Tag Archives: The Passage of Power

LBJ vs RFK: “America’s Nastiest Blood Feud”

04 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Articles & Books of Interest, The Outer Loop

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wills_1-052412_jpg_630x320_crop_q85                              Francis Miller/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

It is like watching two very powerful railroad trains racing at top speed toward each other along a single set of tracks.

Readers of this blog know that I have long been fascinated by Robert Caro’s seemingly endless biography of Lyndon Johnson. I’ve posted about this previously.

One of the many fascinating parts of the most recent volume, The Passage of Power, had to do with the relationship, the hatred, between LBJ and RFK. But, there were so many spellbinding events in this volume of the LBJ narrative, I think this aspect of Caro’s latest did not get much focus.

In his May 2101 NY Review of Books article, Gary Wills, author of the quote above, chose to emphasize this feud, how it came about, how it played out, and the effect it had on both men.

Even if you’ve read The Passage of Power, I suspect you will find new information in this article, America’s Nastiest Blood Feud. It makes the Obama/Boehner struggle look like a preschool tiff by comparison.

 

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LBJ: Political Genius or Ruthless Manipulator?

13 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Escapes and Pleasures, The Outer Loop

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Over the last week I have read Robert Caro’s fourth book on Lyndon Johnson and attended a Politics & Prose bookstore “conversation’ between Caro and Politico’s Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen. I thought the book (606 pages) truly worthy of my week’s devotion to it. I enjoyed listening to Caro and getting a sense of the man, his humility, his solidity, and his insights, though I think Allen missed an opportunity to draw out Caro on many aspects of the book that deserved discussion.

If you definitely plan to tackle The Passage of Power, you need not read further than the end of this paragraph. Mark this site, and come back to it after you have read the book. Then read what is written below, and let me others know what you think.**

If you’re not sure if you want to read the book, or if you just want to get a bit of a summary and one person’s reactions, read the “Summary” and “10 Takeaways” below.

(If your time is limited, check out The New Yorker’s excerpt of the day LBJ went from believing his political life was over to attaining the most power he ever had — Nov. 22, 1963.)

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Join Me & Robert Caro

01 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in Escapes and Pleasures

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Having purchased two copies of Robert Caro’s new The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Vol.4), I was given four free tickets to a Politics & Prose bookstore event with the author.

Robert Caro will be “in conversation with Mike Allen, chief correspondent of Politico,” the newspaper/Internet/radio/TV outlet that focuses on what’s happening in Washington.

The event is Wednesday evening, May 9 at 7 PM at the Sidwell Friends School, 3825 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC.

I have at least two free tickets (and perhaps three) available for folks to join me.

First to ask…by email, Comment below, or phone.

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Robert Caro: “”The Passage of Power”

13 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in The Outer Loop

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I just finished Robert A. Caro’s The Transition, an excerpt* (April 2 The New Yorker ) from his soon to be published fourth volume, The Years of Lyndon Johnson biography.

This excerpt describes the day LBJ took over the Presidency, and, like everything else in Caro’s LBJ biography, it’s a page turner.

If you know the three previous volumes, you know what to to expect from Caro. And he doesn’t disappoint.

If you don’t know Caro or haven’t read any of the LBJ biography, you have a treat in store, a long one. His first volume, The Path to Power came out in 1982 and was about 900 pages. It was a page turner.

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