Like many previous congressional leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are better known as inside congressional players than as compelling national leaders.

They epitomize the less attractive aspects of the modern legislative process, raising vast sums of money to protect their incumbent members and making deals to get the necessary votes on crucial issues.

In an era in which such telegenic public figures as Barack Obama and Sarah Palin exemplify national politics, Pelosi and Reid are throwbacks to the days when the key figures in town were consummate legislative operators like Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn.

Pelosi and Reid have low public approvals, and neither is very effective as a party spokesman, something they recognize by limiting their appearances on network interview programs.

In the last three weeks, however, both demonstrated true leadership by putting together tenuous majorities from their fractious caucuses to score significant victories in the yearlong battle to enact Obama’s health care reform legislation.

It’s not only a victory for those who want to achieve the kind of federal health reform advocates have sought for nearly 75 years. It’s also a victory for the efforts of Obama and his party to overcome the institutional gridlock of recent years and show the public they can act on complex national problems.

While some details were not pretty — witness the stories of how Sen. Mary Landrieu got extra Medicaid funds for Louisiana — LBJ would have been proud of Reid.

Though the details were different, the two leaders faced similar challenges.

Pelosi had to balance the strong support of House Democrats for a more extensive “public option” health plan with pressure from conservatives for stricter anti-abortion provisions.

She also had to combine the work of three House committees and the increasing pressure for limiting government spending from four-dozen Democrats that represent districts Republican John McCain carried in November’s presidential election.

House Republicans complicated her task by deciding to vote unanimously against the bill. Many genuinely opposed its provisions, while some either wanted to take Obama down a peg or felt pressure from conservative groups. Still, Pelosi persisted, and on Nov. 7 she won House passage of her version by a tenuous five votes.

Reid had to muster 60 votes to surmount the effort of Republicans taking advantage of the Senate’s filibuster rules and launch formal debate on the issue. To do so, he had to rework the measures from two Senate committees in a way that attracted the votes of all 58 Democrats plus its two Democratic-leaning independents, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

Like their House counterparts, Senate Democrats encompass a broad range of views, from the liberals like Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, who basically favor a government-run health plan, to more conservative members like Lieberman and Arkansas’ Blanche Lincoln, who oppose one.

All Senate Republicans all voted “no” — similar to the House, which had only one GOP yes vote — though some Democrats still believe they can yet craft a final bill that wins the votes of Maine’s two moderate GOP senators.

But unlike the House, where Pelosi needs 218 of 258 Democrats to win key votes, the two Maine senators constitute Reid’s only flexibility in getting the 60 votes required to bring the bill to a final vote (although only 51 have to vote to pass it).

The Senate and House bills agree on key areas, such as expanding current coverage and limiting pre-conditions as a barrier to health insurance. But none of this ensures the two chambers will be able to agree on a bill, let alone on one acceptable to both.

Besides the continuing complex political fallout, significant substantive issues remain: whether the bill will truly cut health costs; how to craft an abortion curb acceptable to enough members who also back the bill; how to bridge the gap between a House whose majority wants a government plan and a Senate whose majority may not; and how to finance it without adding to the federal deficit.

But Pelosi and Reid have brought the long campaign to enact health reform further than ever, and their skills remain crucial in completing the job.