Thoughts and Questions on Robert Caro’s Path to Power on Lyndon Johnson

Photo I took of Caro’s book while reading it on my bedstand.

Recently I read Robert A. Caro’s page turner The Path to Power on Lyndon Johnson’s early life. It was a fascinating read. The following are thoughts and questions I had on the book.

Thoughts on The Path to Power:

· Power: In general, the question and the author’s career seems to be based around the question of what is power. What is power in the context of Johnson’s career? Does it equate to other impressions of power? Would a modern son of a state legislator coming from modest means be able to make such an ascent? Why either way?

· Importance of Johnson’s origins: Caro says that the importance of Johnson’s first congressional electoral victory is important because it launched Johnson’s political career that would lead to his Presidency, the Great Society, and the Vietnam War.

o What does Johnson’s origins say about Vietnam and the reasons for going to Vietnam? There is hardly any mention of the word communism in the entire book. Earlier chapters even says that Johnson as a high school student did not know much of world affairs other than that “the league of nations existed.”

o What does it mean that one of the most sparsely populated Congressional districts incredibly unconnected with modern technology with a largely agrarian population using farming methods that originated from medieval Europe. Moreover, was it Johnson the man or Johnson as raised in this area?

o What does lack of radio, newspapers, etc. and means of communication indicate about Johnson and the population? Furthermore, does it indicate that with a relatively few books, teachers, etc. one could receive an education if ones parents are involved (such as Johnson’s parents)?

· Psychology: What do you think Johnson’s psychological profile was? I mean this in sort of three fold:

o What affect did his upbringing have on him? His childhood? Relationship with his father in the Texas legislature, etc.?

o Do you think Johnson maintained the same personality from early age onwards? Did he change at all? Are we set in our personalities from an early age and it is difficult to move from there? As an overarching question/through to this, what sort of archetype from a Jungian perspective would Johnson fit into?

o What sort of Freudian analysis would Johnson fit into? This relates to the first question but also is certainly temporarily related to the Freudian psychological paradigm in terms of the development of psychology? I am not as interested in the Oedipal complex, but rather in the tripartite system of ego, super ego, and id.

· Populism: What conception of populism and farmer movements that Johnson’s father seemed to champion differ from New Deal thinking and even Johnson’s political thinking later on? Was Johnson a populist in any sense of the word? Is that a good or bad thing?

· Stature and mannerisms: Johnson’s height is frequently cited as well as his mannerisms — such as kissing Sam Rayburn’s head (something we likely would not see in today’s Congress even among close allies/friends). What does his height and mannerisms have to do with political ascent and power?

· Education and philosophy: Was Johnson an intellectual? Is it important for a President to be an intellectual? He does not seem to be anti-intellectual nor to have embraced what one might call a “philosopher” similar to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, etc. Of course, Johnson had a different education — but arguably Johnson had access to more books than all of them once he started attending college. But perhaps had access to less books as a child and in high school — though this may be difficult to conclusively prove. Still Johnson’s mother seemed to value the classics and education and Johnson’s presence in the Texas legislature as a teenager may have allowed him to gain access to more books, written materials.

o Does the books a president read matter? Do the books a president reads in youth matter?

o What did Johnson likely learn from his time in the Texas legislature with his father than later translated to his political career?

· Cowboy/western ethos: Some later presidents seemed to have adopted a cowboy ethos. Johnson was not of the generation of cowboys per se, but he may have been the closest to a real cowboy president that the United States has had. He does not seem in later life to have adopted this ethos nor in his youth (however of course his vernacular was that of Texan certainly — though not his writing)? What does it mean that the logically closest “cowboy” progenitor of the Presidency did not adopt the cowboy mythos, but others who were assuredly not cowboys nor near to that life style, did?

· Morality: Was Johnson a moral person? From his inclinations for power, his interactions with Brown & Root, to the tax issues outlined at the later part of the book, to his evident affair with Alice Glass (though the book does not provide incontrovertible proof — Alice Glass later in life burnt all her letters from Johnson and Caro relies on second hand accounts)? What moral compass did Johnson have?

o Is it important for a president to have a moral compass?

· Accomplishments: Was the creation of the Mansfield Dam a good thing? Was the means in which it was created good?

· Research: Caro has undertaken an incredible effort. Would such data and documents be possible to be undertaken prior to the 1900s for a president of rural origins? What does the future of technology, such as Google Books, libraries such as the LBJ Library being digitized and searchable, mean for similar future efforts?

My reading times: The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson) — Robert Caro. Started Monday January 4, 2021 at 11:37AM in Austin, Texas. Finished Thursday January 21, 2021 at 2:03PM in Austin, Texas.

© Charles Edward Andrew Lincoln IV

Another photo I took.

External video sources from Wikipedia (I claim no ownership):

Means of Ascent
Booknotes interview with Caro on Means of Ascent, April 29, 1990, C-SPAN

Master of the Senate
Washington Journal interview with Caro on the writing of his third volume, July 13, 1998, C-SPAN

Interview with Caro on Master of the Senateat the Texas Book Festival, November 16, 2002, C-SPAN

Presentation by Caro on Master of the Senate at the Library of Congress, May 20, 2003, C-SPAN

Presentation by Caro on Master of the Senate at the National Book Festival, October 4, 2003, C-SPAN

The Passage of Power
Q&A interview with Caro about the writing of his fourth volume, January 4, 2009, C-SPAN

Part one of C-SPAN Q&A interview with Caro about the finished book, The Passage of Power, May 6, 2012, C-SPAN

Part two of C-SPAN Q&A interview with Caro about The Passage of Power, May 20, 2012, C-SPAN

Presentation by Caro on The Passage of Power at the National Book Festival, September 22, 2012, C-SPAN

Interview with Caro on The Passage of Power at the National Book Festival, September 22, 2012, C-SPAN

Interview with Caro on The Passage of Power, November 24, 2013, C-SPAN

The following is from Wikipedia (I claim no ownership):

Bibliography

• 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., Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. 2002. Alfred a Knopf Inc, New York. (ISBN 0–394–72095–4). xxiv + 1167 pp.
• Caro, Robert A., The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. 2012. Alfred a Knopf Inc, New York. (ISBN 0–375–71325–5). 736 pp.

References

1. ^ Caro, Robert A. (January 21, 2019). “Robert A. Caro on the Secrets of Lyndon Johnson’s Archives”. The New Yorker. ISSN 0028–792X. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
2. ^ “National Book Awards — 1983”. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012–02–20.
3. ^ “National Book Awards — 2002”. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012–02–20. (With acceptance speech.)
4. ^ “Recipients of the D. B. Hardeman Prize”. LBJ Foundation. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
5. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (April 29, 2012). “A Nation’s Best and Worst, Forged in a Crucible”. New York Times.
6. ^ John Williams (March 1, 2013). “Robert A. Caro, Ben Fountain Among National Book Critics Circle Winners”. New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
7. ^ Staff writer (April 19, 2013). “Announcing the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize winners”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
8. ^ Jennifer Schuessler (February 20, 2013). “Another Prize for Robert Caro”. New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
9. ^ “Biographers International Organization, The Plutarch Award”. Archived from the original on 2015–05–18.
10. ^ “National Book Award Finalists Announced Today”. Library Journal. October 10, 2012. Retrieved 2012–11–15.
11. ^ Hillel Italie (November 1, 2011). “Caro’s fourth LBJ book coming in May”. Associated Press.
12. ^ Erik Spanberg (March 8, 2013). “Catching up with award-winning LBJ biographer Robert Caro”. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
13. ^ Patrick Beach (April 5, 2014). “Caro, LBJ biographer, is hard at work on book №5”. Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
14. ^ Robert Caro on the fifth (and final?) LBJ volume, C-Span
15. ^ Claudia Dreifus (January 16, 2018). “‘Studies in Power’: An Interview with Robert Caro”. The New York Review of Books. Retrieved November 19,2018.
16. ^ Hillel Italie (December 12, 2018). “Robert Caro reflects on his career in upcoming book”. Associated Press. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
17. ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (January 8, 2020). “Robert Caro’s Papers Headed to New-York Historical Society”. The New York Times.
18. ^ Italie, Hillel (May 8, 2020). “Robert Caro writes, and waits, during the COVID-19 outbreak”. The Charlotte Observer. Associated Press. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
19. ^ Barbara Stone, ed. (1999). “The Round Table: Fiction, Biography And The Use Of Power”. Hampton Shorts. Water Mill, N.Y.: Hamptons Literary Publications. IV. ISBN 0–9658652–2–3. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012.
20. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MacmN1EtIPQ
21. ^ Jump up to: a b c “Reviews”. www.robertcaro.com. Robert A. Caro. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
22. ^ Leopold, Todd (August 28, 2013). “House of Cards creator Beau Willimon plays a solid hand”. CNN. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
23. ^ Moseley, Tolly. “How LBJ’s ghost haunts ‘House of Cards’”. Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 19 April 2020.