coattailsn.

coattails (n.)also coat-tail, c. 1600, from coat (n.) + tail (n.). In 17c., to do something on one\\'s own coattail meant "at one\\'s own expense. Meaning "power of one person," especially in politics, is from 1848 (in a Congressional speech by Abraham Lincoln, in reference to Andrew Jackson); expression riding (someone\\'s) coattails into political office is from 1949.