The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Volume 1)

Lyndon B Johnson's Presidency is often overlooked,since he has the distinction of being the President that followed Kennedy's Camelot and preceded Nixon's Watergate. But none the less,his rise to power is no less fascinating the two Presidents who came before and after LBJ.Robert Caro sets the stage,to tell the story of a politician whose ruthlessly brutal and pragmatic ambition,took him to great heights at early age,but earned him the scorn,hatred and distrust from his peers. The first part of this epic biography starts out in the barren,poverty stricken Hill Country,in Texas. The author paints a vivid picture of the hard life the Johnson family had,living in a part of the United States which was 20 years behind the rest of the country. Raised on a bleak,isolated Texas Farm, Lyndon B John,wanted nothing more then to break of this poverty and make something of himself. His father's former position as a Texas State Legislator,inspired his entrance into politics, but ultimately his father's failures drove him relentlessly,towards success,to avoid the poor,back breaking life,he experienced at an early age.To reach the great heights he desired to reach,LBJ lied,cheated and back-stabbed anyone who was in his way achieving his goals.Which is a tactic that is effective,it earns you little friends in the process. In college he was a hated and unpopular student. But through the use and misuse of the colleges political system,LBJ was able to gain great power within thecollege,the respect of his peers and the affection of the faculty.After University,LBJ talents were no overlooked and his first experiences in politics, was as a secretary of a Texas congressman who had no interest,what so ever in politics. LBJ took advantage of his position and his bosses absence and became de facto congressman,using his position to learn how to play politics within Washington DC. By the time he was finished,the amount of influence and connections he made,laid the groundwork for a political network,that would prepare him for his first run for public office.The latter half of the books goes into detail, about Lyndon B Johnson's tireless campaign for Congress,which earned him an unlikely victory as well as the start of a friendship with President Roosevelt and concludes with his first taste of political defeat.Robert Caro's first volume on the life of rise of LBJ, is told with rich detail and intimate detail. Just like his contemporaries, I find myself hating Lyndon B Johnson for the tactics he uses to acquire influence and power, but there are moments I cant help respect the tenacity and endless energy he possessed,which pulled him out of a hard,back breaking life,like his father before him. By far one of the best political biographies I have ever read and could not recommend it more.

This book starts with some of Lyndon Johnson's ancestors (Johnsons - impractical dreamers; Buntons - tempered dreams with doing what's necessary to succeed in life); moves into a discussion of the Hill Country (fascinating vignette of depleting natural resources); then onto Johnson's family and his early life (always needed to be the centre of attention; if he couldn't lead, he wouldn't play); his relationship with his parents (especially his father whom he idolised when his father was doing very well in life and with whom he fought tooth and nail when he failed in business); his leaving home a couple of times; life at college (he was unpopular but found a way to power for the first time); in politics (on the staff of a local Congressman; and his political campaigns).The picture that emerges is rich, complex and detailed. Johnson got things done - he brought electricity to the Texas Hill Country (against the odds - people named their children after him - he had transformed their lives); and he seems through a later invention to have pretty much turned the 1940 Congressional elections in favour of the Democrats. But there's always a dark side - he has no clearly discernible principles (he seems like a model liberal to FDR but to hate the New Deal to his Texas big business backers - for whom he wins government contracts, and from whom he funds his campaigns). He will do whatever it takes to win power.The years of research that inform this first volume of the biography are clear on every page. It's impossible really to question Caro's narrative or most of his judgements (he seems harsher on Johnson here than in Volume 4 - by which time he seems to have decided that Johnson did have some political beliefs - they were just extremely well hidden until he became President, for the most part). Only one aspect of Johnson's life I'd have liked to know more about - his increasingly frequent hospitalisations seem to be linked to brief depressive episodes. They aren't, however, quite treated as that - Caro makes clear that they are partly psychological - but doesn't delve into just what's going on at these times in Johnson's internal world.It's a great read, though, and I'd very strongly recommend it to others.

I started in May and now here it is on November 19th, 2018. This four book series is a masterpiece and a must read for fans of American politics. LBJ was a giant in American history no matter how you feel about him. If I had to rate all four book it would be as follows:1- Master of The Senate - Amazing stories of LBJ controlling the Senate as majority leader2- Means of Ascent - the 1948 Senate race in Texas was fascinating and historical in hindsight3-Path to Power - a great look at the young LBJ and is time as a Congressman4- Passge to Power - cover LBJ as Vice President and his early days as PresidentI can't wait for the final installment.

After reading this first volume of four I was in awe and disgust of LBJ, bright and dark that is what LBJ was. But what a book, what a man and what a story and how fascinating written... 700 pages of reading pleasure. If you want to know the life and times of the 20th century people living in rural Texas and America and LBJ especially, buy this first volume and work your way up to the second, the third and fourth... a hell of a read...

Riveting, revealing and encapsulating. This 780 page book that follows LBJs life up to the age of 32 is probably one of the best books I've ever read....and dare I say ever written.Painstakingly researched over 7 years, 3 of which Robert Caro (with his wife Ina) actually moved to the Hill Country where LBJ was born to ingratiate himself amongst its inhabitants.We're taken on a whirlwind tour starting from LBJs ancestors, a fascinating explanation on how LBJ grew up in poverty using the grass in the Hill Country as a touchstone, what caused him to have this extreme ambition and his ruthless tactics at achieving his goals...and above all his political genius. We go from a life of poverty to the San Marcos Southwest Texas Teachers University, a brief stint at a Mexican Teaching school in Cottula, on to becoming probably the most effective Congressional Secretary in political history to becoming a Congressman of the 10th District through sheer grit and perseverance. His scheming opportunism gives way and oscillates back and forth from his sincere and innate liberal idealismI beseech you to give this a try, you won't be sorry. If anything for the chapter called Sad Irons alone...

Investigates the genesis of Johnson's unquenchable thirst for power, from his ancestors and his childhood in the miserable Hill Country of Texas, to his election as congressman at a very early age.Caro does a wonderful job -- this is a book you won't be able to put down. Truly one of the best biographies ever written.

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