Master of the Senate

Cover of Master of the Senate

Master of the Senate is a book that deals with the Senatorial career of Lyndon B. Johnson by the American writer Robert Caro.

In Master of the Senate, Caro chronicles Johnson's rapid ascent in the United States Congress, particularly focusing on his tenure from 1949 to 1960 as Senate majority leader with the aim to show "how legislative power works in America". This 1,167-page work delves into Johnson's political acumen that Caro argues transformed the Senate from a stagnant institution into a dynamic legislative body by manipulating Senate rules, building a powerful coalition, and securing legislative victories, thereby laying the groundwork for his ascent to the presidency.

Outline

The book starts with an extensive history of the Senate, where he argues that in the mid 19th Century its deliberative nature delayed the Civil War by a couple of decades by being a place where the South (personified by John C. Calhoun), the North (Daniel Webster) and the rising West Clay could reach national compromise. After the Civil War Caro argues it lost its prominence firstly in domestic matters and later in Foreign Affairs through the combination of a lack of effective leadership, conservatism and the seniority system.

It then charts Lyndon Johnson's rise as a freshman Senator who although he at first "lay low", then quickly rose as Democratic whip, then minority leader and finally leader of the Senate despite a lack of seniority. It argues that Johnson reshaped the Senate into a far more effective legislature through retaining support of conservative Southern Democrats while earning the cooperation of more liberal Democrats, particularly his future Vice President Hubert Humphrey. The book argues he proved his loyalty to Texas oilmen who had financed his Senate race by orchestrating the sacking of their head regulator, Federal Power Commission Chairman Leland Olds by falsely accusing him of Communist sympathies, destroying his career.

In what is described as "the most fully realized segment of the book" the book describes Johnson's battle to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957, navigating the north-south split in the Democrats between the southern and northern factions, the first such legislation since 1875 during Reconstruction. The book argues that although the 1957 Act was effectively gutted by Johnson in order to avoid a Southern filibuster it foreshadowed his effective Civil Rights measures during his Presidency.

Other Volumes

Master of the Senate is the third volume of Robert Caro's expansive biography series The Years of Lyndon Johnson which began in 1977. Four volumes have been published with a fifth volume expected , running to more than 3,000 pages in total, detailing Johnson's early life, education, and political career. The series is published by Alfred A. Knopf.

Reception

Master of the Senate was released on April 23, 2002. It won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, the 2002 National Book Award for Nonfiction, the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography, and the 2002 D.B. Hardeman Prize.

The book has also received praise from prominent politicians:

• Tom Daschle, a former Senate majority leader, once told the newspaper Roll Call after reading Master of the Senate that "I think the thing you learn from reading that magnificent book is that every day, this body makes history."
• Walter Mondale, a former US vice president, described Master of the Senate as a "superb work of history."
• Gordon Brown, a former British prime minister, when reviewing the book said of the series: "It's a wonderfully written set of books. The stories are quite breathtaking. ... These books challenge the view of history that politics is just about individual maneuvering. It's about ideas and principled policy achievements. That's what makes it one of the great political biographies."

Other Sources

• Lessons in Power: Lyndon Johnson Revealed - Harvard Business Review