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Lessons learned from a celebrated historian

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    Power Player of the Week: Robert Caro

  • Duration 3:36
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He is one of our -- celebrated historians who was spent decades telling the story of an American president.

And yet he writes his books in longhand on legal path to force himself to go slower and think more.

Here's a special power player of the week.

You know how political power works in -- -- in the last here for the twentieth century.

Studying Lyndon Johnson's life watching him exercise power.

There's a way to see what a president can really do.

Robert Carroll has spent almost half his life telling the story of LB today.

But he says he's not a biographer he's a student of power how Ugandan and what you do wouldn't.

And Johnson he says was a genius at both how long.

Did you think it was gonna take back back back back.

I've heard about.

Ten years and now we are what 36.

Years and invest -- something like that the breadth and depth of the work is stunning.

Since 1976.

-- was written four books 3400.

Pages winning almost every award there -- is starting with the Pulitzer.

And he's not yet to Johnson and Vietnam why has it taken so long.

When Carol looked at how Johnson was first elected to the senate in 1948.

By 87 votes.

He ended up writing a book about it.

Nobody should ever look.

-- -- stolen election from beginning to end and say this is what a stolen election has.

And as -- as passage of power.

Tells -- Johnson succeeded John Kennedy and saved his agenda.

He takes legislation that Kennedy it and produced.

That was stole there were really wasn't going to pass civil rights that tax cut bill.

And being an instant Johnson gets -- moving towards passage.

Last week Carol took part in The Library of Congress book festival on the National Mall.

And it was clear he's made Johnson come alive for many readers -- might come.

Yeah I don't like -- -- dislike him you were in or because you're constantly saying.

Look what he's doing -- out.

He got excited talking about Johnson's rise to power.

But as we turn to the final book he's writing now about Johnson's presidency in Vietnam.

His demeanor is suddenly -- The story is gonna turn very dark.

As soon as Vietnam enters the picture.

It's sort of a tragic story to story of his great friends.

That are destroyed.

-- war.

You're seven.

That you're not gonna have time to finish this last book well sure.

But you know.

It's not productive to think like that how long do you think it's gonna take you to finish -- I can say three or four years -- -- you believe the fact that affects the.

After all -- latest book took nine years.

But there is at least one part of the final chapter of the Johnson story that is already -- Is it true.

That you already know the last sentence of the book I always have to have a list -- to right towards I have to know what the conclusion.

-- tell you know.

For a fact hat trick actually is -- a doozy of the last sentence.

Well I hopes her her fifth ex.

While Carroll feels the time pressure to finish up the Johnson's story he also has plans to write another -- on a different subject after that.

As a big fan of his work I can't wait to read it.

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