Genesis of the Nov 4 Miracle
- Thread starter coberst
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In this book you will learn to love and to hate LBJ and also to love and to hate the US Senate. You will also learn why LBJ is essentially the man who made the Nov 4th election of Obama possible.
Amazon.com Review
Robert Caro's Master of the Senate examines in meticulous detail Lyndon Johnson's career in that body, from his arrival in 1950 (after 12 years in the House of Representatives) until his election as JFK's vice president in 1960. This, the third in a projected four-volume series, studies not only the pragmatic, ruthless, ambitious Johnson, who wielded influence with both consummate skill and "raw, elemental brutality," but also the Senate itself, which Caro describes (pre-1957) as a "cruel joke" and an "impregnable stronghold" against social change. The milestone of Johnson's Senate years was the 1957 Civil Rights Act, whose passage he single-handedly engineered. As important as the bill was--both in and of itself and as a precursor to wider-reaching civil rights legislation--it was only close to Johnson's Southern "anti-civil rights" heart as a means to his dream: the presidency. Caro writes that not only does power corrupt, it "reveals," and that's exactly what this massive, scrupulously researched book does. A model of social, psychological, and political insight, it is not just masterful; it is a masterpiece.
This book is the third book written about LBJ by this author. The fourth and final is due out any time now. I read the first three books about ten years ago and just happened to be listening to an audio CD of this book recently and was astounded at the fact that LBJ could very accuratly be the man who started the process that led to this moment. This book tells us a great deal about LBJ and also a great deal about the USA.
