The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. IV by Robert A. Caro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this specific volume of Caro's multi-volume history of President Lyndon Johnson because I had been watching various documentaries & shows about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and wanted to learn more about how LBJ handled the swift transition of being promoted to President of the U.S. by a gun shot. In this volume, at least half focuses on the transition--the passage to power--that took place post Nov. 22, 1963, the day Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. There is a good bit about the Kennedy v. Johnson 1960 election and Johnson's languid Vice Presidency (in which he became a nothing & nobody--after having been the Senate Majority Leader/Master for years). Fascinating insights into Johnson's sudden unexpected transition to power and how he rose to the occasion, culminating in a rousing Joint Address to Congress in Feb 1964 where he laid out his program for the War on Poverty across America. Well-written and researched.


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