Caro, who famously lived in the hill country of Texas to learn of stolen elections and illicit wealth, doesn't surprise as much as elaborate and embroider here.

The story this time is again exhaustive, if more derivative than the earlier volumes. 8, 1964, when Johnson delivers the State of the Union Address. 22, 1963 ('he's gone,' an associate informs LBJ) and Jan. Half the book unfolds between the assassination on Nov. allies, charming Kennedy's distrustful loyalists, silencing investigative reporters, crafting a budget, delivering a tax cut, championing JFK's landmark civil rights bill stalled in Congress, and declaring 'war on poverty.' He's seen establishing confidence, reassuring U.S. Once there, the story lingers, inviting readers to watch the redeemed, Shakespearean Johnson taking charge after the regicide in Dallas. The object of fascination for so long that Caro now quotes his words of 30 years ago, Johnson has finally reached the presidency. It follows his fitful campaign for the presidency his chaotic selection as Kennedy's running mate his humiliating eclipse as vice-president and, lastly, his early feverish weeks as president.Ĭaro narrows the focus and intensifies the scrutiny. The Passage of Power opens in 1958, when Johnson is the most powerful majority leader in the history of the Senate. Caro now lives on the Olympus of biographers he is to Johnson what Carl Sandburg was to Lincoln. This is the fourth volume of Caro's celebrated biography of Lyndon Johnson.

And here, says Robert Caro, is the tall Texan at high noon: 'In the life of Lyndon Baines Johnson, this period stands out as different from the rest, as perhaps that life's finest moment, as a moment not only masterful but, in its way, heroic.' In that hour of anxiety, though, he displays his remarkable human instinct and staggering political genius. Johnson gets his commission, even if it is unpersuasive.

Me, it's for your country') he makes Russell his father ('I haven't got any daddy, and you're going to be it'). Made me and I know it') he appeals to Russell's patriotism ('this is not for When Russell remains reluctant, Johnson empties his emotional arsenal.

'You're goddamned sure going to serve, I'll tell you that!' And you are going to do it!' Johnson barks.

Robert caro the passage of power