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
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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Robert A. Caro
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.
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.
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Critic reviews
“A wonderful, a glorious tale.... It will be hard to equal this amazing book. It reads like a Trollope novel, but not even Trollope explored the ambitions and the gullibilities of men as deliciously as Robert Caro does. Even though I knew what the outcome of a particular episode would be, I followed Caro’s account of it with excitement. I went back over chapters to make sure I had not missed a word.... Caro’s description of how [Johnson passed the civil rights legislation] is masterly; I was there and followed the course of the legislation closely, but I did not know the half of it.” (Anthony Lewis, The New York Times Book Review)
“A masterpiece.... Robert Caro has written one of the truly great political biographies of the modern age.” (Daniel Finkelstein, The Times, London)
“Mesmerizing.... [It] brings LBJ blazing into the Senate.... A tale rife with drama and hypnotic in the telling. The historian’s equivalent of a Mahler symphony.” (Malcolm Jones, Newsweek)
What listeners say about Master of the Senate
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-11-18
Great, but too long
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 21-12-18
Talk of turning over the cassette is annoying
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Vikas Niranjan
- 07-02-21
Masterpiece by Robert A Caro
Master of the Senate is definitely a masterpiece, but is a slightly at lower rung than 'The Path to Power' or 'Means of an ascent'. The first half is as good as the previous books, but you begin to feel it's length in the second. No one writes a biography like Robert A Caro. The depth of the research and his ability to connect the dots is simply great.
Superb performance by Grove Gardner as usual.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- GW
- 06-01-19
Great book - editing poor
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’.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Client d'Amazon
- 10-04-20
Edit out cassette tape instructions
Instructions relating to the cassette tape version need to be edited out. Otherwise perfect. Grover Gardner is excellent.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 17-02-20
Stunning
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.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-06-23
Power and glory
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.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- E P
- 06-05-19
Navigating the world of virtual cassettes is a price worth paying for this brilliant biography
The explanation of civil rights, the history of the south and the growing unease is placed in the context of LBJ’s ambition. It remains a story that grips and fascinating.
The editing has improved with very few repeated sentences. This is, however, a direct recording of “Books on Cassette”. There are 14 virtual cassettes (28 sides) and you have to sit through a virtual flipping which involves instructions and 15-second silences 28 times. This would be annoying were it not for the brilliance of the biography.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Audible Customer
- 18-10-21
Riveting read!
Now having read 4 books by Carrie on Johnson
I continue to be enthralled by his attention to detail and every nuance of the subjects life and career. Admittedly one has to be a bit of a politics nerd, but if you are, you'll enjoy this!
it follows that covering his earlier books on Johnson is a must to get the best from this Biography.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- William Tench
- 23-10-21
Fantastic book ruined by Audible
Caro's work was as amazing as always - this recording was not, however. I could just about justify having to purchase this book using three credits for all three parts - preferring it to the abridged version offered for just one credit. However, my enjoyment of this recording was continuously dampened by terrible editing. Really disappointed.
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