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Joan Mellen
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Faustian Bargains: Lyndon Johnson and Mac Wallace in the Robber Baron Culture of Texas Hardcover – September 13, 2016

by Joan Mellen (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 78 ratings
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Lyndon Johnson and Mac Wallace crossed paths only briefly; but Wallace’s life, especially one violent episode and its intricate aftermath, illuminates the dark side of our 36th president.

Perhaps no president has a more ambiguous reputation than LBJ. A brilliant tactician, he maneuvered colleagues and turned bills into law better than anyone. But he was trailed by a legacy of underhanded dealings, from his “stolen” Senate election in 1948 to kickbacks he artfully concealed from deals engineered with Texas wheeler-dealer Billie Sol Estes and defense contractors like his longtime supporter Brown & Root. On the verge of investigation, Johnson was reprieved when he became president upon JFK’s assassination. Among the remaining mysteries has been LBJ’s relationship to Mac Wallace who, in 1951, shot a Texas man having an affair with LBJ’s loose-cannon sister Josefa, also Wallace’s lover. When arrested, Wallace cooly said "I work for Johnson . . . I need to get back to Washington." Charged with murder, he was overnight defended by LBJ’s powerful lawyer John Cofer, and though convicted, amazingly received a suspended sentence. He then got high-security clearance from LBJ friend and defense contractor D.H. Byrd, which the Office of Naval Intelligence tried to revoke for 11 years without success.

Using crucial Life magazine and Naval Intelligence files and the unredacted FBI files on Mac Wallace, never before utilized by others, investigative writer Joan Mellen skillfully connects these two disparate Texas lives and lends stark credence to the dark side of Lyndon Johnson that has largely gone unsubstantiated.

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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bloomsbury USA
  4. Publication date
    September 13, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    6.42 x 1.28 x 9.59 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1620408066
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1620408063
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
78 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Chris
    5.0 out of 5 stars Book was in great shape
    Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I believe the author did a good job . I had always thought Johnson was the worst president in my lifetime , and an evil , repulsive man . There is much more circumstantial evidence of Johnson benefitting from suspicious deaths in Texas than credible evidence linking him to President Kennedy's assassination .
    And I dislike defending Johnson on this since I know this scum would be capable of such a crime , but on this at least the evidence against his role in the assassination is weak .
    More disturbing is the author's belief that Johnson knew in advance the USS Liberty was going to be attacked by Israel , and that US forces were ready to bomb Cairo (possibly with nuclear weapons ) , since Egypt would have been blamed for what Johnson hoped was a massacre of US sailors by Israel .
    She quotes a sailor that Israeli helicopters were present at the end of the attack with commandos ready to board the Liberty and wipe out the survivors , but that they aborted their mission and flew away . And although I was aware of Admiral McCain's sordid role in the cover-up , this author excoriates the ship's captain for his complicity in the cover-up of 34 murdered US sailors and over 100 wounded .
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Bruce Brian
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great
    Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2024
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    Author was noncommital
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  • Terry F Whitley
    3.0 out of 5 stars I recommend the book but only if you have time and ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This is an interesting book but a difficult read. The author goes into infinite detail on persons who knew Johnson or worked with him; legally or illegally. The problem with the book is that the author says in ten pages what she could have said in one. This book is not as much about Johnson as it is the characters around him so don't expect a biography. Having said that, there are some very interesting details about Johnson that emerge. I recommend the book but only if you have time and patience.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Michael Chesser
    5.0 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in understanding our true history
    Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Faustian Bargains exceeded my expectations, which were already high, based upon Joan Mellen's writings about Jim Garrison. This is a fascinating and entertaining tale about two very complex men, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in understanding our true history.
    I met the author at a conference in 2014, and something she said exemplifies her work: "follow the truth, wherever it leads you".
    Her review of the USS Liberty incident is chilling. We have a choice - we can either sweep our true history under the rug, or we can look it squarely in the eye and learn from it. I highly recommend this book.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • BMB
    4.0 out of 5 stars Seemed tedious at times
    Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2016
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    The first half is slow in my opinion. She really spends an inordinate amount of time on Mac Wallace as a student at UT. Seemed tedious at times. The second half and really the last quarter I found most enjoyable...I could not put it down. As a whole a pretty fair treatment of LBJ that is not totally one sided. She nails him on corruption throughout his political career, USS Liberty and Victorio Peak but absolutely demolishes the fingerprint evidence of his "hitman" Wallace on the 6th floor (plus any other murders for that matter) and the credibility of Billy Sol Estes with all his many ax grinding claims.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reuel A. Smith
    1.0 out of 5 stars Mellen is a paid off tool by the LBJ clan ...
    Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2017
    Mellen is a paid off tool by the LBJ clan. Darby had 35 yrs experience. not only one finger print matched, there were three partials. LBJ clan still has huge money and power in Texas. this is their rebuttal to Stone's LBJ book.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • mary taylor
    2.0 out of 5 stars Rehabilitation of the involvement of LBJ and Mac Wallace in the JFK assassination.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2016
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    Makes Wallace and LBJ out to be only innocent bystanders to the JFK assassination.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • gary w petersen
    5.0 out of 5 stars When it came to flim flam, this guy had unbeleavable nerve.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    The book claims that Johnson funneled hundreds of millions to his associates during ww2 when he was still a senator.With gov contracts. that he continuled to do that after he became president level of this corluption was just super sized.The only real proof of this sort of thing was the size of his bequests to presidential libraries when all he had ever been was a twelve thousand dollar a year congressman. Where did those millions come from?
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Billy, Nova Scotia, Canada
    5.0 out of 5 stars Faustian Bargains
    Reviewed in Canada on April 4, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    In Faustian Bargains Professor Mellen provides a biographical look into Mac Wallace troubled life & re-examines the urban legend status history has attributed to him. The Dark Side of LBJ is also presented including a New Mexico Gold Mine theft & his participation in the U.S.S. Liberty attack back in 1967. Highest Honours to Professor Mellen for her excellent research.
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Texas style politics
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    covers much of the detail of LBJ and his crimes but in the end will not draw the obvious conclusion which is
    as plain as the nose on your face that rather than face prison and also never achieve the prize you seek ie
    the Presidency you sort it Texas style and remove that obstacle. Worth the read and it brings up the White
    Sands gold stolen by LBJ which I had never heard about....
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  • Bill McCormack
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Read
    Reviewed in Canada on February 17, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    If you ever wondered about the Lyndon Johnston rumours, read this book. It's great.
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