**4 Minute Read**
 

Lyndon Johnson was an American Original.  Johnson understood how to leverage his stature to the max. An imposing man standing  a towering 6’ 4” and probably another inch or more in his beautifully handcrafted leather boots, he commanded your attention when he entered a room. From his perch higher than most he could size up a room and the individuals in it like no other politician of his age. And he knew it and used it to his advantage profusely.

He was the master of ‘close talking’ decades before Jerry Seinfeld made the concept a thing in one of the more memorable episodes of the this TV show.  Johnson would get up in someone’s face and jawbone him until his adversary or colleague cowered in fear or discomfort and eventually gave into Johnson’s requests.

It was good old fashion in-your-face politics. And Johnson took advantage of this skill like no one else.

It’s a lost art – perhaps one that will never come back. The art of the backroom arm twisting and ‘scratch my back I’ll scratch yours’ deals that were the backbone of the Congress for decades.

It was a time of bi-partnership fueled more by regional political differences which for all intents simply don’t exist today rather than by pure party line distinctions. It was a time when one could leverage the ability to horse trade in order to create win-win outcomes.

Certainly not how politics are played today on a national level.

Today’s Washington insiders have lost the touch or just don’t have enough leverage over their colleagues to work the room the same way the political titans of the past, like Johnson and others had before him. The glare, the ubiquity and the intrusiveness of the 24/7 media have taken away the ability to get things done under the radar.

Politicians are Masters at Leverage

Many politicians have run ‘against’ the insiders of Washington. Promising to drain the swamp, clear out the bums and rid our political system of graft, corruption and the general malaise that permeates the nation’s capital. This is not a new approach. It’s been used on and off as the rallying call of politicians since the founding of the nation.

Outsiders have limited leverage, unless they have money. The real currency of Washington. The power of their personality, the power of their ideas and a sense of broad public support is just does not carry the same influence as before.

Donald Trump came to Washington as a skilled practitioner of leverage. As the self proclaimed “King of Debt” he knew how to take advantage of other peoples money and built his real estate empire around it. He knew how to spin a story, bend the truth to suit his needs and get others to do his bidding.  A true practitioner of HyperLeverage of people In this regard he was similar to Johnson. Exuding confidence and even bravado.  He drew his support from his stories of the great deal making. 

And at the beginning of his term he appeared stymied – exactly by the fact that he had no leverage. In terms of established politics in Washington Trump was being trumped by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCormick who were/are masters at pulling the levers of power in the house and senate. Trump could not fully manipulate the levers of power that he had at his disposal.

But over time, he came to understand that he could leverage the one thing that all elected officials crave more than anything else – a seat at the power table and holding on to the reigns of power. And to the general consensus of all parties, Trump leveraged his ability to bring out the party base like no one else.

The point is that Johnson before him and Trump today were practitioners of leverage in ways that most others can’t do. They were also confident enough to leverage their political position as head of the executive branch, as well as head of their parties. Johnson used the power of his personality. Trump uses the power of Twitter and the media’s obsession with him to insert himself into the daily national conversation.

Both are men of Leverage.