Edition: U.S. / Global  Friendly Persuasion  By Anthony Lewis
Published: April 28, 2002   The Years of Lyndon Johnson.  By
Robert A. Caro.  Illustrated. 1,167 pp. New York:  Alfred A.
Knopf. $35.  On the night of Aug. 20, 1958, the Senate was
considering a bill, pushed by Southerners and Northern
conservatives, to punish Earl Warren's Supreme Court by limiting
its power. Liberals made a motion to table and thus kill the
bill. They thought they had the votes, but the motion lost, 39
to 46. The bill was about to pass. Two of its sponsors, William
E. Jenner of Indiana and John Marshall Butler of Maryland, both
Republicans, were screaming, ''Vote, vote.''  Then Lyndon
Johnson, the majority leader, moved to adjourn. While senators
voted on that motion, he stood with a clipboard in his hand,
ostentatiously noting the name of anyone who voted no. The
Senate adjourned.  I was in the press gallery, covering the
story. I walked down the stairs to leave and bumped into
Johnson, who was walking to his office with Hubert