Robert Caro is the author of “The Years of Lyndon Johnson”, a series on the life of the 36th President of the United States. Caro uses the biography of LBJ to explore human nature and understand how political power manifests and influences our daily lives.
By highlighting the most striking manifestations of power, Caro guides readers towards a deeper understaning of politics and sheds light on how power directly affects our quality of life and freedoms. Furthermore, because LBJ’s rise to power coincided with the proliferation of two mass-media channels, radio and television, Caro is also able to illustrate how technology plays a critical role in the attainment of power.
Caro’s works also bring out common attributes in the personalities of those that rise to power: ambition, grit and energy combine to drive great people to take unimaginable risks, all in the service of ends that are difficult to understand without narrative.
Overall, Robert Caro’s LBJ series is one of my favorite works of history and biography.