LBJ knew how to govern. In fact, the way he managed other politicians, either with carrots or sticks, was famously known as the Johnson Treatment (illustrated quite nicely here).
The NYTimes.com has a good article (Can Obama Be a Majority of One? – 100 Days Blog – NYTimes.com) covering the ways that LBJ governed and what Obama could learn from him. Indeed, anyone responsible for the governing of anything from a country to a small town should read this as a primer on how to win political battles and influence other politicians.
There is one obvious error in the article, however. It says: “Unlike L.B.J., he lacks long-time ties to Congressional leaders, which may be one reason his stimulus plan barely made it out of the Senate”. If Obama lacks those Washington ties, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has them in spades. As does his Vice President, Joe Biden. I think it is less the case of ties and more the case that the U.S. Senate is difficult to manage at the best of times. LBJ was “Master of the Senate”: any president is going to come up short compared to him.
Smart People I Know 