Caro's dogged research and refusal to accept received wisdom results in an eye-
opening portrait that unforgettably captures the titanic personality of Lyndon
Baines Johnson (1908-1973). Though stronger on Johnson's duplicity and naked
self-promotion than his intelligence and charm, Caro nails it all. He chronicles
the evolution of an attention-demanding youth from the Texas hill country into
a seasoned congressman who would abandon his ardent espousal of the New Deal as
soon as it ceased to be expedient. The dirty details begin with college elections
that earn young Lyndon a reputation as a crook and a liar; Caro goes on to unravel
financial shenanigans of impressive ingenuity. Johnson's consuming desire to get
ahead and his political genius "unencumbered by philosophy or ideology" are
staggering. The White House, Great Society, and Vietnam lie ahead when the main
narrative closes in 1941, but the roots of Johnson's future achievements and tragic
failures are laid bare. This biography may well stand as the best book written in
the second half of the 20th century about personal ambition inextricably linked
with historic change. --Wendy Smith

Read by Grover Gardner

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