Talk:cloakroom

English

What does "A cloakroom operator rather than master of debate ... did not like open discussion and freewheeling debate" mean? 81.68.255.36 19:50, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

I can't find that quotation online, but I would guess that it's describing a member of the U.S. Congress (either a Senator or a Representative); it means that (s)he's better at getting things done through back-room discussions (talking one-on-one to other members of the same chamber, or working with small groups of members) than at making persuasive speeches on the floor of the chamber. (Obviously that's a bit of a wild-ass guess, since I have no context at all; but that's how "cloakroom operator" seems to be used on Google Books.) —Ruakh_TALK 20:01, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

Ah thank you! It was about Lyndon Baines Johnson, in George C. Herring's America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. Can't find it online either. 81.68.255.36 13:35, 10 November 2011 (UTC)