The second of Caro’s works, “Means of Ascent,” investigates Johnson’s methods of securing a seat in the United States Senate. His fundamental conclusion – though he avoids coming out and saying it as much as possible – is that it was completely and totally stolen. The implications, ethics, and merit of that act, however, are left somewhat shrouded.

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Posted at 30 May 08 at 22.05 in Politics, Books

“Path to Power,” the first of Caro’s three tomes, studies Johnson’s childhood and years in the United States House of Representatives. His reporting on the character of the boy who would be president is fascinating – perhaps it is in part the benefit of hindsight, but the traits he identifies in young Lyndon are identical to those we know as those of LBJ.

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Posted at 28 May 08 at 20.05 in Politics, Books

Few individuals have done more to shape the modern presidency than has Lyndon Baines Johnson. That statement is true, too, of foreign policy and the military, and of government contracting – and of the welfare state and of civil rights.

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Posted at 26 May 08 at 21.05 in Politics, Books