Basically, you need to add the user in wheel group. Use the following command:
usermod -G wheel
(You must be logged in as root)
Then use the 'su' command.
OR, you can use the 'sudo' command.
(only users listed in the /etc/sudoers configuration file are allowed to use the sudo command)
Please find the details here:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/security-guide/s1-wstation-privileges.html
(Section 4.4.3)
I hope you will find it useful. Thanks