Rating: 
Summary: Judge Caro's LBJ books in total, not in pieces
Review: Means of Ascent gets rapped at times for being too negative or too narrow in focus. Caro states, "Those threads (elements of LBJ's character and actions), bright and dark, run side by side through most of Lyndon Johnson's life . . . As the story unfolds in succeeding volumes, the threads will, again, run side by side . . . The two threads do NOT (my emphasis) run side by side in this volume. The bright one is missing. For this volume is about a seven-year period in the life of Lyndon Johnson in which his headlong race for power was halted."It's not Caro's fault that that happens to be the reality of this period in LBJ's life. To "make" the book more balanced would be intellectually dishonest. Let's read the subsequent volumes before passing judgment on the balance of the subject matter in this one. Note: Since this was written, the third volume (Master of the Senate) has been published. Having read this latest volume, I remain convinced that the work in total should be treated like a jigsaw puzzle: each piece takes on an interesting, unique form with splashes of bright and dark colors, but you have to put them all together to see the entire picture. And the picture is more than just Lyndon Johnson the man - it is a picture of political power in the U.S., embodied in the life and "Years of Lyndon Johnson". What makes Caro's work in "Means of Ascent" so remarkable (along with the other volumes) is not just the recounting of events, but the documented mechanics of the acquisition and execution of power in all its ugly and awesome dimensions. The story of Ballot Box 13 in this volume is a fascinating example. And for the true Caro fan, you simultaneously marvel at the story within the story: the detective-like research work that uncovers the truth, culminating in Johnson's own gloating of the event after he became President.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy, now...
Review: I have to disagree with the universal 5 stars this book gets from other reviewers here. First, readers not familiar with Caro should know that he uses LBJ as a springboard to do a larger social history. In the first book, this included fascinating insights into what daily life was like in rural Texas and rural America in the early part of the 20th Century. One weakness of this 2nd volume is that, despite an early go at Johnson's WWII service & early time in Washington, Caro largely narrows this focus down to Texas itself, a particular election, LBJ's opponent in that election, and finally even to one flunkie in the Texas political machine. This somewhat derails both the social history aspect and the LBJ-biographical aspect. (Readers who don't want to have some of the story given away shouldn't read the rest of this review.) Caro tips his hand with this book. In the first volume, Caro says Johnson stole all his early elections, even little ones. Caro tells the tale so well in that book that the whole story becomes rather shocking, even in today's politically cynical age. Here, Caro says Johnson stole his big Senate election. It's becoming quickly apparent that Caro is prepared to tell us that Johnson stole literally every single election he ever ran in during his entire life. I think only the biggest Johnson-loathers around would buy this premise on its face. Still, this a fantastically-written narrative, and I eagerly await the 3rd volume. But, in the end, let's hope that Caro's whole story doesn't simply boil down to the thesis that "LBJ is not only as bad as you've ever heard...he's WORSE." Given how much of his life Caro has devoted to this work, and how much time and money we readers have devoted to it as well, it would be a shame if Caro's sweeping narrative proves to ultimately be that narrow.
Rating:
Summary: Optional Reading in the LBJ Series
Review: Caro's LBJ series is some of the most fascinating history I have read and is hard to put down. Means of Ascent, the second volume, covers Johnson's exaggerated WWII service, what seem to be his lost years of despair in the House of Representatives, the questionable building blocks of his wealth, and then climaxes with the 1948 Senate election in which Caro succeeds in casting a pall over LBJ's subsequent career. The portrayal of Johnson's opponent, Coke Stevension, is that of a rediscovered folk hero taken down by a lesser man. I find it amazing that Caro has devoted so much of his career to a person he dislikes. Nevertheless throughout the series, when LBJ seems close to being undredeemable as a both a politician and a man, Caro comes up with sparks of insight and admiration that almost make up for everything negative (do the means justify the end?). Means of Ascent, however, is optional reading between Path to Power and Master of the Senate. Although very interesting, it does not stand up especially well on its own. Secondly, its essential details are rehashed very well in Master of the Senate (Part of the problem for me may be that I read Master of the Senate first). In conslusion, I recommend this book as worth reading, but cannot rate it exceptional.
Rating:
Summary: Another outstanding book by an outstanding author.
Review: The first volume of Robert Caro's mammoth biography of Lynson Johnson was one of the best books I read last year - gripping, immensely readable, shocking and insightful. Hence, I came to the second instalment with a real sense of anticipation and excitement. For the most part, Caro did not let me down. "Means of Ascent" deals with the period between Johnson's unsuccessful campaign for the Senate in 1941 and his victorious campaign in 1948 - the election in which Johnson won by an incredibly dubious 87 votes and earned the nickname of "Landslide Lyndon". "Means of Ascent" delivers a number of further blows to Johnson's legacy - Caro reveals the extent to which Johnson inflated his role in the Second World War, lays the groundwork for his look at how Johnson allegedly accumulated vast wealth during his career in public office and then, in the bulk of the book, provides the reader with a comprehensive study of the 1948 Senate Campaign which seemed to alter Texan (and US) politics for ever and cast a permanent cloud over Johnson's legacy. Caro's indictment is damning and his analysis creates compelling reading. My only complaint would be that Caro may, to a certain extent, devote too much time and attention to placing Johnson's opponent, Coke Stevenson, on a very high pedestal. As a result, the reader cannot help but wonder whether Coke Stevenson was, in fact, one of the most honest and genuine politicians ever to grace US politics or whether Caro's portrait is, to a certain extent, provided through rose tinted glasses. Caro's telling of the story of the campaign does, at times, become repetitive - he devotes page after page to Johnson's innovative use of a helicopter in the campaign and I have to admit that, after a while, I began finding the description a little too tedious and repetitive for my liking. Nevertheless, the book is fascinating and every bit as well written as the first. Furthermore, I feel that it can be read on its own and the reader need not necessarily have read "The Path to Power" before coming to this book. Once again, this is political biography at its finest and I await "The Master of the Senate" with eager anticipation.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book
Review: This is a fabulous book which continues the story of LBJ. The first volume is a great story. This second volume continues the great story telling based on a flood of facts that makes you wonder how Caro manages to amass so much information and use it in a way that reads like good fiction. But don't start here. Read the first volume, and you'll be sure to read on through this one.
Rating:
Summary: Most controversial, so far --
Review: I said it about "The Power Broker", and my comments hold true to the LBJ series. Robert Caro's biographical works are voluminous, but he is a spellbinding storyteller and consummate historian -- all of which leaves the reader wanting more! The excitement and wonder of his personal journey of discovery is evident to the reader. His thorough and meticulous research (with his bride Ina's able assistance) enables him to weave apparent isolated insignificance into a cohesive study of his subject's psychological formation and its effect upon the subject's gaining and wielding of power. That is not to say reader's won't differ in their ethical interpretations of its use, because you can tell by other reviews that they do. In addition, some reviewers feel Caro is generally too negative on Johnson, and in particular for stealing the election from Coke Stevenson. I don't happen to see it that way -- because the facts support the conclusion - and a detailed explanation was necessary to continue to highlight Johnson's acquisition and use of power. But, as always, the reader can make up his/her own mind.
This same rigorous, precise and professional methodology has been applied to his first three (of four intended) volumes of LBJ's biography - leaving the reader anxiously awaiting the study's capstone volume.
With the wordcraft precision of a Lincoln, historical accuracy of Will & Ariel Durant and the captivating storyline of a Dickens, Caro is, I believe, one of the finest living biographers and superb writer.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Book Which Should Not Exist
Review: Caro's second book on Lyndon Johnson is riddled with flaws, which almost certainly makes it the worst book that Caro ever wrote. That said, Caro's worst is miles better than most authors' best. I would urge everyone to read it but only as a necessary step in taking in Caro's massive, epic bio of LBJ. Personally, I think the problem with this book is that there is no need for it to exist as a separate volume. The first thing that will strike many people is the book's length. At just over 400 pages, it is far shorter than Caro's other three books (vol. 1 and 3 and The Power Broker). Hopefully, no one will be encouraged to start with volume 2 for this reason. Actually, the book barely justifies its relatively short length. Anyone who read Path to Power will find many parts of this book a rehash of that one, often in the exact same words. If you got rid of all the repetition and shortened what may be the overlong treatment of the 1948 Senate race, you are left with about 250 pages worth of material. At that length, this book could have been appended to volume 1 and that book would still have been shorter than the Power Broker or Master of the Senate. My theory is that Caro meant to do something like that, but found himself way past his deadline for getting a book done and cut the first one short. The only thing to do next was to cobble another book out of the years 1941 to 1948 before embarking on the epic book about Johnson's Senate career. It also seems likely that Caro meant to get Johnson's life done in 3 volumes rather than the 4 or 5 that now seem likely. While this may not all seem relevant, it goes to my main point: This is part of a great biography, but it isn't a great book. As for another typical gripe with this book -- that it is too negative -- I agree. In the intro Caro says that LBJ's political career was characterized by dark and light strands woven together. There's no doubt about that and that is what makes him such a compelling subject. But Caro then goes on to say that the light strand was missing during the period of this volume. That seems too simplistic. I have to believe that LBJ was basically the same person in the 40's as he was in the 30's and 50's. That thought by Caro is meant to prepare you for a book that basically savages its subject and it shows that even he probably thought it was overly harsh. This leads to a similar point as before: The overall tone of The Years of Lyndon Johnson is on the money, but this book is a little off. As with The Power Broker, the overall bio is justifiably critical of its subject and provides a nice counterpoint to good but overly hagiographic Presidential bios like John Adams. More to the point, the critical tone yields nonfiction writing that must be among the most readable and entertaining ever. Caro is certainly more in his element writing about corruption and abuse of power than in writing about positive political accomplishments. Overall, however, this book is very strong by any objective standards. Caro successfully makes his case that the 1948 election was a watershed event and then brings it fully to life. But again, we wonder if Coke Stevenson was quite as much of a saint as he appears in these pages. Read it. Love it. Savor it. But only as a necessary bridge between the far superior first and third volumes.
Rating:
Summary: Caro as Biographer has Few Peers
Review: Robert Caro has few peers in the politcal biography genre. Last summer's "Master of the Senate" was an instant classic, and prompted me to investigate Caro's earlier LBJ works. I was not disappointed. "Means of Ascent" is Caro's superb account of Johnson's all-or-nothing gambit to graduate from the House to the Senate. Caro blends exemplary literary talent with adroit investigative reporting skills. The result is a brilliant, gripping narrative that is a compelling page-turner for anyone with even the most remote interest in government. In LBJ, Caro brings to life a complex, flawed and multi-dimensional character. Few American personalities evoke the same passionate combination of antipathy and reverence (with these diameterically opposed feelings often held simultaneously). The years covered in this book (1941-1948) are some of the most uneventful of LBJ's career. There is no Great Society, no civil rights initiative, no legislative mastery, no foreign policy imbroglio. Instead, LBJ whiled away his time as a do-nothing Congressman, his influence eroded by the demise of the New Deal (to which he hitched his early House years) and all but gone with the passing of FDR. Despite his bravado, LBJ sat out WWII, except for one harrowing, near-death experience as an observer on an Air Force combat mission (which in the re-telling, Johnson would amplify into Silver-Star-worthy accomplishment). The fulcrum of the story -- and indeed, LBJ's entire political career -- is the history-turning 1948 Senate contest against former Gov. Coke Stevenson, one of the most beloved politicians in Texas history. Caro graphically and painstakingly depicts how Johnson set about to both destroy Stevenson's reputation and flagrantly steal an election through cash-payments, voter fraud and post-election legal chicanery (succeeding in the latter but not the former). Caro does a masterful job of portraying the two combatants -- the stoic, taciturn Stevenson ("Mr. Texas") and the garrulous, flamboyant, and often contemptible LBJ. I have long felt that journalists make the best historical writers. "Means of Ascent" is another confirmation of that.
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Summary: Texas politics LBJ style
Review: This biography covers Lyndon Johnson's career through the 1940's; his setbacks, his confusing war record and most compelling of all, his run for the Senate in 1948 against his unsuspecting opponent Coke Stevenson. One can both be repelled by the skullduggery employed by LBJ in the campaign, and at the same time admiring of his energy and sheer gall. Caro gets right to the nitty-gritty when it comes to ballot-stuffing in south Texas in that era. A dirty business indeed, but that's politics. Robert Caro does a fine job bringing LBJ to life. I don't think he necessarily despises his subject as some here have suggested; Johnson was a product of his time and place, mostly a tireless seeker of votes above all, and Caro's book reflects that. LBJ did everything he had to do to get elected, and certainly dirty tricks were a part of politics well before today's "attack-ad" era. Nothing has changed much.
Rating:
Summary: Who thought LBJ would be so interesting?
Review: This book is a masterpiece of political and biographical writing. Buy it not only for that reason, but also because you will understand our times more thoroughly with an understanding of the legacy of LBJ.
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