Lyndon Johnson normalized unanimous consent agreements and required one before a bill reached the Senate floor, enabling him to control the agenda and settle votes privately through bargaining before public debate could alter senators’ positions.

“Johnson made their use the norm in the Senate. He wouldn't even allow a bill to reach a floor until such an agreement was in place. And the reason was that Johnson wanted to control which bills reached the floor and to keep the floor from changing anybody's mind, because he wanted every vote settled in private beforehand through the wheeling and dealing where his leverage worked best.”