The Path to Power

The Years of Lyndon Johnson

By: Robert A. Caro

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.

In this book, we are brought as close as we have ever been to a true perception of political genius and the American political process. Means of Ascent, Book Two of The Years of Lyndon Johnson, was a number-one national best seller and, like The Path to Power, received the National Book Critics Circle Award.

©1981, 1982 Robert A. Caro, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Most in depth Biography Ever Concieved

Robert Caro is truly one of the best biographers who ever lived. Amazing series and truly inspiring research effort. If political prowess and machinations of power were ever a wonder you held, Caro does his damndest to show you where it's starts and how it develops. I wish he was immortal so he could illustrate the public of more prominent people that seek power. The public truly has no idea how Presidents like the fascinating Lyndon Johnson view and move through the world. They would benefit floating around in Caro's head in how he understands things. The man is unmatched.

Enlightening information

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The reader casts a spell that makes you feel like you are in the story. It is enlightening to learn how little has changed in Washington.

Every Word, Every Page: Perfection

I am heading straight to the next book in this series, Means of Ascent, but I cannot imagine anything better than the book I just finished.

Caro knows LBJ !

It’s incredible how so much detail can be attained and complied so meticulously on a man’s life, at home and political career. LBJ is painted as a self-promoting chameleon who changed his colors based on what elevates him in his only interest... power. No virtues permanently adhered LBJ to any political beliefs: liberal or conservative, joining political movements that helped propel him like The New Deal, to dropping it abruptly when he realized he no longer needed it to climb his ladder and trashing it when he realized doing so may help him attain yet more power. It also seems he was the man who took the DNC from the useless 19th century operation to the effective way it’s used today. It was well read.

Top 5 Favorites

This is one audio book I couldn't stop listening to. Robert Caro's genuius shines here