Master of the Senate

Archival Summary & Scope

Pulitzer Prize Winner, 2003
National Book Award Winner, 2002
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner, 2002
*Los Angeles Times* Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years

Book Three of *The Years of Lyndon Johnson*, *Master of the Senate*, chronicles Lyndon Johnson's transformative twelve years (1949-1960) in the United States Senate. Robert Caro offers an unprecedented exploration of legislative power, revealing how Johnson, in his ascent to the presidency, mastered the Senate unlike any leader before him.

Caro dissects Johnson's strategic genius, detailing how he transformed the seniority-bound "unchangeable" Senate into a "whirring legislative machine" under his iron-fisted control, becoming the youngest and most powerful Majority Leader in its history. The narrative delves into Johnson's remarkable ability to reconcile opposing factions—appeasing Southern leaders while gaining the cooperation of liberals like Paul Douglas and Hubert Humphrey—to achieve his goals, including the passage of the first civil rights legislation since 1875. It also exposes the darker aspects of his ambition, such as his ruthless dismantling of New Dealer Leland Olds' career to appease powerful oil interests.

Built on Caro's peerless research, *Master of the Senate* is both a galvanizing portrait of Lyndon Johnson as a volcanic titan of Capitol Hill and a definitive, revelatory study of the nature of personal and legislative power.