The passage of power: the years of lyndon johnson, vol. iv

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD

NAMED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
«The fourth volume of Caro’s prodigious masterwork . . . with the author’s signature combination of sweeping drama, psychological insight and painstaking research.»
NAMED ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR
NAMED ONE OF NEWSDAY’S TWELVE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Economist
• Newsweek
• Foreign Policy
• Business Week
• The Week
• The Christian Science Monitor
SELECTED BY HISTORY NEWS NETWORK POLL OF HISTORIANS BEST HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Passage of Power follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and most triumphant periods of his career—1958 to 1964. It is an unparalleled account of the battle between Johnson and John Kennedy for the 1960 presidential nomination, of the machinations behind Kennedy’s decision to offer Johnson the vice presidency, and of Johnson’s powerlessness and humiliation in that role. With the superlative skills of a master storyteller, Caro exposes the savage animosity between Johnson and Robert Kennedy, portraying one of America’s great political feuds.
     In Caro’s description of the Kennedy assassination, which The New York Times called «the most riveting ever,» we see the events of November 22, 1963, for the first time through Lyndon Johnson’s eyes. And we watch as his political genius enables him to grasp the reins of the presidency with total command, and, within weeks, make it wholly his own, surmounting unprecedented obstacles in order to fulfill the highest purpose of the office. It is an epic story, displaying all the narrative energy and illuminating insight that led the Times of London to acclaim The Years of Lyndon Johnson as “one of the truly great political biographies of the modern age.”

Winner of the 2013 Mark Lynton History Prize
Winner of the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography
2012 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction
Winner of the 2012 L.A. Times Book Prize for Biography
One of the New York Times Book Review‘s Top 10 Books of 2012