As in his previous works, author Robert A. Caro creates a page-turner biography of our 36th president.
He takes the reader along for the roller-coaster ride that was Lyndon B. Johnson's life from 1958 when LBJ was riding high as Senate Majority leader, through the low-point years of 1961-63 when he served a humiliating term as JFK's vice president and then through 1964 when he swiftly took the reins of government following Kennedy's assassination.
Caro details the little-publicized transition period from November 22 through Johnson's State of the Union speech on Jan. 8, 1964. With little preparation time, Johnson faced a number of deadlines to show continuity in the government and then to stamp the administration as his own. The author invites us to go behind the scenes to witness some political wheeling and dealing as Johnson gets the tax bill and the civil rights bill passed after being held up by the Senate's southern leaders.
This is fascinating stuff! I anxiously await Caro's next volume on LBJ (but hope it's not another 10-year wait).