I was trying to learn about Lyndon Johnson when he was young and creating his first political machine in the Texas hill country. I moved there for three years. You had to learn that world

We're taught Lord Acton's axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's always true any more. Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

You come in off the street, through the doors of the theater. You sit down. The lights go down and the curtain goes up. And you're in another world

At the ballet, you really feel like you're in the presence of something outside the rest of your life. Higher than the rest of your life.

The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage.

Herman Brown was a businessman who wanted value for money spent. His relationships with politicians were measured by that criterion.

There used to be this feeling under Eisenhower and Kennedy and Roosevelt and Truman that government was a solution. Trust in the presidency fell precipitously under Johnson - real lows. And it's never come back. It's a trend that, if you're liberal, is really discouraging.