The Years of Lyndon Johnson

In the first volume, The Path to Power, Caro retraced Johnson's early life growing up in the Texas Hill Country and working in Washington, D.C. first as a congressional aide and then as a congressman. Caro's research included renting a house in the Hill Country for three years, living there much of that time, to interview numerous people who knew Johnson and his family, and to better understand the environment in which Johnson had grown up.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/28/the-secrets-of-lyndon-johnsons-archives|title=Robert A. Caro on the Secrets of Lyndon Johnson's Archives|last=Caro|first=Robert A.|date=2019-01-21|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2019-01-26|language=en|issn=0028-792X|df=mdy-all}} This volume covers Johnson's life through his failed 1941 campaign for the United States Senate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertcaro.org/the-path-to-power|title="The Years of Lyndon Johnson I: The Path to Power"}}

This book was released on November 12, 1982. It won the 1982 National Book Critics Circle Award. It was a finalist for the 1983 National Book Award, hardcover autobiography or biography.

[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1983 "National Book Awards – 1983"]. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

In the second volume, Means of Ascent, Caro detailed Johnson's life from the aftermath of Johnson's first bid for the U.S. Senate in 1941 to his election to the Senate in 1948. Much of the book deals with Johnson's bitterly contested Democratic primary against Coke R. Stevenson in that year and the Box 13 scandal. The book was released on March 7, 1990.

{{main|Master of the Senate}}

In the third volume, Master of the Senate, Caro chronicles Johnson's rapid ascent in the United States Congress, including his tenure as Senate majority leader. This 1,167-page work examines in particular Johnson's battle to pass a landmark civil rights bill through Congress without it tearing apart his party, whose southern bloc was anti-civil rights while the northern faction was more supportive of civil rights. Although its scope was limited, the ensuing Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first such legislation since the Reconstruction era.

The book was released on April 23, 2002. It won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, the 2002 National Book Award for Nonfiction,

[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2002 "National Book Awards – 2002"]. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-02-20. (With acceptance speech.) the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography, and the 2002 D.B. Hardeman Prize.{{cite web|title=Recipients of the D. B. Hardeman Prize|url=http://www.lbjlibrary.org/page/foundation/initiatives/recipients-of-the-d-b-hardeman-prize|website=LBJ Foundation|access-date=18 October 2014}}

In the fourth volume, The Passage of Power, Caro covers Johnson's life from 1958 to 1964, the challenges Johnson faced upon his assumption of the presidency, and the significant accomplishments in the months after Kennedy's assassination.{{cite news|last=Kakutani|first=Michiko|title=A Nation's Best and Worst, Forged in a Crucible|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/books/passage-of-power-4th-book-of-caros-johnson-portrait.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&|newspaper=New York Times|date=April 29, 2012}}

The 736-page book was released on May 1, 2012. According to Book Marks, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on fourteen critics: twenty-eight "rave", two "positive", and four "mixed".{{Cite web |title=The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/the-passage-of-power-the-years-of-lyndon-johnson/|access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Book Marks}} The BookScore gave it an aggregated critic score of 8.5 out of 10 from press.{{Cite web |title=The Passage of Power|url=http://thebookscore.net/browse.php?p=3&dir=down|access-date=12 July 2024|website=The BookScore|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130110181850/http://thebookscore.net/browse.php?p=3&dir=down|archive-date=10 Jan 2013}} In the July/August 2012 issue of Bookmarks, the book was scored four out of five. The magazine's critical summary reads: "Despite a few minor flaws, The Passage of Power is a comprehensive and compelling biography".{{Cite web |title=The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Passage+of+Power%3a+The+Years+of+Lyndon+Johnson.-a0324763471|access-date=14 January 2023 |website=Bookmarks}}{{Cite web |title=New books guide|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/New+books+guide.-a0302665058|access-date=14 January 2023 |website=Bookmarks}}

It won the National Book Critics Circle Award (2012; Biography),{{cite web |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/robert-a-caro-ben-fountain-among-national-book-critics-circle-winners/ |title=Robert A. Caro, Ben Fountain Among National Book Critics Circle Winners |work=New York Times |author=John Williams |date=March 1, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2013}} the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (2012; Biography),{{cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-los-angeles-times-book-prize-winners-20130419,0,6759894.story |title=Announcing the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize winners |work=Los Angeles Times |author=Staff writer |author-link=Staff writer |date=April 19, 2013 |access-date=April 21, 2013}} the Mark Lynton History Prize (2013), the American History Book Prize (2013){{cite web |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/another-prize-for-robert-caro/ |title=Another Prize for Robert Caro |work=New York Times |author=Jennifer Schuessler |date=February 20, 2013 |access-date=December 3, 2013}} and the Biographers International Organization's Plutarch Award (2013).{{cite web |url=http://biographersinternational.org/about/annual-awards/the-plutarch-award/ |title=Biographers International Organization, The Plutarch Award |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101928/http://biographersinternational.org/about/annual-awards/the-plutarch-award/ |archive-date=2015-05-18}} It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction (2012).{{cite web |url=http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2012/10/in-the-bookroom/national-book-award-finalists-announced-today/ |title=National Book Award Finalists Announced Today |work=Library Journal |date=October 10, 2012 |access-date=2012-11-15}} It was selected as one of Time magazine's Best Books of the Year (non-fiction #2). It was ranked by the New York Times as #73 in its list of the 100 best books of the 21st century in 2024.{{cite web |title=The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=July 9, 2024 |date=July 8, 2024}}

In November 2011, Caro estimated that the fifth and final volume—expected to treat the remainder of Johnson's presidency and his life thereafter—would require another two to three years to write.{{cite web|title=Caro's fourth LBJ book coming in May|agency=Associated Press|date=November 1, 2011|author=Hillel Italie|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-apnewsbreak-caros-fourth-lbj-book-coming-in-may-2011nov01-story.html}} In March 2013, he affirmed a commitment to completing the series with a fifth volume.{{cite web|title=Catching up with award-winning LBJ biographer Robert Caro|magazine=The Christian Science Monitor|author=Erik Spanberg|date=March 8, 2013|access-date=May 29, 2014|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0308/Catching-up-with-award-winning-LBJ-biographer-Robert-Caro/%28page%29/3}} As of April 2014, he was continuing to research the book.{{cite web|title=Caro, LBJ biographer, is hard at work on book No. 5|newspaper=Austin American-Statesman|author=Patrick Beach|date=April 5, 2014|access-date=May 29, 2014|url=http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/opinion/caro-lbj-biographer-is-hard-at-work-on-book-no-5/nfP6d/}} In a televised interview with C-SPAN in May 2017, Caro confirmed over 400 typed pages as being complete, covering the period 1964–65; and that once he completes the section on Johnson's 1965 and 1966 legislative achievements, he intends to move to Vietnam to continue the writing process.[https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4674916/robert-caro-fifth-lbj-volume Robert Caro on the fifth (and final?) LBJ volume, C-Span]

In an interview with the New York Review of Books in January 2018, Caro said that he was writing about 1965 and 1966 and a non-chronological section about the relationship between Johnson and Bobby Kennedy. Asked if he still planned to visit Vietnam soon, Caro replied: "Not yet, no. This is a very long book. And there's a lot to do before that's necessary. I'm getting close to it now."{{cite web|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/01/16/studies-in-power-an-interview-with-robert-caro/|title='Studies in Power': An Interview with Robert Caro|publisher=The New York Review of Books|author=Claudia Dreifus|date=January 16, 2018|access-date=November 19, 2018}} In December 2018, it was reported that Caro is still "several years from finishing" the volume.{{cite web|url=https://www.apnews.com/ce8aa0cee2ce45b9a3e3f00f78e4a9d3|title=Robert Caro reflects on his career in upcoming book|publisher=Associated Press|author=Hillel Italie|date=December 12, 2018|access-date=December 12, 2018}} In January 2020, Caro said he had "typed 604 manuscript pages so far" and is "currently on a section relating to the creation of Medicare in 1965".{{cite news | last = Schuessler | first = Jennifer | title = Robert Caro's Papers Headed to New-York Historical Society

| newspaper = The New York Times | date = January 8, 2020 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/arts/robert-caro-new-york-historical-society.html}} Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Caro postponed his research trip to Vietnam and a visit to the Johnson Presidential Library, but continued work on the book from his home in Manhattan.{{cite news | last=Italie | first=Hillel | date=May 8, 2020 | title=Robert Caro writes, and waits, during the COVID-19 outbreak | url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/article242599251.html | work=The Charlotte Observer | agency=Associated Press | access-date=May 8, 2020}} In October 2021, Caro said that he was writing about Johnson's passing of Medicare and his escalation of the Vietnam War.{{cite news | last = Helfand | first = Zach | title = Why Robert Caro has only ten typewriters | magazine = The New Yorker | date = October 22, 2021 | url = https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/01/why-robert-caro-now-has-only-ten-typewriters | access-date = November 9, 2021}} In December 2022, Caro related that he still hoped to conduct research in Vietnam.{{cite news |title=Caro still working away on fifth LBJ book, no pub date set |url=https://apnews.com/article/robert-caro-lbj-60e2a56d90e96caaf001862e49e3c673 |work=AP News |date=20 December 2022 |language=en}} Robert Gottlieb, Caro’s editor for more than fifty years, died in June 2023; a spokesperson for Caro said that he was “continuing his work on Volume 5 with limited interruption”.{{cite web | url = https://apnews.com/article/robert-caro-lyndon-johnson-book-editor-a8c4d210dd1582494a4146505df2d298 | title = Robert Caro's last book on LBJ likely won't be delayed by editor Robert Gottlieb's death | last = Italie | first = Hillel | date = 2023-06-15 | website = AP | access-date = 2024-02-05}}

In a September 2024 interview for the 50th anniversary of his book The Power Broker, Caro revealed that he was steadily making progress on the fifth book, but was re-writing sections related to the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. and still had a substantial amount of work to finish when it came to writing about the Vietnam War.{{cite web | url = https://www.curbed.com/article/robert-caro-power-broker-lyndon-johnson-book-interview.html | title = In the Shack With Robert Caro The Power Broker is turning 50. The final LBJ book is almost — well, he won’t say. But he’s trying for 900 words a day. | last = Bonanos | first = Christopher | date = September 11, 2024 | website = Curbed | access-date = September 26, 2024}} He also revealed in separate interviews that he had completed sections related to Medicare and was receiving digital versions of Vietnam-era documents from the Johnson Presidential Library.{{cite web | url = https://www.npr.org/2024/09/30/nx-s1-5123695/the-power-broker-robert-caro-new-book-democracy | title = 'The Power Broker' at 50 — and what author Robert Caro is still uncovering | last = Kenin, Scott, Detrow | first = Justine, Brianna, Scott | date = September 30, 2024 | website = NPR | access-date = October 3, 2024}}

Caro provided a few more updates in a February 2025 interview with Smithsonian magazine, where he revealed that he had written 980 pages for his manuscript. He also revealed that he was still working on sections for the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, from its management from Senator Russell Long to its passage through the Senate, and that he planned on embarking his trip to Vietnam once he finished those sections. He also clarified that while he will not allow someone else to finish his work, he will release whatever he's completed to the public if he does pass away.{{cite web | url = https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rifling-through-archives-legendary-historian-robert-caro-180985956/ | title = Rifling Through the Archives With Legendary Historian Robert Caro | last = Heath | first = Chris | date = February 11, 2025 | website = Smithsonian | access-date = February 13, 2025}}

Throughout the biography, Caro examines the acquisition and use of political power in American democracy, from the perspective both of those who wield it and those who are at its mercy. In an interview with Kurt Vonnegut and Daniel Stern, he once said: "I was never interested in writing biography just to show the life of a great man," saying he wanted instead "to use biography as a means of illuminating the times and the great forces that shape the times—particularly political power."{{cite journal|title= The Round Table: Fiction, Biography And The Use Of Power|journal=Hampton Shorts|editor=Barbara Stone|publisher=Hamptons Literary Publications|location=Water Mill, N.Y.|year=1999|volume=IV|url=http://www.robertacaro.com/newvan.htm|isbn=0-9658652-2-3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314183134/http://www.robertacaro.com/newvan.htm|archive-date=March 14, 2012}}

There are plans for a Chinese translation of the series, collectively known under the title Lindeng Yuehanxun, published by Beijing-based Xiron Books. Chengdu resident He Yujia took four months to translate the first volume. She had not learned a significant amount of information about Lyndon Johnson in her formal education, and in accordance with her usual approach to translating non-fiction, she translated material as she read it instead of reading the entire work and then translating it. In late 2018, she spent four months translating the second volume, Jinjie zhi Ti ("Means of Ascent"), but as of 2020 the publisher still has not released the translation. Nor has He Yujia received financial remuneration for her work. Peter Hessler argued that this could be related to a decline in China-United States relations.{{cite magazine|last=Hessler|first=Peter|authorlink=Peter Hessler|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/10/chinas-lbj-cliffhanger|title=China's L.B.J. Cliffhanger|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2020-02-03|accessdate=2021-10-07}}

Politicians have responded strongly to The Years of Lyndon Johnson:

• Bill Clinton, former President of the United States, wrote of The Passage of Power: "In sparkling detail, Caro shows the new president's genius for getting to people—friends, foes and everyone in between—and how he used it to achieve his goals."{{Cite news |last=Clinton |first=Bill |date=2012-05-02 |title=Seat of Power |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/books/review/the-passage-of-power-robert-caros-new-lbj-book.html |access-date=2022-05-27 |issn=0362-4331}}
• Walter Mondale, a former US vice president, described Master of the Senate as a "superb work of history."
• Richard Nixon, former President of the United States, called The Path to Power a "terrible book", expressing disbelief at its popularity and saying "it makes [Johnson] feel like a goddamn animal{{nbsp}}... of course, he was."Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/MacmN1EtIPQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130910235601/http://www.youtube.com/watch?rl=yes&v=MacmN1EtIPQ&feature=relmfu&guid=&client=mv-google&hl=en&gl=US Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MacmN1EtIPQ |title=Nixon with no expletives deleted |date=31 July 2013 |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
• Gordon Brown, a former British prime minister, said of the series: "It's a wonderfully written set of books. The stories are quite breathtaking.{{nbsp}}... These books challenge the view of history that politics is just about individual maneuvering. It's about ideas and principled policy achievements. That's what makes it one of the great political biographies."{{cite web |url=http://www.robertcaro.com/the-books/master-of-the-senate/reviews/ |title=Reviews |work=www.robertcaro.com |publisher=Robert A. Caro |access-date=6 November 2015}}
• William Hague, a former British Conservative Party leader and foreign secretary, nominated Means of Ascent as the book he would most like to have with him on a desert island, in the BBC Radio 4 program Desert Island Discs. He later wrote: "I explained that it was the best political biography of any kind, that I had ever read. I said it conveyed more brilliantly than any other publication what it really feels like to be a politician.{{nbsp}}... When a fourth volume finally completes the set, this will be nothing short of a magnificent history of 20th century America."
• Michael Howard, another former Conservative Party leader, encountered the series after swapping houses with Caro for a holiday. He said, "For Caro, writing a biography is writing a thriller—in Johnson's case, a Western. You can't stop turning the pages. He doesn't like Johnson, but the facts are there so you can make your own judgments. I can't recommend this book highly enough."
• Beau Willimon, who created the American version of the political drama television series House of Cards, said he had drawn inspiration for the series from The Years of Lyndon Johnson.{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/28/showbiz/tv/beau-willimon-house-of-cards-q-and-a/index.html|title=House of Cards creator Beau Willimon plays a solid hand|access-date=October 2, 2013|date=August 28, 2013|publisher=CNN |last=Leopold |first=Todd}} In the last episode of the first season, a copy of The Passage of Power can be seen lying on the desk of protagonist Frank Underwood.{{cite web |last1=Moseley |first1=Tolly |title=How LBJ's ghost haunts 'House of Cards' |url=https://www.statesman.com/article/20140222/NEWS/302229698 |website=Austin American-Statesman |access-date=19 April 2020 |language=en}}

{{Portalbar|United States|Literature|Biography}}

• All the Way – play

• Caro, Robert A., The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power. 1982. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. ({{ISBN|0-679-72945-3}}). xxiii + 882 p. + 48 p. of plates: illus.
• Caro, Robert A., The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent. 1990. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. ({{ISBN|0-679-73371-X}}). xxxiv + 506 pp.
• Caro, Robert A., The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Senate. 2002. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. ({{ISBN|0-394-72095-4}}). xxiv + 1167 pp.
• Caro, Robert A., The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power. 2012. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. ({{ISBN|0-375-71325-5}}). 736 pp.

{{Reflist}}

{{external media| float = right|video1 = Means of Ascent
[https://www.c-span.org/video/?12086-1/means-ascent Booknotes interview with Caro on Means of Ascent, April 29, 1990], C-SPAN| video2 = Master of the Senate
[https://www.c-span.org/video/?108573-1/featured-guest Washington Journal interview with Caro on the writing of his third volume, July 13, 1998], C-SPAN| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?173866-4/master-senate Interview with Caro on Master of the Senate at the Texas Book Festival, November 16, 2002], C-SPAN| video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?176694-1/master-senate Presentation by Caro on Master of the Senate at the Library of Congress, May 20, 2003], C-SPAN| video5 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?178467-14/master-senate Presentation by Caro on Master of the Senate at the National Book Festival, October 4, 2003], C-SPAN| video6 = The Passage of Power
[http://www.c-span.org/video/?283017-1/qa-robert-caro Q&A interview with Caro about the writing of his fourth volume, January 4, 2009], C-SPAN| video7 = [http://www.c-span.org/video/?305534-1/qa-robert-caro-part-1 Part one of C-SPAN Q&A interview with Caro about the finished book, The Passage of Power, May 6, 2012], C-SPAN | video8 = [http://www.c-span.org/video/?305534-2/qa-robert-caro-part-2 Part two of C-SPAN Q&A interview with Caro about The Passage of Power, May 20, 2012], C-SPAN | video9 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?308235-4/the-passage-power Presentation by Caro on The Passage of Power at the National Book Festival, September 22, 2012], C-SPAN | video10 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?308235-5/the-passage-power Interview with Caro on The Passage of Power at the National Book Festival, September 22, 2012], C-SPAN | video11 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?316295-1/open-phones-robert-caro Interview with Caro on The Passage of Power, November 24, 2013], C-SPAN}}

• [https://www.robertcaro.org/books Official website of Robert Caro]
• [https://www.c-span.org/video/?169199-1/depth-robert-caro In Depth interview with Caro, April 7, 2002]

{{Robert Caro}}

{{Lyndon B. Johnson|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Years of Lyndon Johnson, The}}

Category:1982 non-fiction books

Category:1990 non-fiction books

Category:2002 non-fiction books

Category:American biographies

Category:Biographies about politicians

Category:Books about Lyndon B. Johnson

Category:Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography–winning works

Category:National Book Award for Nonfiction–winning works

Category:National Book Critics Circle Award–winning works

Category:Multi-volume biographies

Category:2012 non-fiction books

Category:Book series introduced in 1982

Category:Alfred A. Knopf books