"He has the Bunton strain."
April 7, 2012 6:50 PM Subscribe
Robert Caro has been working on his biographical series The Years of Lyndon Johnson for about 35 years. The long-awaited fourth volume, "The Passage of Power," is due out on May 1. It covers Johnson's vice presidency and his ascension to the presidency after John F. Kennedy's assassination. An excerpt from the book concerning the events of Nov. 22, 1963, was published in the April 2 issue of The New Yorker. This volume's predecessor, “Master of the Senate,” was published in 2002 and earned Caro a Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Caro writes in the introduction to the first book in the series, “The Path to Power”:
Knowing Lyndon Baines Johnson—understanding the character of the thirty-sixth President of the United States—is essential to understanding the history of the United States in the twentieth century.
Johnson was born in 1908 in the hardscrabble Texas hill country, an area so remote that most residents didn't even have electricity until the late 1930s. Unlike another president who identifies himself with Texas, Lyndon Johnson pulled himself up out of a life of little opportunity, becoming a teacher, and then pursuing elected office, inspired by his father's service in the Texas legislature. From a very young age, he knew he wanted to be president, and did everything from ingratiating himself with anybody who could help him gain influence to taking enormous, undocumented donations to, many allege, stealing elections to achieve that goal.
Caro also earned a Pulitzer for his 1974 doorstop of a tome on Robert Moses, "The Power Broker." In that book, he exhaustively details the life of a man who started his career in the path of public service, and was ultimately transformed into a person who acquired power for its own sake. Moses' legacy on the New York infrastructure is still debated.
A fifth Johnson volume is promised by the publisher, and if it follows the frequency already established, we should expect it around 2022.
Knowing Lyndon Baines Johnson—understanding the character of the thirty-sixth President of the United States—is essential to understanding the history of the United States in the twentieth century.
Johnson was born in 1908 in the hardscrabble Texas hill country, an area so remote that most residents didn't even have electricity until the late 1930s. Unlike another president who identifies himself with Texas, Lyndon Johnson pulled himself up out of a life of little opportunity, becoming a teacher, and then pursuing elected office, inspired by his father's service in the Texas legislature. From a very young age, he knew he wanted to be president, and did everything from ingratiating himself with anybody who could help him gain influence to taking enormous, undocumented donations to, many allege, stealing elections to achieve that goal.
Caro also earned a Pulitzer for his 1974 doorstop of a tome on Robert Moses, "The Power Broker." In that book, he exhaustively details the life of a man who started his career in the path of public service, and was ultimately transformed into a person who acquired power for its own sake. Moses' legacy on the New York infrastructure is still debated.
A fifth Johnson volume is promised by the publisher, and if it follows the frequency already established, we should expect it around 2022.
Robert Caro is a Master. The first three volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson are some of the best books I've ever read. I saw the excerpt in the New Yorker on the newstand and was so excited I almost did a back flip. I bought it and read the Hell out of it, and come May 1st I will be buying Volume 4 as fast as I can.
Caro is 77 years old. In 2022 he'll be 87. Live, Mr. Caro! Live to complete your masterpiece!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 7:01 PM on April 7, 2012 [6 favorites]
Caro is 77 years old. In 2022 he'll be 87. Live, Mr. Caro! Live to complete your masterpiece!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 7:01 PM on April 7, 2012 [6 favorites]
Yesssssss. I'm in the middle of Means of Ascent and these are utterly fascinating books. It's amazing how much of liar, coward, and general scumbag Johnson was, someone utterly, utterly dedicated towards amassing power, often with not particular purpose, except the long view. I wish I had a tenth of his dedication and drive. I will say this, though. Whatever Johnson did, whatever office he held, be it school teacher or Congressman, he took it very, very seriously, and never shirked or slacked.
(Not to mention Caro's drive, working on this piece for 35 years.)
posted by Snyder at 7:03 PM on April 7, 2012
(Not to mention Caro's drive, working on this piece for 35 years.)
posted by Snyder at 7:03 PM on April 7, 2012
wonder if he ever got Moyers to talk... (...googling)... guess not, or at least, not on anything of substance:
HEFFNER: So why does Bob Caro want so much to sit down and talk with Bill Moyers?
MOYERS: I suppose it gives him a first … a witness to history that he would find useful in his … in, in, in his work. I don’t know. But Bob Caro did call me. The only time I’ve talked to Bob … he called one day and he wanted to … he said “I don’t want to talk about LBJ. I want to talk about the environment of a certain meeting at the, at the Johnson ranch.” And I said “That’s fine, I’ll do what I can."
posted by Auden at 7:11 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
HEFFNER: So why does Bob Caro want so much to sit down and talk with Bill Moyers?
MOYERS: I suppose it gives him a first … a witness to history that he would find useful in his … in, in, in his work. I don’t know. But Bob Caro did call me. The only time I’ve talked to Bob … he called one day and he wanted to … he said “I don’t want to talk about LBJ. I want to talk about the environment of a certain meeting at the, at the Johnson ranch.” And I said “That’s fine, I’ll do what I can."
posted by Auden at 7:11 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
I am giddy. Path to Power and Means of Ascent were cental literary experiences of my college years. Master of the Senate felt interstitial, but this is what it has all been leading up to.
posted by MattD at 7:16 PM on April 7, 2012
posted by MattD at 7:16 PM on April 7, 2012
Am I missing something here -- the excerpt shows up as behind a paywall at the New Yorker site; is there a separate link or just not an excerpt?
posted by dancestoblue at 7:25 PM on April 7, 2012
posted by dancestoblue at 7:25 PM on April 7, 2012
Johnson was born in 1908 in the hardscrabble Texas hill country, an area so remote that most residents didn't even have electricity until the late 1930s.
A fact that resulted in extraordinary physical hardships for the residents.
For his role in helping bring electricity to the region, Johnson was deified.
posted by Trurl at 7:27 PM on April 7, 2012
A fact that resulted in extraordinary physical hardships for the residents.
For his role in helping bring electricity to the region, Johnson was deified.
posted by Trurl at 7:27 PM on April 7, 2012
I hope Caro includes the parts where LBJ discusses Vietnam strategy with aides while defecating.
posted by Renoroc at 7:28 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Renoroc at 7:28 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
Related: LBJ buys a pair of pants
I'm more of a JFK kinda guy in general, but LBJ's story is no less interesting. My mom met him "by accident" while he was touring Seattle in 1964. (Grandpa was pretty well connected with the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and arranged a press pass for Mom, who was a reporter for her high school newspaper) She managed to locate the elevator where the President was scheduled to exit, which was completely unsecured (other than the Secret Service agents riding in the elevator with him)
When they stepped out of the elevator, they were completely shocked to see a teenage girl reporter and her photographer there to ambush him for a handshake photo. My mom describes Johnson's face at first showing his "hangdog" expression, looking as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders (which, of course, he did) But upon realizing what was happening, he quickly snapped out of it, and put on his genial "nice to meet ya, little lady!" expression.
The Handshake
posted by ShutterBun at 8:01 PM on April 7, 2012 [16 favorites]
I'm more of a JFK kinda guy in general, but LBJ's story is no less interesting. My mom met him "by accident" while he was touring Seattle in 1964. (Grandpa was pretty well connected with the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and arranged a press pass for Mom, who was a reporter for her high school newspaper) She managed to locate the elevator where the President was scheduled to exit, which was completely unsecured (other than the Secret Service agents riding in the elevator with him)
When they stepped out of the elevator, they were completely shocked to see a teenage girl reporter and her photographer there to ambush him for a handshake photo. My mom describes Johnson's face at first showing his "hangdog" expression, looking as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders (which, of course, he did) But upon realizing what was happening, he quickly snapped out of it, and put on his genial "nice to meet ya, little lady!" expression.
The Handshake
posted by ShutterBun at 8:01 PM on April 7, 2012 [16 favorites]
"...an area so remote that most residents didn't even have electricity until the late 1930s. "
A about 20% of rural america didn't get electricity till the 50's. In 1930 only 10% of rural america had electricity. A nice chart a few pages into this .pdf shows that the percentage of farms with electricity rose steadily from 30% in 1940 to 80% in 1950.
posted by 445supermag at 8:09 PM on April 7, 2012 [3 favorites]
A about 20% of rural america didn't get electricity till the 50's. In 1930 only 10% of rural america had electricity. A nice chart a few pages into this .pdf shows that the percentage of farms with electricity rose steadily from 30% in 1940 to 80% in 1950.
posted by 445supermag at 8:09 PM on April 7, 2012 [3 favorites]
I hope Caro includes the parts where LBJ discusses Vietnam strategy with aides while defecating.
Caro documents how LBJ would hold work meetings with his Senate staff (obviously before he became VP or President) while taking a leak or taking a shit or taking a leak in Master of the Senate, and there is a great excerpt in the New Yorker that's unlocked right now (just can't find the link).
posted by KokuRyu at 8:15 PM on April 7, 2012
Caro documents how LBJ would hold work meetings with his Senate staff (obviously before he became VP or President) while taking a leak or taking a shit or taking a leak in Master of the Senate, and there is a great excerpt in the New Yorker that's unlocked right now (just can't find the link).
posted by KokuRyu at 8:15 PM on April 7, 2012
Thank God. I've been waiting for this book for years. These are the books that piqued my interest in presidential biographies, and they solidified my fascination with LBJ. I've never read anything else that painted so vivid a picture of such a strange and compelling character. He was a complete asshole, but probably had a greater innate understanding of the exercise of power than anyone since. By and large, Caro lays it all out for the reader to judge, but at times seems almost embarrassed to be reporting some of the more unsavory details of LBJ's life. All in all, though, the first three books are masterpieces.
posted by Shohn at 8:27 PM on April 7, 2012
posted by Shohn at 8:27 PM on April 7, 2012
My first actual memory, of there even being such a thing as a President, or anything really for that matter, is watching my mother cry during JFK's funeral procession.
So Johnson was my guy. My first President. I could have done worse.
My memories, however flawed by the passage of time?
-- I just thought holy crap do I not want that guy's job. Everything just fell apart. From the way he got the job, to Vietnam, to civil unrest at home. What a frickin jackpot to end up in. Didn't do a damned thing to cause it, in fact for all his election time bluster, actually was a pretty decent guy all around.
-- It seemed like he was on TV all the time. At that time, the 5:30 news, was just body counts from Vietnam. Guy in a helmet and flack jacket, telling you how many Marines died in that place, that day. It seems Johnson always spoke, saying he thought it was BS too, and he was doing what he could to bring them home.
-- I remember quite clearly, the night he announced he would not run again. Channel 2, Walter Cronkite.
And damn if I wasn't proud of him. Saying pretty much "Fuck this shit. I don't even want this job anymore."
I'm not a Texan, so there is none of that pride involved. I just like a plain spoken politician.
I believe the best compliment I heard paid the man, was in the PBS American Presidents documentary.
I'm paraphrasing here, but it basically said he was our last Great Statesman, the guy who could walk up, throw his arm over your shoulder and say
"Goddammit I just need you to vote with me on this one son..."
I would be cool with people remembering me that way.
posted by timsteil at 8:38 PM on April 7, 2012 [3 favorites]
So Johnson was my guy. My first President. I could have done worse.
My memories, however flawed by the passage of time?
-- I just thought holy crap do I not want that guy's job. Everything just fell apart. From the way he got the job, to Vietnam, to civil unrest at home. What a frickin jackpot to end up in. Didn't do a damned thing to cause it, in fact for all his election time bluster, actually was a pretty decent guy all around.
-- It seemed like he was on TV all the time. At that time, the 5:30 news, was just body counts from Vietnam. Guy in a helmet and flack jacket, telling you how many Marines died in that place, that day. It seems Johnson always spoke, saying he thought it was BS too, and he was doing what he could to bring them home.
-- I remember quite clearly, the night he announced he would not run again. Channel 2, Walter Cronkite.
And damn if I wasn't proud of him. Saying pretty much "Fuck this shit. I don't even want this job anymore."
I'm not a Texan, so there is none of that pride involved. I just like a plain spoken politician.
I believe the best compliment I heard paid the man, was in the PBS American Presidents documentary.
I'm paraphrasing here, but it basically said he was our last Great Statesman, the guy who could walk up, throw his arm over your shoulder and say
"Goddammit I just need you to vote with me on this one son..."
I would be cool with people remembering me that way.
posted by timsteil at 8:38 PM on April 7, 2012 [3 favorites]
Johnson was (arguably) the best and the worst president of the 20th century--it's a hell of a legacy. And, equally arguably, both those titles are because he always committed to actually doing the things Kennedy flirted with. Kennedy talked a good game on civil rights, but folded whenever it got tough; Johnson spent a whole lot of political capital, twisted a lot of arms, and made it happen. Similarly, Kennedy sent troops to Vietnam, but never so many he couldn't stroll out if things got too heated; Johnson went all in on winning the war, which turned out to be impossible.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 8:56 PM on April 7, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 8:56 PM on April 7, 2012 [2 favorites]
Am I missing something here -- the excerpt shows up as behind a paywall at the New Yorker site; is there a separate link or just not an excerpt?
It's behind a paywall. This is the second time in several days when someone has linked to it, but I can't read it.
posted by pmurray63 at 9:07 PM on April 7, 2012
It's behind a paywall. This is the second time in several days when someone has linked to it, but I can't read it.
posted by pmurray63 at 9:07 PM on April 7, 2012
My recollection of Caro's Johnson bio's is that until he could command obedience he was the greatest ass kisser his peers had ever seen.
LBJ is presented as the end member of the set of everybody you ever hated with fullest fury.
posted by bukvich at 9:09 PM on April 7, 2012 [2 favorites]
LBJ is presented as the end member of the set of everybody you ever hated with fullest fury.
posted by bukvich at 9:09 PM on April 7, 2012 [2 favorites]
I remember a picture of him on his Texas ranch, after he was out of office, his hair long, curling behind his ears, the story was that he knew he'd been out of touch with the times and didn't really know the number of the bus that hit him and he was sitting out there scratching himself, wanting to be someone he had not been.
In a David Foster Wallace collection of short stories "Girl With Curious Hair" is a story -- Lyndon -- telling of an aide of LBJ, and through the story woven of the aide and Johnson was one hell of a portrait of LBJ.
Wonderfully long excerpt of Lyndon, starting from the first page of the story, on Google books here.)
Fiction, and I don't know how much license was taken, did Wallace dig in and get facts to base this story upon? In any case, a great piece of writing, I can scarce think of LBJ without picturing the character Wallace painted.
posted by dancestoblue at 9:42 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
In a David Foster Wallace collection of short stories "Girl With Curious Hair" is a story -- Lyndon -- telling of an aide of LBJ, and through the story woven of the aide and Johnson was one hell of a portrait of LBJ.
Wonderfully long excerpt of Lyndon, starting from the first page of the story, on Google books here.)
Fiction, and I don't know how much license was taken, did Wallace dig in and get facts to base this story upon? In any case, a great piece of writing, I can scarce think of LBJ without picturing the character Wallace painted.
posted by dancestoblue at 9:42 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
The story Lyndon starts with the aide being interviewed by LBJ. Look at the words that Wallace puts into Johnson's mouth:
He leaned over his desk at me. He looked like a big predatory bird.
'My name is Lyndon Baines Johnson, son. I am the Senator to the United States Senate from the state of Texas, U.S.A. I am the twenty-seventh richest personal man in the nation. I got the biggest wazoo in Washington and the wife with the prettiest name. So I don't care who your wife's Daddy knows -- don't you slouch at this Senator, boy.'
posted by dancestoblue at 10:02 PM on April 7, 2012
He leaned over his desk at me. He looked like a big predatory bird.
'My name is Lyndon Baines Johnson, son. I am the Senator to the United States Senate from the state of Texas, U.S.A. I am the twenty-seventh richest personal man in the nation. I got the biggest wazoo in Washington and the wife with the prettiest name. So I don't care who your wife's Daddy knows -- don't you slouch at this Senator, boy.'
posted by dancestoblue at 10:02 PM on April 7, 2012
Here's a link to the unlocked Caro pieces in the New Yorker.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:06 PM on April 7, 2012
posted by KokuRyu at 10:06 PM on April 7, 2012
LBJ is presented as the end member of the set of everybody you ever hated with fullest fury.
...with the unspoken tragedian twist being that he is, you know, the guy that got civil rights actually in place. World's biggest asshole: savior of the nation, and such. If I understand things correctly, that is, and with respect to the books only and specifically.
It's a great story, and Caro is acclaimed as meticulous and unsparing. I can't help but sorta wonder, is that really the case? I mean, are Caro's laurels and brickbats the ones we see most clearly because of the persuasiveness of his work? Are there serious critics of Caro's work?
I read the recent New Yorker excerpt and, yeah, that was some fine writing. I had a specific Seattle-local curiosity that the article didn't address and which I forgot about until just now: the Museum of Flight has an LBJ Air Force One in the collection, and available for walk through. It is specifically described as remodeled to meet some LBJ requirements (there is an elevated and variable elevation seat installed for him in the common area, a motorized flying throne, if you will).
Reading the piece, I wondered, is that plane the same one he was sworn in on? I am kinda guessing no, since I don't recall that from the interpretive material at the museum. But the possible psychological connection between that silly seat and the swearing in ceremony, that is legit.
posted by mwhybark at 10:08 PM on April 7, 2012
...with the unspoken tragedian twist being that he is, you know, the guy that got civil rights actually in place. World's biggest asshole: savior of the nation, and such. If I understand things correctly, that is, and with respect to the books only and specifically.
It's a great story, and Caro is acclaimed as meticulous and unsparing. I can't help but sorta wonder, is that really the case? I mean, are Caro's laurels and brickbats the ones we see most clearly because of the persuasiveness of his work? Are there serious critics of Caro's work?
I read the recent New Yorker excerpt and, yeah, that was some fine writing. I had a specific Seattle-local curiosity that the article didn't address and which I forgot about until just now: the Museum of Flight has an LBJ Air Force One in the collection, and available for walk through. It is specifically described as remodeled to meet some LBJ requirements (there is an elevated and variable elevation seat installed for him in the common area, a motorized flying throne, if you will).
Reading the piece, I wondered, is that plane the same one he was sworn in on? I am kinda guessing no, since I don't recall that from the interpretive material at the museum. But the possible psychological connection between that silly seat and the swearing in ceremony, that is legit.
posted by mwhybark at 10:08 PM on April 7, 2012
I seem to remember that Johnson, as well as Nixon, had an almost complete physical breakdown after leaving the presidency. The presidents are fascinating to me because of those kinds of things. How the job itself takes a physical toll on the individual. It seems like Reagan was the first to rely a little more heavily on staff for things.
Whatever Johnson did, whatever office he held, be it school teacher or Congressman, he took it very, very seriously, and never shirked or slacked.
That's my impression too. If there was bad news, he got on the TV and reported it himself. On youtube, there are lots of clips of him reading reports that go something like "at quarter past 2am this morning, I telephoned the governor of Illinois and requested that airwing 124 be activated and made ready to depart within 24 hour notice upon my order with 4,500 pounds of ordnance and rations to be delivered..." and on and on.
I also respect that he made very clear the distinction between his personal politics and the decisions he made as "your president". He was, I think even by his own admission, quite the racist, yet he knew the President of the US, at that time, HAD to pass the Civil Rights Act because it was the right thing to do. I think that's a rare sort of wisdom that the vast majority of politicians before and after lack.
posted by gjc at 10:08 PM on April 7, 2012 [5 favorites]
Whatever Johnson did, whatever office he held, be it school teacher or Congressman, he took it very, very seriously, and never shirked or slacked.
That's my impression too. If there was bad news, he got on the TV and reported it himself. On youtube, there are lots of clips of him reading reports that go something like "at quarter past 2am this morning, I telephoned the governor of Illinois and requested that airwing 124 be activated and made ready to depart within 24 hour notice upon my order with 4,500 pounds of ordnance and rations to be delivered..." and on and on.
I also respect that he made very clear the distinction between his personal politics and the decisions he made as "your president". He was, I think even by his own admission, quite the racist, yet he knew the President of the US, at that time, HAD to pass the Civil Rights Act because it was the right thing to do. I think that's a rare sort of wisdom that the vast majority of politicians before and after lack.
posted by gjc at 10:08 PM on April 7, 2012 [5 favorites]
Museum of Flight info page on SAM-970.
"By 1962, SAM 970 was replaced by a newer Boeing VC-137C. But SAM 970 remained in the presidential fleet ferrying VIPs and the Vice-President until June of 1996."
It is interesting to me that the web presence does not mention the seat. I wonder if that could be apocrypha to one extent or another. The plane certainly does have such a seat.
This obit of Col. J.B. Swindon, the pilot on that flight from Dallas to DC, notes "The airplane survives today, and can be seen at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. SAM 26000 is the crown jewel of a hangar dedicated to Presidential aircraft at the Museum. If you ride the shuttle to the Presidential hangar, you can still see where Swindal's crewmen cut the back bulkhead of 26000."
The Seattle 707 is definitely not that plane.
posted by mwhybark at 10:31 PM on April 7, 2012
"By 1962, SAM 970 was replaced by a newer Boeing VC-137C. But SAM 970 remained in the presidential fleet ferrying VIPs and the Vice-President until June of 1996."
It is interesting to me that the web presence does not mention the seat. I wonder if that could be apocrypha to one extent or another. The plane certainly does have such a seat.
This obit of Col. J.B. Swindon, the pilot on that flight from Dallas to DC, notes "The airplane survives today, and can be seen at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. SAM 26000 is the crown jewel of a hangar dedicated to Presidential aircraft at the Museum. If you ride the shuttle to the Presidential hangar, you can still see where Swindal's crewmen cut the back bulkhead of 26000."
The Seattle 707 is definitely not that plane.
posted by mwhybark at 10:31 PM on April 7, 2012
I read it in the print edition the other day, and it was a particularly powerful piece of writing. It's an event I've seen described a million times, but this was from a very different perspective and more moving for that.
posted by Forktine at 10:49 PM on April 7, 2012
posted by Forktine at 10:49 PM on April 7, 2012
"Johnson's ambition was uncommon—in the degree to which it was unencumbered by even the slightest excess weight of ideology, of philosophy, of principles, of beliefs."
--Robert Caro
Paging Mr./Ms. Progressive: Clean-up in aisle 3...
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:50 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
--Robert Caro
Paging Mr./Ms. Progressive: Clean-up in aisle 3...
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:50 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
Master of the Senate felt interstitial, but this is what it has all been leading up to.
I sort of disagree on this, and I think the fact that Caro took the longest over that volume backs me up a little. I'm not sure if you understand LBJ as VP and subsequently President without understanding him as Senate Majority Leader; and I'm not sure if you really grasp the politics of the era without reacquainting yourself with the power of the Senate at that point in time. Johnson's understanding of its dynamics carried through into the White House and, in turn, changed those dynamics forever.
posted by holgate at 10:52 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
I sort of disagree on this, and I think the fact that Caro took the longest over that volume backs me up a little. I'm not sure if you understand LBJ as VP and subsequently President without understanding him as Senate Majority Leader; and I'm not sure if you really grasp the politics of the era without reacquainting yourself with the power of the Senate at that point in time. Johnson's understanding of its dynamics carried through into the White House and, in turn, changed those dynamics forever.
posted by holgate at 10:52 PM on April 7, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's amazing how much of liar, coward, and general scumbag Johnson was
Similar to Nixon and Hitler biographies, I have a hard time getting excited about spending months of days with this person, forever reaching new heights of righteous outrage. There are so many other deserving but neglected biographies. I'd rather read a short bio and move on. With that said, if a writer is good enough, it becomes more than just about one person, similar to Nixonland, which is an incredible retelling of 1960s American culture and politics.
posted by stbalbach at 11:35 PM on April 7, 2012
Similar to Nixon and Hitler biographies, I have a hard time getting excited about spending months of days with this person, forever reaching new heights of righteous outrage. There are so many other deserving but neglected biographies. I'd rather read a short bio and move on. With that said, if a writer is good enough, it becomes more than just about one person, similar to Nixonland, which is an incredible retelling of 1960s American culture and politics.
posted by stbalbach at 11:35 PM on April 7, 2012
Are there serious critics of Caro's work?
I'm not one of them, as I've never read any of his books, but Caro and his huge, multivolume LBJ biography are the platonic ideal of what I picture when I'm thinking about American history, or browsing the shelves at my local library. They're not particularly inviting, to be honest.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:44 AM on April 8, 2012
I'm not one of them, as I've never read any of his books, but Caro and his huge, multivolume LBJ biography are the platonic ideal of what I picture when I'm thinking about American history, or browsing the shelves at my local library. They're not particularly inviting, to be honest.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:44 AM on April 8, 2012
Are there serious critics of Caro's work?
I don't know about his LBJ bio, but I know Kenneth Jackson is critical of his Robert Moses bio, The Power Broker. I took Jackson's History of the City of New York long, long ago, and the Power Broker (which is an enormous book) was our assigned spring break reading. The first class after break was a lecture about all the things Jackson thought Caro got wrong. It's been awhile, but as I recall, Jackson told us he wrote a negative review of the book, and Caro never forgave him. I certainly can't judge which of two great historians is right, but it's a hell of a book.
posted by Mavri at 5:22 AM on April 8, 2012
I don't know about his LBJ bio, but I know Kenneth Jackson is critical of his Robert Moses bio, The Power Broker. I took Jackson's History of the City of New York long, long ago, and the Power Broker (which is an enormous book) was our assigned spring break reading. The first class after break was a lecture about all the things Jackson thought Caro got wrong. It's been awhile, but as I recall, Jackson told us he wrote a negative review of the book, and Caro never forgave him. I certainly can't judge which of two great historians is right, but it's a hell of a book.
posted by Mavri at 5:22 AM on April 8, 2012
mwhybark -- The airplane that served as Air Force One on the day JFK was shot is at the National Museum of the Air Force on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.. It's also the plane where the famous photo of LBJ taking the oath of the office was taken.
You can actually walk through the plane, which has been preserved as it was on that day. What's fascinating is you also see they had to literally cut out a section of the interior in order to fit JFK's coffin. It's surreal and sad at the same time.
posted by zooropa at 6:16 AM on April 8, 2012
You can actually walk through the plane, which has been preserved as it was on that day. What's fascinating is you also see they had to literally cut out a section of the interior in order to fit JFK's coffin. It's surreal and sad at the same time.
posted by zooropa at 6:16 AM on April 8, 2012
Are there serious critics of Caro's work?
There are indeed. The first two volumes of the LBJ biography were criticised for being too hostile to Johnson, portraying him as an unprincipled monster with an insatiable desire for power. Caro tries to redress the balance in the third volume by arguing that there were 'bright threads gleaming in a dark tapestry' -- in other words, that Johnson was an unprincipled monster with an insatiable desire for power who also happened to be capable of genuine compassion -- but he never explains convincingly how the different aspects of Johnson's character fit together.
None of this diminishes my admiration for Caro's biography, which I think is a superb achievement. I also think it raises genuinely interesting questions about politics and power: e.g. which is better, an opportunist (Johnson) who understands how power works and can use it to achieve real progress, or an idealist (Obama) who can't translate his ideals into meaningful change? But Caro's magnificent obsession with LBJ is an unrepeatable achievement and shouldn't be taken as the gold standard for how political biography ought to be written.
posted by verstegan at 6:19 AM on April 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
There are indeed. The first two volumes of the LBJ biography were criticised for being too hostile to Johnson, portraying him as an unprincipled monster with an insatiable desire for power. Caro tries to redress the balance in the third volume by arguing that there were 'bright threads gleaming in a dark tapestry' -- in other words, that Johnson was an unprincipled monster with an insatiable desire for power who also happened to be capable of genuine compassion -- but he never explains convincingly how the different aspects of Johnson's character fit together.
None of this diminishes my admiration for Caro's biography, which I think is a superb achievement. I also think it raises genuinely interesting questions about politics and power: e.g. which is better, an opportunist (Johnson) who understands how power works and can use it to achieve real progress, or an idealist (Obama) who can't translate his ideals into meaningful change? But Caro's magnificent obsession with LBJ is an unrepeatable achievement and shouldn't be taken as the gold standard for how political biography ought to be written.
posted by verstegan at 6:19 AM on April 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
-- I remember quite clearly, the night he announced he would not run again. Channel 2, Walter Cronkite.
*checks immediately to see if a Chicagoan.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:29 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
*checks immediately to see if a Chicagoan.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:29 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Been waiting for this for a while.
Was watching The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd and they were caught talking on return from a commercial break. Chuck said sorry--we were geeking out about a new book. Immediately I thought "Caro." Sure enough they brought it up. They were all salivating like I was for the book. I can't remember a book since Rick Perlstein's Nixonland that had me waiting like this.
Why? Caro hews prose. Cuts its out of living rock. He's got to be doing a lot of rewrites to do that. A lot of time per sentence. The New Yorker piece is soooooo good.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:41 AM on April 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
Was watching The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd and they were caught talking on return from a commercial break. Chuck said sorry--we were geeking out about a new book. Immediately I thought "Caro." Sure enough they brought it up. They were all salivating like I was for the book. I can't remember a book since Rick Perlstein's Nixonland that had me waiting like this.
Why? Caro hews prose. Cuts its out of living rock. He's got to be doing a lot of rewrites to do that. A lot of time per sentence. The New Yorker piece is soooooo good.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:41 AM on April 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
Similar to Nixon and Hitler biographies, I have a hard time getting excited about spending months of days with this person, forever reaching new heights of righteous outrage.
Maybe it's just me, but what I love about Caro's portrait of LBJ – I'm just up to the start of Master of the Senate – is that he is sort of fantastic at the same time as being appalling, which is certainly not something you'd say about Nixon or Hitler. Somehow, his narcissistic egomania as a very young politician manages to result in the electrification of huge swathes of dirt-poor West Texas; I look forward to discovering if the same dynamic is what fueled his his Civil Rights achievements in this current volume. To an astonishing degree, he will do whatever it takes to find and keep power, and the joy of Caro's work for me is seeing how "whatever it takes" lurches from some of the least ethical to some of the most brilliant and worthy activities on virtually a one-page-to-the-next basis.
posted by oliverburkeman at 8:35 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Maybe it's just me, but what I love about Caro's portrait of LBJ – I'm just up to the start of Master of the Senate – is that he is sort of fantastic at the same time as being appalling, which is certainly not something you'd say about Nixon or Hitler. Somehow, his narcissistic egomania as a very young politician manages to result in the electrification of huge swathes of dirt-poor West Texas; I look forward to discovering if the same dynamic is what fueled his his Civil Rights achievements in this current volume. To an astonishing degree, he will do whatever it takes to find and keep power, and the joy of Caro's work for me is seeing how "whatever it takes" lurches from some of the least ethical to some of the most brilliant and worthy activities on virtually a one-page-to-the-next basis.
posted by oliverburkeman at 8:35 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
The story I always remember about LBJ, perhaps little known, has to do with him hosting a bunch of astronauts from Houston at his ranch in Johnson City. They're all sitting around after dinner, chatting about the Apollo program, and Johnson says "We've built up this incredible capability and yet we're probably going to piss it all away."
Indeed.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 8:41 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Indeed.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 8:41 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
-- I remember quite clearly, the night he announced he would not run again. Channel 2, Walter Cronkite.
*checks immediately to see if a Chicagoan.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:29 AM on April 8 [+] [!]
Chicagoan? Yes.
I would bet, like a fin, you are thnking of Walter Jacobson
posted by timsteil at 8:50 AM on April 8, 2012
*checks immediately to see if a Chicagoan.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:29 AM on April 8 [+] [!]
Chicagoan? Yes.
I would bet, like a fin, you are thnking of Walter Jacobson
posted by timsteil at 8:50 AM on April 8, 2012
Wow, verstegan, that 2002 CJR takedown is a great piece, thanks.
Yet the praise for Caro is not unanimous; his work is controversial and contested. The sides are clearly drawn. Firmly in Caro’s corner are two of the most powerful institutions in American literary life: Alfred A. Knopf, his publisher, which is promoting Master of the Senate as “the most celebrated political biography of our era,” and The New Yorker, which recently ran two long excerpts from Master of the Senate.
But a formidable array of critics have challenged Caro’s portrait of LBJ. Means of Ascent, which deals almost entirely with the 1948 election, was engulfed by criticism when it was published in 1990. “By tilting the tables to make crystal-clear the personal abhorrence he has come to feel for his subject,” David Broder wrote, “[Caro] strains credulity.” “Though Caro likes to present himself as a simple fact collector on a giant scale,” Garry Wills thundered, “he is actually a mythmaker, and what he gives us in this book is a nightmarishly inverted fairy tale.’
The section about Caro's valorization of Johnson's 1948 gubernatorial opponent is pretty scathing:
Published in 1990, Means of Ascent triggered an acrimonious debate. At the heart of it was Caro’s portrait of LBJ’s opponent in the 1948 Senate race—former Governor Coke Stevenson. The architecture of Means of Ascent rests on the assumption that Stevenson was a “legend,” one of the “most beloved figures in the state’s history;” while Johnson was something close to a miscreant...
In a review in The Washington Post, Broder affirmed that Caro made “a persuasive case” that LBJ “stole the victory in the 1948 Senate race.” “That would be enough,” Broder continued, “to satisfy most investigative reporters or exposeminded authors. But Caro wants to write a morality tale, an epic of democracy betrayed. Broder ridiculed Caro’s assertion that Coke Stevenson was “perhaps the most respected public official in the history of Texas.” “Really?” questioned Broder. “Texans to whom I have quoted that line are inclined to hoot.”
Blumenthal’s blistering cover story in The New Republic emphasized Stevenson’s racial views. In his book, Caro mostly ignores Stevenson’s views on race except to say, in passing, that “Stevenson accepted all the southern stereotypes about [the black] race.” But Blumenthal went back and reexamined the chilling details of a case in which a black man was accused of raping a white woman and dragged out of his hospital bed and lynched, and noted that US. Attorney General Francis Biddle urged Stevenson to bring the murderers to trial. Stevenson’s written reply? “Certain members of the Negro race from time to time furnish the setting for mob violence by the outrageous crimes which they commit.”
The avalanche of criticism continued. “Caro reserves information where it would partly exonerate,” Garry Wills wrote in The New York Review of Books, “and produces it only when it further incriminates.” And he lamented Caro’s “unremittingly humorless” pages. “To write of Lyndon Johnson without a sense of humor,” Wills averred, “is like setting a tone-deaf man to write about Mozart.’
Caro responded to this critical onslaught with a disjointed, rambling essay in The New York Times Book Review, which Knopf, in an unusual move for a publisher, modified and inserted in the notes to the paperback edition of Means of Ascent. Caro admitted that Stevenson was a segregationist, but insisted that “civil rights was not an important issue in the campaign.” “To have given significant emphasis to race in this book,” Caro declared, “would have been to wrench the campaign out of its historical context, to have looked at a 1948 event through a lens ground in 1990:’
That was a highly dubious assertion. In The Power Broker, Caro wrote at length about Moses’s racist views toward blacks—not because Moses’s racism was an issue in a political campaign (it wasn’t) but because those views were essential to Moses’s life and work. Caro was right to include Moses’s racist views, and wrong to exclude Stevenson’s. In the furious war of words that enveloped Means of Ascent, Cards detractors were correct on almost every point...
The CJR piece is worth reading in full. Oh, and on the "laborious and frequently sentimental prose":
The pleasure of Path to Power and Means of Ascent does not, by and large, come from the craftsmanship of the writing. As a prose stylist, Caro is not in the same class as Garry Wills, Norman Mailer, Gay Talese, Robert Hughes, or Marshall Frady. Instead, the enjoyment, and the instruction, come from learning about the inner workings of Texas and Washington politics, and in the narrative energy Caro brings to his story—especially in Means of Ascent, which culminates in a thrilling account of Johnson’s theft of the 1948 election.
I've been meaning to dive into Caro's set for years; despite the criticisms it sounds like Means of Ascent is the one to start with.
posted by mediareport at 9:01 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yet the praise for Caro is not unanimous; his work is controversial and contested. The sides are clearly drawn. Firmly in Caro’s corner are two of the most powerful institutions in American literary life: Alfred A. Knopf, his publisher, which is promoting Master of the Senate as “the most celebrated political biography of our era,” and The New Yorker, which recently ran two long excerpts from Master of the Senate.
But a formidable array of critics have challenged Caro’s portrait of LBJ. Means of Ascent, which deals almost entirely with the 1948 election, was engulfed by criticism when it was published in 1990. “By tilting the tables to make crystal-clear the personal abhorrence he has come to feel for his subject,” David Broder wrote, “[Caro] strains credulity.” “Though Caro likes to present himself as a simple fact collector on a giant scale,” Garry Wills thundered, “he is actually a mythmaker, and what he gives us in this book is a nightmarishly inverted fairy tale.’
The section about Caro's valorization of Johnson's 1948 gubernatorial opponent is pretty scathing:
Published in 1990, Means of Ascent triggered an acrimonious debate. At the heart of it was Caro’s portrait of LBJ’s opponent in the 1948 Senate race—former Governor Coke Stevenson. The architecture of Means of Ascent rests on the assumption that Stevenson was a “legend,” one of the “most beloved figures in the state’s history;” while Johnson was something close to a miscreant...
In a review in The Washington Post, Broder affirmed that Caro made “a persuasive case” that LBJ “stole the victory in the 1948 Senate race.” “That would be enough,” Broder continued, “to satisfy most investigative reporters or exposeminded authors. But Caro wants to write a morality tale, an epic of democracy betrayed. Broder ridiculed Caro’s assertion that Coke Stevenson was “perhaps the most respected public official in the history of Texas.” “Really?” questioned Broder. “Texans to whom I have quoted that line are inclined to hoot.”
Blumenthal’s blistering cover story in The New Republic emphasized Stevenson’s racial views. In his book, Caro mostly ignores Stevenson’s views on race except to say, in passing, that “Stevenson accepted all the southern stereotypes about [the black] race.” But Blumenthal went back and reexamined the chilling details of a case in which a black man was accused of raping a white woman and dragged out of his hospital bed and lynched, and noted that US. Attorney General Francis Biddle urged Stevenson to bring the murderers to trial. Stevenson’s written reply? “Certain members of the Negro race from time to time furnish the setting for mob violence by the outrageous crimes which they commit.”
The avalanche of criticism continued. “Caro reserves information where it would partly exonerate,” Garry Wills wrote in The New York Review of Books, “and produces it only when it further incriminates.” And he lamented Caro’s “unremittingly humorless” pages. “To write of Lyndon Johnson without a sense of humor,” Wills averred, “is like setting a tone-deaf man to write about Mozart.’
Caro responded to this critical onslaught with a disjointed, rambling essay in The New York Times Book Review, which Knopf, in an unusual move for a publisher, modified and inserted in the notes to the paperback edition of Means of Ascent. Caro admitted that Stevenson was a segregationist, but insisted that “civil rights was not an important issue in the campaign.” “To have given significant emphasis to race in this book,” Caro declared, “would have been to wrench the campaign out of its historical context, to have looked at a 1948 event through a lens ground in 1990:’
That was a highly dubious assertion. In The Power Broker, Caro wrote at length about Moses’s racist views toward blacks—not because Moses’s racism was an issue in a political campaign (it wasn’t) but because those views were essential to Moses’s life and work. Caro was right to include Moses’s racist views, and wrong to exclude Stevenson’s. In the furious war of words that enveloped Means of Ascent, Cards detractors were correct on almost every point...
The CJR piece is worth reading in full. Oh, and on the "laborious and frequently sentimental prose":
The pleasure of Path to Power and Means of Ascent does not, by and large, come from the craftsmanship of the writing. As a prose stylist, Caro is not in the same class as Garry Wills, Norman Mailer, Gay Talese, Robert Hughes, or Marshall Frady. Instead, the enjoyment, and the instruction, come from learning about the inner workings of Texas and Washington politics, and in the narrative energy Caro brings to his story—especially in Means of Ascent, which culminates in a thrilling account of Johnson’s theft of the 1948 election.
I've been meaning to dive into Caro's set for years; despite the criticisms it sounds like Means of Ascent is the one to start with.
posted by mediareport at 9:01 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
It seemed like he was on TV all the time. At that time, the 5:30 news, was just body counts from Vietnam. Guy in a helmet and flack jacket, telling you how many Marines died in that place, that day.
How times have changed. Now the news represses the body counts.
posted by davidpriest.ca at 9:28 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
How times have changed. Now the news represses the body counts.
posted by davidpriest.ca at 9:28 AM on April 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
I don't really think so. I don't watch daily network news but every Sunday news program, as well as the daily PBS news hour had a moment of silence, with pictures, names, and ages for soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
posted by stratastar at 11:39 AM on April 8, 2012
posted by stratastar at 11:39 AM on April 8, 2012
I am relieved to hear that! What with the military preventing photographs of returning coffins & suchlike, I thought they'd decided they should pretend no one has died.
posted by davidpriest.ca at 11:58 AM on April 9, 2012
posted by davidpriest.ca at 11:58 AM on April 9, 2012
Caro is on the cover of this Sunday's New York Times magazine.
posted by bukvich at 8:48 AM on April 12, 2012
posted by bukvich at 8:48 AM on April 12, 2012
The latest Esquire also has a long article about Caro's obsession.
posted by mediareport at 7:55 AM on April 16, 2012
posted by mediareport at 7:55 AM on April 16, 2012
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