Bobby Baker was a small-town southern boy when he arrived in Washington in 1943, but he had a sure sense of political clout. He soon knew which senator wanted what done—almost before the senator knew himself. Senator Robert Kerr was the first instrument of Bobby Baker’s rise. He found an even more powerful sponsor in Lyndon Johnson, and he rose with Johnson until no doors were closed to him. He tells here a unique insider’s story of the always fascinating ways of power in the Congress of the United States.

Bobby Baker was a small-town southern boy when he arrived in Washington in 1943, but he had a sure sense of political clout. He soon knew which senator wanted what done—almost before the senator knew himself. Senator Robert Kerr was the first instrument of Bobby Baker’s rise. He found an even more powerful sponsor in Lyndon Johnson, and he rose with Johnson until no doors were closed to him. He tells here a unique insider’s story of the always fascinating ways of power in the Congress of the United States.

Bobby Baker was a small-town southern boy when he arrived in Washington in 1943, but he had a sure sense of political clout. He soon knew which senator wanted what done—almost before the senator knew himself. Senator Robert Kerr was the first instrument of Bobby Baker’s rise. He found an even more powerful sponsor in Lyndon Johnson, and he rose with Johnson until no doors were closed to him. He tells here a unique insider’s story of the always fascinating ways of power in the Congress of the United States.