By all the grand machinery of history, President Lyndon B. Johnson should be remembered for his command of power. During his time in office from 1963 to 1969, Johnson was the architect of Medicare, the steward of the Great Society, and one of the most formidable legislators ever to occupy the Oval Office. He reshaped civil rights, poverty policy, education, and the modern role of government with a scale few presidents have matched.

But there is another way to understand Johnson, not through the laws he signed, but through the objects he handed people.

At the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, tucked among the artifacts of American power, a museum placard offers a revealing detail: President Johnson loved to shower his family, staff, friends, constituents, and even strangers with gifts. Among his favorites were electric razors and electric toothbrushes.

In fact, Johnson had “give-away” items kept in the Oval Office, including electric toothbrush sets stamped with the Presidential seal. The ritual became so well known that White House staffers collected them. Rumor has it that historian Doris........

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