the fact of the matter is that both john wilkes kern jet -- john worth kern and henry cabot lodge functioned the way a majority leader would today. ever since then, the majority leadership has grown considerably in power. although if you read the rules of the senate, you will see a lot of -- you will not see a lot of mention of the majority leader. a lot of it has evolved over time. some of it has, because of precedents rather than rules. lyndon johnson used to say the single greatest power is the power of persuasion. and howard baker, who succeeded him, used to chuckle and say the power to call bills off of the calendar is also significant. in 1937, there was the vice president of the united states john nance garner who had previously served as the speaker of the house. he gave the majority leader not -- the most important power of all, not by rule but by precedent. he said i will grant the majority leader the right of first recognition. when all the senators are seeking recognition, i will always call on the majority leader first. after that, i'll call on the minority leader. that means th

the fact of the matter is that both john wilkes kern and henry cabot lodge functioned the way a majority leader would today. every since then, the majority leadership has grown considerably in power. although if you read the rules of the senate, you will see a lot of mention of the majority leader. a lot of it has evolved over time. some of their powers come from the presidents of the senate. lyndon johnson, the most powerful of the majority leader's used to say that the single greatest power is the power of persuasion. in howard's baker used to chuckle and say the power to call bills off of the calendar is also significant. there's a number of things. in 1937, there was the vice president of the united states john nance garner, who had previously served as the speaker of the house. and he gave the majority leader not by rule but by precedent. he relies control of the floor was essential for doing things in an efficient way in the senate to and so he said that i will grant the majority leader the right of first recognition. when all the senators are seeking recognition, i will always cal