Means of Ascent
The Years of Lyndon Johnson
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Means of Ascent
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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Robert A. Caro
About this listen
Robert A. Caro's life of Lyndon Johnson, which began with the greatly acclaimed The Path to Power, also winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, continues - one of the richest, most intensive, and most revealing examinations ever undertaken of an American President. In Means of Ascent, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer/historian, chronicler also of Robert Moses in The Power Broker, carries Johnson through his service in World War II and the foundation of his long-concealed fortune and the facts behind the myths he created about it. But the explosive heart of the book is Caro's revelation of the true story of the fiercely contested 1948 senatorial election, for 40 years shrouded in rumor, which Johnson had to win or face certain political death, and which he did win -- by "the 87 votes that changed history."
Caro makes us witness to a momentous turning point in American politics: the tragic last stand of the old politics versus the new - the politics of issue versus the politics of image, mass manipulation, money and electronic dazzle.
©1990 Robert A. Caro, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.What listeners say about Means of Ascent
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-09-2021
GRIPPING
Covers LBJ's WW2 service, Lady Bird"s changing roles & experience - running the office, terrible miscarriages & ectopic pregnancy & birth of 2 daughters, and establishment of the Johnson radio business, LBJs gall stones and helicopters, and the stealing of the 1948 election. The later half is a sympathetic mini biography of Coke Stevenson, "Mr Texas", "the Cowboy Governor" and extended depiction of the ascent of the new politics over the old. The new politics is polling, blanket media, attack politics & wedging with The Big Lie, and the use of the courts, organisation, alliances, and so, so, so much money. Chapter 14 about Box 13 is extraordinary and reads like a western. Parts of the book are a bit repetitive, particularly if one has just read volume 1, but reflects Caro's approach to elaborating his themes. One just needs to exercise a little patience in respect of this towering achievement, which depicts LBJ 'means of ascent' from his wilderness years. LBJ is like a fault line through which course many of the forces which shape and reshape our times. Another wonderful reading by Grover Gardner, who delivers the reading of "Git" so perfectly, that it is almost as if one is with Stevenson in the long walk down the main street staring down the lounging bandillero.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steve Johnson
- 12-01-2023
A cracking listen.
Seriously well-researched bio of a deeply flawed but brilliant man. Great narration, he really suits the content.
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