer, with a remarkable power to evoke and characterize politicians, landsc...