Lyndon B. Johnson

36th U.S. President — architect of the Great Society (Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid) and the escalator of the Vietnam War — documented in Robert Caro's multi-volume biography as one of the most complex exercises of political power in American history.

Legislative mastery: LBJ's Senate career (particularly as Majority Leader 1955-1961) demonstrated an unparalleled ability to know every senator's needs, fears, and ambitions — and to use that knowledge to move legislation. The Great Society: the most ambitious domestic legislative program since the New Deal. Vietnam: his escalation of the war destroyed his presidency and defined the limits of presidential power. Robert Caro's ongoing biography (4 volumes, 5th pending) is the canonical account — the most comprehensive portrait of power in American political writing.