As political junkies those books are all must read to me. Johnson was so interesting as an individual and Caro is just an exceptional writer in how he gives insight into power.
And you think about a board like this where we scream at each other day after day and assign such positive and negative traits to political party’s based on whether we like them or not, then you read Caro’s book and see what real power is all about and it’s eye opening.
I never knew what a sleazebag Johnson was until I read the book, lol. His racism, misogyny, crookedness and arrogance were shocking to read about. I know this is judging the man by present-day standards but it makes you wonder, were most politicians like this or was LBJ a special case? Guess the next two books will explain him further but he didn't seem like a civil rights activist and a Great Society guy back in the 30s and 40s. To balance those good things (to me, anyway) was his major contribution to the Vietnam debacle. At least he did the right thing in the end by not running for a second full term in 1968.
This has got me interested in starting the second book now. I recall people saying the 2nd was the least important and you didn't miss much if you just skipped ahead to the third. What's your take on this?
