Rating: 
Summary: The Best Biography I have EVER read!
Review: From the insight of the land and the Bunton family, this is so well written it is the best biography, I feel, ever written. Caro's magnificent style kept you interested no matter what happened to LBJ or the people he affected. The author did an amazing amount of research and showed Johnson and all his warts. He lost his insight in his second book which may have ruined our chance for the last two volumes and that is really too bad. Through all of this he NEVER was soo overwhelmed to lose sight of his subject as did the supposed fabulous biographer Doris Kearns Goodwhatever. NONE of her writing, including her pulitzer prize winning tome EVER came close to either of these two books. Caro really delves into Johnsons personality and how it was formed. It is a MUST read book for any historical, biographical or Presidential student of these type of books
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Summary: Insightful, Lyrical, Profound- Best American Nonfiction
Review: The first few chapters are the finest American nonfiction I am familiar with. They describe how settlers were tricked by the apparently abundant grass in the Texas Hill Country to move there. The section describing the miserable condition of farm women and their men before rural electrification is breathtaking. Caro appears to consistently choose the most apt generalizations to describe his characters and the literary details he chooses are like lightning flashes of psychological insight. One would be hard pressed to say enough good things about this book. Only the first half of Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi is this fine.
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Summary: Top Notch
Review: Delicious biography full of flavor. Caro tells how LBJ was molded by his neo-frontier upbringing in the parched soil of the Texas hill country. Most important in the rise of LBJ was his service as Congressman Kleberg's chief staff aid. As Kleberg's right hand man, Johnson was a ruthless and dynamic tyrant in running Kleberg's staff. He badgered staff mercilessly and regularly whipped them and himself into working grinding 14-18 hour days. This method of getting the job done right was successful but just a little bit inhumane. It would be the Johnson way until his 1968 retirement. Unfortunately, the LBJ way of treating staff would be adopted by scores and hundreds of political types since Johnson's time- imitation is often the most sincere form of flattery. As a former staffer of TV political maestro John McLaughlin, I know the LBJ way is alive and well (in fact, I read Caro's book during my seven month sentence with Dr. McLaughlin). Count modern political staff operations as part of LBJ's huge legacy along with Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights revolution, the 55,000 American dead in Vietnam and, inadvertantly, the rise of the Republican Party in the South.
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Summary: When are we going to get Part III????
Review: A fascinating, fascinating book. Like Means of Ascent, its sequel, A Path to Power is riveting in its portrayal of LBJ's youth and early political career. Unlike Means of Ascent, however, the first volume contains some oddly poignant moments. The younger Lyndon's towering ambition was tempered with naive, frequently joyous enthusiasm and a touching eagerness to please. These personality traits had been stamped out by the second volume of the series, having fallen victim to a pathological need to win and dominate. A classic portrayal of political success and personal ruin.
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Summary: A magnificent biography.
Review: Caro's encyclopedic research has produced a fascinating view of LBJ never before reported. This is a wonderful book packed with history, beginning with the Comanche Indians, the early Texas settlers, the Hill Country of Texas, and LBJ's incredible personal drive for power.
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Summary: LBJ: MAN OF AMERICAN POLITICS
Review: Mr. Caro's Book stands heads and shoulders above every other telling of the story of LBJ's life. None other could have captured the singleminded determination LBJ used in his quest for power. LBJ lived for no other reason than to possess power and use use it for one's own ends. Mr. Caro shows the forces shaping LBJ, his fathers state career, his mothers push, his Texas self-relient outook. Caro found the weave of LBJ's life and displays it all for for all to see. Should be included in every POLITICAL JUNKIE'S library. One of the greatist books I've ever read and have reread.
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Summary: Very detailed and insightful account of an unusual President
Review: Starting with Johnson's childhood, including an imperfect politician for a father, the book traces Johnson's rise to power in Congress, with intricate and fascinating details of key events in his life, including how Johnson "stole" elections along the way. From his childhood in the Texas hill country, to his relationship with his mentor, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, Robert Caro's journalistic style is extremely readable, even in the sometimes slow background passages about factors that shaped Johnson's "getting it done" approach to politics. The repetition of various instances illustrating how Johnson needed to control and manipulate people is especially strong in my memory. If you like politics and recent American history, but also if you are a student of the attainment and use of power, this book and Caro's second of three planned volumes in the Johnson biography will be well worth the lengthy read. Caro's account could be mistaken for a political thriller, it's such an intense read. See also Caro's biography of master builder Robert Moses, another book that rivals any piece of fine fiction.
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Summary: Outstanding. Highly Readable and Insightful. A Must Read!
Review: This is a cherished book in our household, enjoyed equally by our history buffs and our novices. It is fascinating reading, and we cannot wait until the third volume is published!
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Summary: Brilliant biography of a tragic President
Review: One of the best American political biographies of the last 25 years, Caro's first volume offers unparalleled insights into the flawed character of one of the United States' most curious and tragic Presidents. To define Lyndon Johnson's childhood, is then to understand the later President - isolated, erratic and resentful. It is hard to offer sufficient praise for a book which combines scholarship and sheer reader interest so compellingly.
Rating:
Summary: incredibly good
Review: One of the greatest biographies of this century
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