Where does Lyndon Johnson place in the pantheon of American Presidents?

It's a tricky one.

He passed civil rights legislation that bent the arc of American history, but his prints

are also all over the calamity of Vietnam, a legacy that leaves him outside the top 10

when historians debate these things.

One thing they all agree on, thanks to the work of his biographer Robert Carro, is the

LBJ's mastery of Congress was unmatched before or since.

Johnson weaponized the art of the shmuz.

He had a striking way of ingratiating himself with the powerful.

He identified older men with no sons of their own and filled the vacancy himself.

It worked on Sam Rayburn, the house speaker, and on Richard Russell, the leader of the

Senate's southern blog.

Both were bachelors.

Johnson had them over on Sundays, but made sure neither man knew he was nurturing the other

in the same way.

Russell came for brunch, Rayburn at dinner.

Getting big stuff done in Congress requires an unusual combination of cynicism and idealism.

Can anyone in the current crop match Johnson's mastery?

This is Chex and Balance.

I'm John Prado, the economist's US editor.

Each week we take one big theme, shaping American politics and explorers in depth.

Today, how will the new Congress work?

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