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Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson), by Robert A. Caro
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Amazon.com Review
The second installment in a projected four-volume biography of LBJ that opened with The Path to Power, Means of Ascent shines a harsh light on the early political years of one of America's most paradoxical presidents. The man who would later ram civil rights legislation through a reluctant Congress, and then be brought down by Vietnam, came out of a political swamp--Caro gives a graphic picture of the Texas democratic political machine at its most corrupt. The climax of the book is LBJ's election to the Senate in 1948, an election he won by 87 dubious votes out of almost a million. That vote arguably changed history. This book won the 1990 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.
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Review
"Thrilling. Caro burns into the reader's imagination the story of the [1948 Senate] election. Never has it been told so dramatically, with breathtaking detail piled on incredible development . . . In The Path to Power, Volume I of his monumental biography, Robert A. Caro ignited a blowtorch whose bright flame illuminated Johnson's early career. In Means of Ascent he intensifies the flame to a brilliant blue point." —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times"Brilliant. No brief review does justice to the drama of the story Caro is telling, which is nothing less than how present-day politics was born." —Henry F. Graff, Professor of History, Columbia University"Caro has a unique place among American political biographers. He has become, in many ways, the standard by which his fellows are measured. Caro's diligence [and] ambition are phenomenal . . . A remarkable story . . . Epic." —Mark Feeney, Boston Sunday Globe"Immensely engrossing . . . Caro is an indefatigable investigative reporter and a skillful historian who can make the most abstract material come vibrantly to life. [He has a] marvelous ability to tell a story . . . His analysis of how power is used—to build highways and dams, to win elections, to get rich—is masterly." —Ronald Steel, The New York Times Book Review"Caro has changed the art of political biography." —Nicholas von Hoffman"A spellbinding, hypnotic journey into the political life and times of Lyndon Johnson. Riveting drama." —Jim Finley, Los Angeles Times"The most compelling study of American political power and corruption since Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men . . . It is nothing less than a political epic, the definitive account of a watershed election, rich with all of the intrigue and drama that have become the stuff of legend. [It has] the suspense of a political thriller." —Steve Neal, Fort Worth Star Telegram"Magnificent . . . Thunder and lightning rip through Mr. Caro's viscerally compelling work." —Thomas W. Hazlett, The Wall Street Journal"A brilliant but disturbing book . . . A devastating study that warrants the broadest readership. He reminds us that Americans need to be vigilant in upholding their highest standards of ethics and good government." —Guy Halverson, The Chistian Science Monitor"His research is dazzlingly exhaustive, his gripping story is enhanced by excellent writing, and his findings [seem] largely irrefutable. No one has done a better job of researching [the 1948 race] than Mr. Caro. He has produced a portrait not only of Lyndon Johnson, but also of the politics and values of mid-century America." —Philip Seib, Dallas Morning News"Robert Caro gives us an LBJ who was human and then some, and what's enthralling is how this lucid, fascinating book keeps forcing us to confront the extreme contradictions of what (on good days) we call human nature. It's a testament to Robert Caro's skill that we find it so difficult to get a firm moral fix on Johnson. Caro is that rare biographer who seems intrigued by his subject but happily free from the urge to either heroicize, psychologize—or excoriate and punish." —Francine Prose, 7 Days"Means of Ascent is a political biography, a detective story, a western and a character study. Above all, it is a richly textured, multilayered chronicle of a fundamental social and political change and how this change highlighted elements of Mr. Johnson's character: his powerful needs, tremendous ambition and particular genius." —Robert A. Kronley, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"One can trust every detail. The sagaciousness and discretion of Caro's investigations are obvious from the start. The story of that election has all the excitement of a murder mystery in which the culprit is known, but the question is whether justice will triumph. Caro tells it with the same thriller instinct as the old novelists, yet with the passion for accuracy of the most exacting detective." —Denis Wadley, Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune "A great book, and I believe the completed biography will be the great book about American politics in the twentieth century. The story of the '48 election is remarkable, unique. If it weren't a cliche, I'd say it has Tolstoyan epic grandeur." —Robert K. Massie"Riveting . . . Explosive . . . Readers are in for a white-knuckle, hair-raising tale that could have ended in any of a dozen ways, with L.B.J. in the White House the longest shot of all. This is good history. Caro's treatment achieves poetic intensity." —Paul Gray, Time"Caro's writing summons a reviewer's cliches—gripping, compelling, absorbing, irresistible . . . unputdownable. The sentences sparkle. The details pile up in a mountain of evidence . . . Caro has at last set the record straight." —Richard Marius, Harvard Magazine"Extraordinary and brilliant . . . Devastatingly persuasive . . . Caro's prodigious research, and his discovery of original sources ignored by other biographers, proves beyond doubt that much of what Johnson said about these years was false . . . The spadework combined with Caro's passion makes for drama more riveting than any novel." —Mark A. Gamin, Cleveland Plain Dealer"Caro is the premier biographer of our time." —Bernard D. Nossiter, The Progressive"No one understands Lyndon Baines Johnson without reading Robert A. Caro." —James F. Vesely, Sacramento Union
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Product details
Paperback: 592 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (March 6, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 067973371X
ISBN-13: 978-0679733713
Product Dimensions:
6.1 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.7 out of 5 stars
530 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#14,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
This book about the first years of LBJ's political life is nothing if not thorough. A lot of pages and a lot of interesting information about a man who while certainly flawed in many ways ended up doing a lot of good as President. Caro's research is exhaustive. In fact, maybe too much. I found myself skimming a bit when he repeated several times stories to illustrate a point. I bought the second volume when I bought this first volume, but don't plan to begin the second volume any time soon. A break is needed. That said, I do plan to continue the 4 volume series and certainly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys biographies in general, but political bios in particular.
Means of Ascent is the second book in Robert Caro’s life and times of Lyndon Baines Johnson. At the start of the book we see LBJ coming back from his naval service in the Pacific and returning to his Congressional duties in Washington. After his unsuccessful run for a U.S. Senate seat in 1941 we see Johnson returning to his congressional duties where quite frankly he was unhappy as he did not have the seniority to chair any consequential committees. His sights were set again on the U.S. Senate with the Senatorial race of 1948. At this time in the book the concentration will be on the two primary Democratic races in which LBJ was a huge underdog and we will see the makings of the ultimate politician as he will use all his political acumen and political favors to campaign using the Texas tactics of buying votes and in the end using the new flying contraption called a helicopter to cover vast distances on an exhausting daily basis. Never in the history of Senatorial has campaigning taken on 14 to 16 hour days with constantly pushing to cover ground that his main opponent Coke Stevens could not possibly do. But the fact does remain that even though LBJ had the money, the ambition and the crooked politicians in hand he still remained behind when the votes were counted. Coke Stevens was an institution and it was not until Johnson had to pull out all the stops and had votes counted for LBJ which were not actual votes. Caro shows a truly fantastic story containing two primaries where LBJ had worked the corrupt Texas political system to save his political life. It did not end until the last primary had gone to court. In this depiction of LBJ we see a highly energetic man that will do anything to win, and in doing so we see a man who in doing so sharpened his back room political skills which would be seen later when he led the Senate to some of the greatest left wing legislationever seen. It should be noted that LBJ used the helicopter to fight for his political life when 20 years later as President it was the helicopter which would become the symbol for the Vietnam War in which quite frankly put an end to his political life. The irony of it all!!
I've read several presidential biographies, this one is unlike any I have ever read. Because this book is a multi-volume series, it can take its time to develop and it is filled with so much rich detail that a single biography alone could not even compare. For example, Robert Caro spends the first 5 or so chapters of the book going through the Johnson family history and the history of the Hill Country, which gives the reader a more complete picture of Johnson growing up. He will stray from the story of Johnson and have chapters devoted to influential people in his like Sam Rayburn or George and Herman Brown of Brown and Root, a major political donor and source of his early power in congress. All of this provides such a deeper understanding of the life of Lyndon Johnson. I'm visiting the Johnson Presenditial museum in 2 weeks, I'll be interested to see what I think of it compared to the details of these books.
In light of the new PBS “Vietnamâ€, I am re-reading the 4 volume set of Robert Caro’s LBJ biographies to gain a better perspective of LBJ and the politics of the years before Vietnam.Mr. Caro does an exhaustive amount of research for all of his books. He writes with polish, providing the reader with not only intricate details but also in a style that is relatively easy to understand.I say that I am re-reading this first book because I read it 5 years ago and many of the details have faded for me, so I’m back at it again and enjoying every page.I look forward to the publication of the 5th volume of this series, as Mr. Caro continues his research. The 5th volume will hopefully have a lot of “meat†in it.
I have been meaning to make a start on Robert Caro’s massive four volume biography of Lyndon Johnson for some time. Eventually, I had to bite the bullet. I only wish that I had taken that bite earlier!It is easy to be intimidated by such a work as that undertaken by Robert Caro. Volume One, “The Path to Power†is some 882 pages in length. Yet, it is so well written. It is a pleasure to read. Caro has produced a masterpiece.More fascinating that the text itself is the character that it reveals of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Here is the ultimate politician. From his time at school, through his college years and then as a junior congressman, Johnson was always playing the numbers. His desire (even greed) for power was staggering. He would simply blow with the wind in order that he could see a benefit for himself. The character that Caro reveals to the reader is quite unattractive. Indeed, at times, repulsive. In my mind, it is a great shame that he ultimately rose to the most powerful office in the land.Robert Caro took seven years to write “The Path to Powerâ€. His research was precise and his sources numerous. His effort must be commended. I am amazed that he was to subsequently produce three further massive volumes to round out Johnson’s life. Johnson became Caro’s life work.There are many who will be put off by the sheer scale of this book. My advice is to disregard such fears. Robert Caro has produced a political tour de force. I look forward to completing the journey.
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