Caro’s The Passage of Power
May 30, 2012 at 7:41 PM | Posted in Books, Politics | 4 CommentsTags: Harry Byrd, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Robert Caro
I am stunned that I remain so naive about politics after being alive so many years and reading so many books. For example, it has finally sunk in that my vote is worth less than someone’s in Delaware or Wyoming. Robert Caro has this effect on me.
I have just finished The Years of Lyndon Johnson, The Passage of Power, Caro’s history of the 1960 Presidential Election through Johnson taking office and his truly magnificent first months as President. I was entertained and educated; I felt admiration and dread.
For this post I want to highlight the role of Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia. A Senator from 1933 to 1965, a rock-ribbed segregationist, Byrd ran the Senate Finance Committee. He was the most powerful man in the United States. The vaunted J.F.K. in his three years as President could not get a bill of any note through Congress – Harry Byrd said no. ‘Passage’ is about many things but there is a specific focus on two bills: the Tax Cut Bill and the Civil Rights Bill. Kennedy, against Johnson’s advice, sent the Civil Rights Bill to Congress before the Tax Bill. In the world of that Congress that meant that no one would ever get to the Tax Bill because the Solid South would spend their time not passing or even discussing the Civil Rights Bill.
Though Kennedy had been a Senator, he was a rookie as far as understanding how to work with Congress. President Obama has suffered from this as well. Back when Kennedy was a Junior Senator, LBJ ruled as Majority Leader. So when he became President he got the immovable to move and the Tax Cut passed and then, far more importantly, so did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was soon followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was L.B.J.’s finest hour.
‘Passage’ ends on a high note but we know that the shadow will soon fall … and I hope that I don’t have to wait another 10 years to get the great Caro’s take on it.
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I’m so excited you’re a Caro fan. When I went buy Master of the Senate a few years ago, the guy at Border’s would only sell it to me if I bought the other two volumes. And then I waited. I even found Caro’s email address about a year ago and and sent a message which was replied to by his assistant saying Passage to Power was coming. I was elated. I’m reading it SO slowly. I’m rationing the pages thus I’m only on page 160 or so. What a gift!
Comment by wordsrangtrue— May 31, 2012 #
I was living in Long Island when Caro’s Robert Moses book came out and it shook a lot of people. So, I’ve been in tune with Caro from the first book. I read Passage slowly too, until the last 200 pages or so. I remember LBJ so well … now there was a tragic figure!
Of the 4 Johnson’s, the Master of the Senate is my favorite.
Comment by tommackey— May 31, 2012 #
The story of how Johnson got Kennedy’s bills through Congress is beautifully told. I had forgotten how an apparent Democratic majority was illusory because of the Southern Democrats. A similar problem today, though I’m not sure that LBJ would have had much luck with the present crowd.
Comment by Anonymous— May 31, 2012 #
Yes, there are similarities today but the media frenzy has made matters worse.
Comment by tommackey— May 31, 2012 #