Origins & Early Life

Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States public figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote The Power Broker (1974), a biography of New York urban planner Robert Moses, which was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the 100 Greatest Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century. He has since written four of a planned five volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012), a biography of the former president.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Alex Shephard, a staff writer at The New Republic, described Caro as "the most influential biographer of the last century". For his biographies, Caro has won two Pulitzer Prizes in Biography, two National Book Awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement), the Francis Parkman Prize, three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the Mencken Award for Best Book, the Carr P. Collins Award from the Texas Institute of Letters, the D. B. Hardeman Prize, and a Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded Caro the National Humanities Medal. Due to Caro's reputation for exhaustive...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• 14th Dalai Lama — Contemporary (Born in 1935) (1935): Spiritual leader of Tibet and head of Tibetan Buddhism since 1940.
• Abraham Isaac Kook — Contemporary (Died in 1935) (1935): Pioneering Orthodox Rabbi and Father of Religious Zionism.
• Adnan Khashoggi — Contemporary (Born in 1935) (1935): Saudi businessman and arms dealer, known as 'The Great Gatsby of the Middle East'
• Angelica Kauffman — Shared historical date (10-30 · Born) (1741): Swiss history painter renowned for her successful careers in London and Rome.
• Claude Lévi-Strauss — Shared historical date (10-30 · Died) (2009): Pioneering structuralist anthropologist whose work redefined human culture and myth.
• Alain Delon — Historical peer (Born in 1935) (1935): Iconic French actor, producer, and cinematic leading man of the 20th century.
• Alban Berg — Historical peer (Died in 1935) (1935): Key figure of the Second Viennese School, blending Romanticism with twelve-tone technique.
• Adria Petty — Historical peer (Born in 1974) (1974): American director, editor, and artist known for music video work with Beyoncé.
• Alanis Morissette — Historical peer (Born in 1974) (1974): Iconic singer-songwriter known for raw emotion and confessional alt-rock anthems.
• 1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament — Historical peer (Born in 1982) (1982): The 44th annual NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
• 1935 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1935
• October 30 (10-30) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on October 30