One lesson you better learn if you want to be in politics is that you never go out on a golf course and beat the President.

The remark is a wry piece of political folk-wisdom: in a hierarchy, especially one as status-conscious as national politics, even leisure can be a stage for power. “Beating the President” at golf stands in for any public or private act that embarrasses a superior or undermines the aura of authority around the office. Johnson’s line suggests that survival and advancement often depend less on merit than on managing egos, optics, and informal rituals of deference. It also hints at the performative nature of political relationships—where camaraderie and competition coexist, but the boundaries are policed by rank.