Reddit reviews Master Of The Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson

According to Caro's book on LBJ in the Senate, Johnson worked very hard to get the LBJ moniker popularized in the press. It was entirely his invention and he put those initials on absolutely everything.

EDIT: added link to the source

>It's Obama's fault for this? What is he supposed to do?

Yes, and the same things LBJ did.

> like somehow if Obama just wanted it more, he could will Congress to act.

Not want it more, know and do more. LBJ knew what every senator wanted, what his personality was like, where he would compromise and where his arm could be twisted. I've heard plenty of democrats on the hill bitching about how the obama administration treats them like crap, doesn't consult them doesn't know what their needs and problems are, to say nothing of the republicans.

>reality that the GOP leadership themselves admitted their strategy and top priority is to deny Obama legislative victories

the top priority of the southern caucus was to prevent civil rights legislation from passing, and they had been at it a hell of a lot longer than the current crop of republicans. LBJ got it anyway.

>I don't think anybody can objectively lay all the blame for inaction at the feet of the President, to do so is to deny that Republicans have any power in the positions they hold.

and to blame the republicans is to deny that Obama and the democrats have any power in the positions they hold.

> How is a response by definition not a prediction?

Prediction, by definition, precedes the event predicted.

>How is this needless to say? This also isn't a prediction.

the cultural revolution was the slaughter of millions orchestrated by Mao. There was nothing democratic about it.

>4) That was only a side point. I just mentioned it because you misunderstood what I originally meant.

in other words, you were wrong, nad don't want to admit it.

>ot. People can believe whatever they want. I just think that studying power is more useful than studying fiction.

Then you should try actually studying power, and stop reading fiction.

They both seem like they would represent NJ pretty well...but I'm going to have to side with Booker because I think he could make larger impact in the Senate. Pulling people together on big votes depends a lot on raw charisma, and I can see Booker being able to make things happen. Holt seems like a nice guy and all, but I'm not sure if he'd have that same magnetism. And personal magnetism counts for a lot (read Master of the Senate for a powerful example).

I encourage everyone to read this book, but you should really check out at least the first part of Robert Caro's Pulitzer winning Master of the Senate, it's a really great book!

The first part details the history of the Senate, and how it was specifically designed to act as a counterweight the popularly elected House of Representatives. Senators, as you may know, are elected to terms of 6 years, which insulates them from political upheavals. Hence, for example, a Senator elected in 2016 could oppose President Sanders, Trump, or whoever for their entire 4 year term and still have two years before anyone can even vote form them.

Couple that with the fact that Senators are elected by a state at large, and that incumbets rarely lose and you have a pretty good system that is designed to prevent the kind of "revolution" that Bernie Sanders preaches about.

The most illuminating aspect of the first part is the cyclical nature of American political movements. Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, and JFK all had great ideas and programs that they wanted to get through the Senate. FDR was the only one to get most of them passed, for a time, because of the sheer scope of the Depression and his own incredible victory in the 1932 election.

Following his first term however, FDR, like the other great Presidents I listed had nothing from his domestic agenda passed by the Senate.

A better example, Truman famously harangued the Do Nothing Congress in order to catapult himself to an upset victory over George Dewey. Truman campaigned for a universal healthcare system, a new civil rights act, and a lot of other programs under the Fair Deal.

You know what happened? None of it passed. The Senate doesn't care about popular causes, because the Senate doesn't have to care.

Plus, even if, by some miracle, Sanders did get something through the Senate, it could still easily be struck down by the Supreme Court.

But yeah you should read the book, Lyndon Johnson is the only President to actually get the Senate to do anything, because he was a natural, and often brutal, politician. And Bernie Sanders is not LBJ.

TL;DR The US Senate is designed to act as a counterweight to popular movements, meaning that little none of the Sanders agenda would be passed in the highly unlikely event that he actually becomes President.

I highly recommend Robert Caro's award-winning The Years of Lyndon Johnson, especially the first volume and the third volume. This series helped inspire House of Cards but this is nonficition and it gives a much more holistic, realistic, and in some ways even more upsetting view of the political world. It not only covers LBJ, a pivotal, masterful, and controversial 20th century politician but also the times he lived, which were ones of sweeping change. It gets into interpersonal relationships with staffers, with women, and mentors. The books, especially the first volume, are powerful just on the level of storytelling. The first volume gives you an amazing look at pioneer life in the Hill Country of Texas and a vivid portrait of how difficult life was without electricity, in addition to the kind of conniving, politicking, and backroom deals of politics. The third volume gives a great and fairly thorough overview of the Senate--the first couple hundred pages during which you wonder where LBJ is in all of this. The second volume is primarily about the political campaign process and its seedy undertones. The fourth volume is primarily about his reluctant and indecisive vice presidential run, the election, his exile from power, and a very thorough look at both the Kennedy's and the assassination of JFK and almost the hour by hour story of what happened. I almost felt like it was more about the Kennedy's than LBJ tbh. I started the series to see how LBJ managed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that ended up being only 100-150 pages at the end of the final volume. What I ended up finding is that LBJ was almost a Cartman-esque (from South Park) figure, a master of brown nosing, manipulation, and an insatiable thirst for power. I read the four volumes, which amounted to some 2000+ pages in about 8 months and I am really looking forward to the fifth and final volume. The second volume was the hardest to get through as he was relatively powerless, wandering, uncertain, and then the political process revealed to be as cynical as a film noir in a Wild West setting.

Check out Robert Caro's work. Master of the Senate, in particular, can give you a sense of how legislative politics works, though the era he's writing about was unique. A more recent look at Congress is Do Not Ask What Good We Do, which examines modern members of Congress and how they are each acting quite rationally from their perspective. It's a great look behind the headlines and PR. Finally, please, please, please check out Decode DC, a podcast by a former NPR reporter who said he left the network because she was sick of being lied to by politicians.