Point of View

Master of the Senate is written in the third person, weaving together a massive amount of historical research and extensive interviews with people who knew, admired and feared the gigantic figure of LBJ. There are remarkably few extended quotations, but the text is peppered with snippets of conversations and recollections.

Setting

Master of the Senate is set primarily in the corridors of power in the north wing of the U.S. Capitol Building and the Old Senate Building in Washington, DC, between 1949 and 1960. The Senate Chamber consists of a raised Dais, where the presiding officer sits; a recessed well, where senators can stand facing their colleagues; and a series of four tiered rows of seats, where the senators normally sit at plain mahogany desks. Viewed from the public galleries above, the Chamber in the 1950s was a drab, unimpressive hall. Viewed from the well, it glows...