Washington Decoded, John McAdams, Feb. 11, 2017. Book review: “Faustian Bargains: Lyndon Johnson and Mac Wallace in the Robber Baron Culture of Texas” by Joan Mellen (Bloomsbury. 359 pp. $37).
The “Faustian bargains” in the title of Mellen’s latest book are the pacts she believes three Texans implicitly made with Lyndon Johnson to serve Johnson’s corrupt purposes in return for his sponsorship and patronage. But unlike Goethe’s Faust, there was no redemption at the end for any of them.