-
The Passage of Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 32 hrs and 45 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $39.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Master of the Senate
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson III
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master of the Senate carries Lyndon Johnson's story through one of its most remarkable periods: his 12 years in the U.S. 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. "There is something uniquely mesmerizing about the wily, combative Lyndon Johnson as portrayed by Caro," says Publishers Weekly.
-
-
Abridgement bad
- By Shelly Brisbin on 09-05-04
By: Robert A. Caro
-
The Power Broker
- Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 66 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everywhere acknowledged as a modern American classic, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest books of the 20th century, The Power Broker is a galvanizing biography revealing not only the saga of one man's incredible accumulation of power, but the story of the shaping (and mis-shaping) of New York in the 20th century.
-
-
Superb Narration of an Essential Story
- By Jenny Jenkins on 06-29-14
By: Robert A. Caro
-
Richard Nixon
- The Life
- By: John A. Farrell
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 28 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Nixon opens with young navy lieutenant "Nick" Nixon returning from the Pacific and setting his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon's finer attributes quickly gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. It is a stunning overture to John A. Farrell's magisterial portrait of a man who embodied postwar American cynicism.
-
-
Listen with an open mind
- By Suzanne R. on 05-30-17
By: John A. Farrell
-
Truman
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 54 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by critics as an American masterpiece, David McCullough's sweeping biography of Harry S. Truman captured the heart of the nation. The life and times of the 33rd president of the United States, Truman provides a deeply moving look at an extraordinary, singular American.
-
-
That Mousy Little Man From Missouri Revisited
- By Sara on 07-23-15
By: David McCullough
-
Working
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robert A. Caro
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Power Broker and the Years of Lyndon Johnson series: an unprecedented gathering of vivid, candid, deeply revealing recollections about his experiences researching and writing his acclaimed books.
-
-
Good as always.
- By David T. on 04-10-19
By: Robert A. Caro
-
Washington
- A Life
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 41 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. This crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
-
-
FANTASTIC!!
- By Roy on 03-15-11
By: Ron Chernow
-
Master of the Senate
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson III
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master of the Senate carries Lyndon Johnson's story through one of its most remarkable periods: his 12 years in the U.S. 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. "There is something uniquely mesmerizing about the wily, combative Lyndon Johnson as portrayed by Caro," says Publishers Weekly.
-
-
Abridgement bad
- By Shelly Brisbin on 09-05-04
By: Robert A. Caro
-
The Power Broker
- Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 66 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everywhere acknowledged as a modern American classic, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest books of the 20th century, The Power Broker is a galvanizing biography revealing not only the saga of one man's incredible accumulation of power, but the story of the shaping (and mis-shaping) of New York in the 20th century.
-
-
Superb Narration of an Essential Story
- By Jenny Jenkins on 06-29-14
By: Robert A. Caro
-
Richard Nixon
- The Life
- By: John A. Farrell
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 28 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Nixon opens with young navy lieutenant "Nick" Nixon returning from the Pacific and setting his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon's finer attributes quickly gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. It is a stunning overture to John A. Farrell's magisterial portrait of a man who embodied postwar American cynicism.
-
-
Listen with an open mind
- By Suzanne R. on 05-30-17
By: John A. Farrell
-
Truman
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 54 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by critics as an American masterpiece, David McCullough's sweeping biography of Harry S. Truman captured the heart of the nation. The life and times of the 33rd president of the United States, Truman provides a deeply moving look at an extraordinary, singular American.
-
-
That Mousy Little Man From Missouri Revisited
- By Sara on 07-23-15
By: David McCullough
-
Working
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robert A. Caro
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Power Broker and the Years of Lyndon Johnson series: an unprecedented gathering of vivid, candid, deeply revealing recollections about his experiences researching and writing his acclaimed books.
-
-
Good as always.
- By David T. on 04-10-19
By: Robert A. Caro
-
Washington
- A Life
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 41 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. This crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
-
-
FANTASTIC!!
- By Roy on 03-15-11
By: Ron Chernow
-
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.
-
-
Narrative possesses listener, it's that good
- By Gary on 10-08-12
-
American Ulysses
- A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
- By: Ronald C. White
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 27 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A major new biography of the Civil War general and American president, by the author of the New York Times bestseller A. Lincoln. The dramatic story of one of America's greatest and most misunderstood military leaders and presidents, this is a major new interpretation of Ulysses S. Grant. Based on seven years of research with primary documents, some of them never tapped before, this is destined to become the Grant biography of our times.
-
-
An Absolutely Superb Work
- By Michael J. Nardotti, Jr. on 11-05-16
By: Ronald C. White
-
On Power
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robert A. Caro
- Length: 1 hr and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and two-time National Book Award winner Robert A. Caro: a short, penetrating reflection on the evolution and workings of political power - for good and for ill.
-
-
Could be called 'On Robert Caro'
- By Anna on 09-04-17
By: Robert A. Caro
-
Alexander Hamilton
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 35 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power.
-
-
we've dealt with people like number 45 before
- By EvaPhiletaWright on 06-01-17
By: Ron Chernow
-
Gorbachev
- His Life and Times
- By: William Taubman
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 32 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, the USSR was one of the world's two superpowers. By 1989, his liberal policies of perestroika and glasnost had permanently transformed Soviet Communism and had made enemies of radicals on the right and left. By 1990 he, more than anyone else, had ended the Cold War, and in 1991, after barely escaping from a coup attempt, he unintentionally presided over the collapse of the Soviet Union he had tried to save.
-
-
Must read/listen
- By Peter Schleider on 09-26-17
By: William Taubman
-
Nixonland
- The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 36 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of America's most talented historians and winner of a LA Times Book Prize comes a brilliant new account of Richard Nixon that reveals the riveting backstory to the red state/blue state resentments that divide our nation today. Told with urgency and sharp political insight, Nixonland recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s and reveals how Richard Nixon rose from the political grave to seize and hold the presidency.
-
-
Great book, Great Narrator...Yes it's true!
- By Jonnie on 02-22-11
By: Rick Perlstein
-
Robert Kennedy
- His Life
- By: Evan Thomas
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 20 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traditionally, Robert F. Kennedy has been viewed as either the "Good Bobby", who saw wrong and tried to right it, or the "Bad Bobby" of countless conspiracy theories. Evan Thomas' achievement is to realize RFK as a human being, to bring to life an extraordinarily complex man who was at once kind and cruel, devious and honest, fearful and brave. The portrait that emerges is unvarnished but sympathetic, packed with new details about Kennedy's early life and his behind-the-scenes machinations.
-
-
Excellent
- By Donald on 01-11-08
By: Evan Thomas
-
The Warburgs
- The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Jonathan Reese
- Length: 35 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bankers, philanthropists, scholars, socialites, artists, and politicians, the Warburgs stood at the pinnacle of German (and, later, German American) Jewry. They forged economic dynasties, built mansions and estates, assembled libraries, endowed charities, and advised a German kaiser and two American presidents. But their very success made the Warburgs lightning rods for anti-Semitism, and their sense of patriotism became increasingly dangerous in a Germany that had declared Jews the enemy.
-
-
The Warburg's Dynamic Family History
- By Darwin8u on 10-22-18
By: Ron Chernow
-
The Invisible Bridge
- The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 39 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January of 1973 Richard Nixon announced the end of the Vietnam War and prepared for a triumphant second term - until televised Watergate hearings revealed his White House as little better than a mafia den. The next president declared upon Nixon’s resignation “our long national nightmare is over” - but then congressional investigators exposed the CIA for assassinating foreign leaders. The collapse of the South Vietnamese government rendered moot the sacrifice of some 58,000 American lives.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Tad Davis on 10-03-14
By: Rick Perlstein
-
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume I: Visions of Glory 1874-1932
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 41 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winston Churchill is perhaps the most important political figure of the 20th century. His great oratory and leadership during the Second World War were only part of his huge breadth of experience and achievement. Studying his life is a fascinating way to imbibe the history of his era and gain insight into key events that have shaped our time.
-
-
Superb - Review of Both Volume I & Volume II
- By Wolfpacker on 01-23-09
-
Destiny and Power
- The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 25 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the 41st president and his family, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times.
-
-
Amazing story, great narration
- By Joseph Carucci on 12-21-15
By: Jon Meacham
-
The Death of a President
- November 20 - November 25, 1963
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 33 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the world still reeled from the tragic and historic events of November 22, 1963, William Manchester set out, at the request of the Kennedy family, to create a detailed, authoritative record of President John F. Kennedy's death, including the days immediately preceding and following the assassination.
-
-
IMPORTANT HISTORIC BOOK
- By Jeff on 12-06-13
Publisher's Summary
National Book Critics Circle Award, Biography, 2013
The Passage of Power follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his career - 1958 to 1964. It is a time that would see him trade the extraordinary power he had created for himself as Senate Majority Leader for what became the wretched powerlessness of a Vice President in an administration that disdained and distrusted him. Yet it was, as well, the time in which the presidency, the goal he had always pursued, would be thrust upon him in the moment it took an assassin’s bullet to reach its mark.
For the first time, we see the Kennedy assassination through Lyndon Johnson’s eyes. We watch Johnson step into the presidency, inheriting a staff fiercely loyal to his slain predecessor; a Congress determined to retain its power over the executive branch; and a nation in shock and mourning. We see how within weeks - grasping the reins of the presidency with supreme mastery - he propels through Congress essential legislation that at the time of Kennedy’s death seemed hopelessly logjammed and seizes on a dormant Kennedy program to create the revolutionary War on Poverty.
Caro makes clear how the political genius with which Johnson had ruled the Senate now enabled him to make the presidency wholly his own. This was without doubt Johnson’s finest hour, before his aspirations and accomplishments were overshadowed and eroded by the trap of Vietnam.
It is an epic story told with a depth of detail possible only through the peerless research that forms the foundation of Robert Caro’s work, confirming Nicholas von Hoffman’s verdict that “Caro has changed the art of political biography.”
More from the same
What listeners say about The Passage of Power
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Abdur Abdul-Malik
- 05-08-12
From Powerful to Powerless
The fourth installment of Robert Caro's majestic and sweeping biography of LBJ is a mammoth achievement and ranks favorably with all prior installments.
I stumbled onto the series a couple of years ago after seeing Robert Caro on a television program and began my exploration of the series with "Master of the Senate." Since the first two installments have not been made into audio books yet, I purchased "The Path to Power" & "Means of Ascent" on my Kindle and found both to be riveting.
For those of you who have gone thorough the entire series as I have, you know that LBJ's life contained periodic reversals. This installment chronicles the 3 years he spent in the most desolate wilderness of them all: The vice presidency.
Daniel Webster is reported to have said when the Whig Party offered him the chance to be vice president, "I do not propose to be buried until I am dead." LBJ--after he bungled securing the 1960 nomination and JFK mopped the floor with him--made a different calculation; to friends who wondered why on earth he would trade the second most powerful post in the land (senate majority leader) for the vice presidency he said, "seven of them got to be president without even being elected."
For 3 years LBJ was ignored, insulted, and treated with thinly veiled contempt by the Kennedy group--particularly by Robert F. Kennedy who DETESTED Lyndon Johnson. Newspaper headlines began asking, "Whatever Happened to LBJ?" His genius for legislation went untapped and Kennedy's domestic program was floundering.
Then it happened...
Half the book covers a roughly 7 week period of time. The coverage of the assassination is the summit of "history as thriller" and finds few if any equals.
For conspiracy theory buffs, sorry, but Caro does not give credence to the idea LBJ was involved. Caro has chronicled just about every fault Johnson has from the megalomaniacal to the scatological, but murder isn't one of them.
Grover Gardner, as another reviewer already mentioned, was the only possible choice for this book. He lends it his usual gravity and precision. Why Caro hasn't contracted him to record the first two books in the series, I don't know. "Means of Ascent" was so funny in places I needed a tissue by my side to wipe the tears.
Caro's penchant for exhaustive research has meant that he has taken over 35 years to produce four books. The man is now 75 and he still has all of Johnson's election and Vietnam to cover. Let's hope his health holds out and he finishes the job.
81 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean
- 08-23-12
The most dramatic time in U.S. history
This book can stand alone. It covers 1958 to 1964 a most interesting time in our history. It covers in depth the run for the 1960 election and the election of the Kennedy/Johnson ticket. I was surprised at the detailed information provided about the hateful treatment of Johnson by Robert Kennedy. Caro does show the good and bad points of Johnson and the Kennedy's and presents a well document history of the time leading up to during and after the assassination. The six month following the assassination showed Johnson at his best. He was able to use all his skills and depths of contact he had acquired in a life time of polictics to bring the government and this country under control and back to business. His passing of the civil rights act was a great accomplishment that everyone else had failed at since FDR. The book mostly deals with the 40 days after the assassination and the enormous problems Johnson faced. Gardner did a great job with the narration. The book does make me want read all the volumes in this series. The book is long and there was some repeating of information which could have been edited, other than that it is a great book. I could hardly put the book down.
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Walter C. Prentice
- 05-18-12
Great book about a very important man
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Robert A. Caro has done a fantastic job in this volume in his life of LBJ. I have lived in Texas for many years and to hear some of the background of public and not so public figures that I have heard of but did not know to much about is a real plus. The author niether glorifies or denigrates LBJ but seems to try to explain this very complex man.Since this is the fourth volume on the life of LBJ it gives some background and even referes to spcific chapters of prior volumes.The only series that seems to be comparable is the multi volume work on Churchill by Martin Gilbert, which I have read is the longest biography in the english language.
Which character – as performed by Grover Gardner – was your favorite?
Grover Gardner's narration is excellent. He is neither overly dramatic nor to dry in his naration.
Any additional comments?
One of the things about this book that I really like are the authors comments about other books written about LBJ and puts them in prespective.My regret is that the first two volumes of this series does not seem to be on audilbe which is a real lack.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tim
- 07-18-12
The best kind of history
Where does The Passage of Power rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Near the top.
What did you like best about this story?
The author not only describes specific events in detail, but gave me a far deeper understanding than I ever had before of not just Johnson and the many other characters involved, but also the workings of American politics, and the way power might have been brokered in other countries and other times.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kerrie
- 10-05-12
Informative
A very interesting account of this time in LBJ's life. So much I was not aware of. The fued between Johnson and Bobby Kennedy and the way Johnson was treated as VP brought me to tears at times only to then feel sorry for Bobby in the next chapter. Such a captivating time in the history of American politics. As an Aussie, I don't know where my obsession with the Kennedys comes from, but an obsession it is and I loved learning more about them from the other side of the coin. Recommend it to anyone interested in this era.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Philo
- 11-02-18
It takes a book this vast to really see the story
I cannot imagine how much effort it takes to assemble and write a book with this high quality and breadth. Now at last I can say I have a true sense of how a stretch of US history and Washington DC (with its myriad forces and personalities) intersect. The author takes the classic high school chart of government branches and peoples each with clear-cut personalities with all their regional attachments and so on. The story also reaches back into the 20th century as needed (often summarizing bits of the earlier Caro-Johnson books) to give context to the times addressed. An example is the mini-book (one of several) that is the tale of the Southern senators and their strategies stretching far back into US history (and casting a shadow over us still). Here you will find elaborate portraits of others alongside Johnson, such as Bobby Kennedy. I have never seen a book so fully address the evolution of such persons as these. I am deeply impressed at every aspect of this book, which is several books in itself, seamlessly blended. Hanging on through a lengthy passage of the story (when the details may seem heavy and the going slow: events after Kennedy's death seemed interminable like a dirge of their own) is always rewarded. The narration is ideal.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul
- 12-14-12
One of the best biography's I've ever listened to
Wow! is all I can say after finishing this book. It must stand as one of the great biography's of all time. Caro has woven a tale of such complexity that it defies any summary. Having grown up during the years of this book, I was completely unaware of the enormous achievement of Lyndon Johnson during the six months following Kennedy's assassination. I had not read the previous three volumes and so was unaware of the complex nature of Johnson. It didn't matter. Caro so thoroughly revealed his character and so seamlessly wove it into the history of those pivotal years that the book almost seemed like a novel. I literally could not stop listening at certain points in the book. It was engaging as any of the best suspense novels: How will he get that bill passed? Who will he have to threaten, who will he have to massage, what promises will he have to make? He was able to facilitate the passage of the unpassable, stalled in Congress for thirty five years, Civil Rights Bill in four months at one of the most volatile moments in our history. He began the process four days after assuming the Presidency. Unbelievable! People (myself included) took this unbelievable achievement with a blase' attitude-Oh, no big deal. This book puts this dismissive in a deeply buried coffin where it belongs. As always, the superficial picture of famous people is often taken as the truth of who they really are and what they really achieved. It has often been said that the legacy of John F. Kennedy was most greatly served by his assassination. Although a cruel statement, this book proves this assertion. The book shows that Kennedy was completely impotent in domestic affairs. He had no idea how to deal with a recalcitrant Congress who ran circles around him and he had not achieved one significant piece of legislation during his three years. He had great ideas but it took the political genius of Lyndon Johnson to bring them to fruition and change the course of American history. It is sad that Johnson's great achievements will always be overshadowed by his horrible decisions regarding the Viet Nam war. Caro hints at this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dichotomy at the end of this book. The greatness of this book is how well Caro elucidates Johnson's internal contradictory devils, how these devils were used for the greatest good and then for the greatest evil. Caro also pulls the curtain back on how Washington really works. Considering what is happening in Washington today, it is illuminating to see how things have not changed much. It only emphasizes the greatness of Lyndon Johnson and how his particular political genius single handedly moved our Country to a level of greatness that may never be achieved again. When the moment called, he rose to it like no other President in our history. Hopefully, history will give Johnson credit as one of the great President's we've had. If you like biography, put this book at the top of your list.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 05-13-12
Well worth the super size length
Any additional comments?
Why jump into a mammoth, 32 hour read, volume 4 of a projected 5, in progress before many of us were born and volume 5 due some years from now?Two answers - for a first look, it stands alone, riveting, full of the story-teller's perfect details and timing.If you thought you'd read all the good stuff, Caro read it and cross-checked and then interviewed the author or surviving player with the questions you might have asked.History and biography can meet and exceed the best fiction, if only because reality is stranger, wilder and harder to freeze into safe, comfort.The non-LBJ characters are vivid, detailed, memorable, quoted and described by the distilled insight of libraries of books, letters and interviews. Myself, I've wondered about Bobby Kennedy, studied under fellows who worked with him, idolized and loved him. Caro shows us that great gift for friendship, and how it shaped written history, but adds the dark side with light, shadow and colors. The JFK portrait alone is worth the read, with the JFK-RFK relationship drawn from anecdotes. Found myself seeing new parts of a president by fully imagining what RFK the hit man, lightning rod and alter ego must say about JFK off-stage giving orders, or onstage communicating with his brother without words.Notes on framing - Caro writes that he found no direct evidence for the "LBJ murdered JFK" theories, and you can read the reviews at Amazon.com for some pointers by opposing authors and readers.A better path into what-if questions, IMHO, is "Tears of Autumn" by espionage expert McCarry, with an Oswald portrait by Stephen King in his recent time travel novel.
And Vietnam is mostly left for volume 5 - but I found eery parallels between RFK and LBJ losing all control, dignity, RFK defending the Bay of Pigs and firing an advisor who'd proven right, and LBJ chewing-out senior military men posing too-hard choices.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeff
- 11-24-12
NOT HAVING WHOLE SERIES IS KILLING ME !!!
Why wont someone put out the missing books of this astounding and important work in audible format???? I know at least one of them was done on cassette by grover gardner years ago because I saw it for sale on ebay. Im sure the other ones must have been done as well. Oh great mucky mucks at audible, please do something about this sinful state of affairs.
Wondering if this book is good? Of course ! If Caro's name is on it- it's 5 stars, end of story,
har-har
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dr. T
- 08-19-16
Really long book
Author goes into extraordinary detail in this book. It is good, but you have to really be committed to make it through.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kirstine
- 03-01-14
Fascinating insight into a pivotal decade
This is third part of a monumental series charting the life of Lyndon Johnson. LBJ's early impoverished life, that coloured his political beliefs, is briefly alluded to and his time as Senate leader, but the vast majority of the book describes his political life from 1960 to 64 in immense detail. This was a pivotal decade for USA and the World with such events as the Bay of Pigs debacle, the Cuban Missile crisis and the assassination of President Kennedy. The corrosive mutual hatred between LBJ and Robert Kennedy pervades this masterly biography. I'm old enough to remember these events but had forgotten how well LBJ was regarded at the beginning of his presidency as his reputation was later tarnished by the horrors of Vietnam.
Though a very long listen I was gripped throughout by this pacy account of events and players in this pivotal decade in world history.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- John
- 04-07-13
Stunning
An incredible piece of historical writing, based clearly in the evidence and views of individuals who were part of those events. It is all the more evocative for that solid grounding. Caro's work is about the years of LBJ, and how power functions in America. To say that it is an important book is an almost comical understatement, it will be read and used and referenced for years to come.
The audiobook, with a very well chosen narrator, allows you to immerse yourself in this stunning book. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Dr.A.Dyson
- 04-13-13
Tour de force
This book is a work of genuine brilliance. In addition to providing a wide narrative sweep of this page of the 20th century it also provides searching analyses of all the main characters involved. One feels that one gets to know the real character of those people who shaped the last century - Not just Johnson himself, but Robert and John Kennedy and all those in his cabinet at the time.
The prose is beautiful, the action unflagging. This is history as it should be written for the non-historian, and historian alike.
Lyndon Johnson in Robert Caro's hands, becomes one of the most fascinating people of the 20th century. I cannot wait for the next instalment.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- michael Billington
- 05-29-16
The fall and rise of LBJ
Would you listen to The Passage of Power again? Why?
Yes, this is a wonderful book and I have found more in it with repeated listening.
What did you like best about this story?
You see how Lyndon Johnson endured the worst period of his career and as a result of an assassination obtained the prize he had always wanted. You also see and learn how he rose to the challenges he faced.
Have you listened to any of Grover Gardner’s other performances? How does this one compare?
Yes and he was excellent as always in his narration of this series of books
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I found myself laughing when u hear some of the words and stories LBJ used to get other politicians to work with him.
Any additional comments?
This is the 4th volume of the years of lyndon Johnson. These are to my mind the greatest political biographies of any politician. Essential for understanding the use and abuse of power in mid 20th century America.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- E P
- 05-20-19
Thinking about going into politics? Read these books first
Anyone who has ever thought of standing for public office should read this series of books. This gives a vivid feel as to what it feels to be a politician: the good, the bad and the ugly side of the ignoble art.
The three set pieces: the Democratic Convention, Kennedy’s Assassination and LBJ’s masterful transition grip like a drama.
LBJ personality is full of contradictions. Caro exposes them with an unblinking eye. The final devastating assessment makes the desire for him to publish his final book tantalising.
I recommend these books without reservation
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall

- Richard Boyle
- 12-21-21
Book 4 Passage of Power
Outstanding history, provocative clinical and yet full of humanity. Caro's words are brought to life as are Johnsons in this excellent work
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Manuel Monteiro Grillo
- 09-17-21
Robert Caro and generosity
The greatest writer, you see with Caro, is a generous one. His generosity is what enables him to depict a complex man like LBJ. He understands him better than LBJ ever understood himself, for better and worse.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- D
- 04-27-21
another superb edition
yet another installment of the life of LBJ. And we haven't even got to 1964 election!!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 06-16-20
Imperfect but informative
It's difficult to see why Caro's book is the top pick for LBJ biographies. Firstly, this book - dealing only with the transition to LBJ's presidency - is just one part of a saga which is (as of 2020) still incomplete. Secondly, it is in dire need of an editor: remove all the repetition and the lengthy direct quotations and the book would have been two-thirds as long at least. That said, it does achieve its purpose: through its detail and quotation it does leave the reader with a very good, balanced view of LBJ the man, and the erstwhile president.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Teeden
- 05-31-20
Detailed, Insightful and Informative
Enjoyed this very much. As well as plenty on Johnson, the Kennedys were prominent and engrossed by details of Dallas and Bobby too. Good to listen to and look forward to the next volume.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- John Travers
- 01-05-15
Fascinating and touching
This book made me realise what a superficial understanding I had of this amazing person. Impatient for the next book.