Traces Johnson's life from his Texas childhood through his rise to political power and his successful 1948 senatorial campaign and eventual presidency.

Pulitizer Prize biographer Robert A. Caro follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his career, describing Johnson's volatile relationship with John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy during the fight they waged for the 1960 Democratic nomination for president, through Johnson's unhappy vice presidency, his assumption to the presidency after Kennedy's assassination, his victories over the budget and civil rights, and the eroding trap of Vietnam.

A chronicle of Lyndon B. Johnson's life from 1958 to 1964, from his presidency campaign to his time as vice president under Kennedy and his eventual becoming of president in the wake of JFK's assassination.