ROBERT A. MAHEU knew what power was. It was when you called the White House, and asked to see Lyndon Johnson. In fact, the President was trying to snatch a few days off at his Texas ranch, but still had a helicopter sent to ferry his unexpected guest from the nearest airport. He would give another example. "If you can pick up the telephone the night before the Academy Awards and say, 'By the way, I'm going to need another table for eight people tomorrow,' and they don't even burp - that's power."
At the summit of his career, this sort of thing was routine for Bob Maheu. Part of his success reflected his own gifts as a deal- maker and fixer