If you have a subscription to the Wall St. Journal, you will find this article interesting - about the background and ascendancy of Sen. Bill Frist:

Mr. Frist is the youngest Senate majority leader since Lyndon Johnson and one of the most powerful leaders in Washington. Yet just as he was on that night in Nashville, he remains a work in progress. He came to power without a natural political base, a rarity in the modern Senate, and also lacks Mr. Johnson's famed instincts and ruthlessness.

That presents risks for President George W. Bush, who wants Mr. Frist to advance an ambitious second-term agenda. It's also a danger for Mr. Frist, especially if he runs for president in 2008. His restless nature and supreme confidence have led him into waters over his head. Just this spring, on the Terri Schiavo right-to-die controversy and the fight over judicial nominations, Mr. Frist pushed the Senate into unknown territory, and, in the latter case, into a battle he couldn't easily win.