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Master of the Senate

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

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Master of the Senate

By: Robert A. Caro
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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About this listen

 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.©2002 Robert A. Caro, Inc.; (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc. Americas Historical Politics & Activism Politics & Government Presidents & Heads of State United States World Suspenseful

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All stars
Most relevant
This was a great continuation of the story. I felt it was a bit too detailed, but what do you expect from Caro?

The third part of the recording was haphazardly put together. About an hour of the book repeats and we hear all the “flip the tape” reminders which have no point being in this online version of the book. Proof listen Audible, please.

Great, but too long

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A fascinating story, superbly narrated, about American politics and the ruthless ambition of LBJ to seek power and the presidency. Above all, it gave me insights into the appalling legacies of the slave trade, and the cruelty of man. I had not appreciated until listening to this series just how much he did to bring civil rights to the States.

Stunning

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It is a great book, only spoiled by sloppy transfer from audio cassette and repetition of some phrases ‘ on the ‘other side of the tape’.

Great book - editing poor

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This is a story about the power and the glory. Sometimes power is sought merely for glory. Other times power is sought for cause. In both cases, rightly or wrongly, some form of progress is the end goal.

Power and glory

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Theos has not been edited well to go from cassette to mp3 (or at all). It was disappointing that part one worked, part two was poorly edited and part three was not edited.

The actual story and narration is good and builds on the previous books.

Talk of turning over the cassette is annoying

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