The Passage of Power

The Passage of Power is the fourth of the epic series by Robert Caro expounding on the presidential race of 1960 followed by Johnson's tenure as Vice President, and finally as President after the Assassination.

The biggest underlying theme throughout the book is the feud between Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Throughout the late 50s and early 60s, their rivalry raged throughout JFK's tenure as well as after the gunshot in Dallas. "The two men hated each other to the depths of their beings".

The biggest takeaways from the interactions and the origins of their dislike for each other is that most of the underlying dislike was due to miscommunications. The initial interaction in the Congressional dining hall was awkward due to Bobby's assumption that Johnson had disparaged his father despite the fact that Johnson and Joe Kennedy had a good relationship.

The biggest miscommunications happened during the Democratic National Convention prior to the 1960 election. Despite JFK's preference to take Johnson as the VP on the ticket, Bobby Kennedy took it upon himself to get Johnson to decline the offer. Playing a game of telephone, multiple miscommunications between Johnson and JFK were caused by RFK, and thus began the true feud.

Several miscommunications after the death of JFK caused the feud to boil over. Johnson's call to Kennedy immediately after the death to ask about the oath caused considerable consternation. Several misconstrued interactions with Jackie Kennedy also caused issues. Thus, one of the most public feuds was able to fester.