Master of the Senate
The third volume in the author's monumental biography of Lyndon Johnson, following The Path to Power and Means of Ascent, describes the future president's career in the U.S. Senate, from breaking the southern control of Capitol Hill to passing the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
Stats for nerds
17recommend
29mentions
24people
2008–2026years
76% recommend24% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- LBJ literally destroyed the soul of black America by turning them into a welfare society
he did succeed in getting "them" to "vote for us for the next two hundred years" which is exactly a part of the quote attributed to him...the real quote is actually quite a bit more offensive and is revelatory (Google tries to bury the quote now but you can find it)
what LBJ delivered is the plight of most inner cities now...ask yourself if this is "progress"
btw feel free to read Caro's "Master Of The Senate" for the full download of LBJ's crazy racism...even by the standards of the time and the standards of the South, the man was more than willing to say things out loud that made people blush...a lot of it is just deranged and near-psychotic
Case in point, his own driver...he asks the guy one day what his first name is, when his driver replied, LBJ goes on some whacko screaming tirade that he "has no name and is nothing but a n-----" and continues to rant in a like fashion...who says things like this?
- Master of the Senate by Robert Caro. The entire series is worth it, and I am waiting on the edge of my seat for the last book in the LBJ series.
- Even if you can't make it to the exhibition, I encourage you to read the Power Broker and Master of the Senate. You'll learn a great deal about power, how it's gained and wielded, and its risks.
- Two of Caro's books remain in my favorites today: The Power Broker; and Master of the Senate. The concept of political power, mentioned in the conversation, is fully limned out in both of them. Worth reading by anyone with an interest in how the real world works. Unfortunately, Vonnegut, I never quite got. YMMV.
- Actually no it was not. It's more that power was distributed differently. The speaker of the house, the master of the Senate had real power. Power that now rests with interest groups.
If you are interested read Robert Caro's Master of the Senate.
- Just started Master of the Senate. Caro's books have reignited my love of reading. Cannot recommend his books enough for anyone interested in how power in organizations or government is culled and cultivated. His books read like thrillers, but are exhaustively researched and sourced.
Sony Pictures recently released a movie covering Caro and his recently passed editor, Robert Gottlieb, relationship and process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3CRojrbeE
