The Whitewater Affair

A detailed Summary of The Whitewater Affair

Anyone can tell you that eminent politicians are not born that way. They are in no way simply given a divine right to rule. In the times of kings and queens, things were different. The most powerful positions in the entire "nation-state" could be handed down to posterity through a simple system of primogeniture. Today, however, things are different. Monarchies are now nearly obsolete. Democracy, the new order, has pushed itself to the forefront winning stunning victories over dictatorships and socialist governments. In essence, the art of either ruling a country or earning the right to rule a country has become a science. Today, that science could be termed "political science". Yet, such a simple word encompasses so much more than it seems to, and leaves the learner wondering "What exactly is it? Where is its substance?" What we call "political science" can have several meanings. In academia, students see it in the form of "Political Science 101: Professor J.B. Stewart", but to the eye of the politician, it is something wholly different. To James B. Stewart, the author of Bloodsport, it becomes the art of making connections and using them to rise to power, sometimes out of obscurity. In the sleepy state of Arkansas, one of the mos

"McDougal had never expected to get into real estate until he was persuaded to invest by his own sponsor in AA, Doyle Rowe...McDougal had mentioned he wanted to make some money, and one day Rowe took him out to a parcel that was for sale. 'Buy it', he told McDougal. 'If you don't make money I'll pay you back.' McDougal took a $500 cash advance from his credit card for the down payment and borrowed the rest of the $40,000 purchase price from the seller. The property was overgrown with weeds and bushes and looked like a mess. McDougal rented a brush hog and cleared and groomed the parcel. The broker sold it six months later for $80,000. McDougal was thrilled. It was the easiest money he'd ever made."

As time wore on, an important transfiguration overcame Hillary Clinton. She began to take on a new way of looking at money. In fact, she started to become dubious of her own husband. She wondered if whether or not Bill would really be able to support her and a child. Indeed, she was concerned. She faced anxiety about the future. She wondered about just where she was going and also wondered about whether or not she had sacrificed too much in giving up her life to marry Bill. It was at this point that another critical character entered the scene of the Clintons. His name was Robert L. "Red" Bone. Having a reputation similar to that of McDougal's, Bone was another perspicacious investor, but land wasn't his game. Instead it was commodities. Bone was big on cattle. Bone established a magnificent track record for himself, in the same way that McDougal set himself up with land investments. None of his customers ever complained. One unique aspect of the Bone style of investing was his one central requirement: Bone himself would have to make all of the decisions. At first, several of his customers were cautious. They didn't like the idea of simply handing over all of their money to someone else, who would in turn, spend it. Although they had a hard time at first, Bone soon re-assured them. He soon became Mr. Satisfaction Guaranteed. He was so confident in himself that his margin calls were "lax". "In the prevailing bull market, Bone seemed to assume that any losses would soon be recouped, so why bother with margin?" He was incredibly sure of himself. He soon attracted a powerful ally: Hillary Clinton.

"The last mile or so was over a pretty rugged road, but as they reached sight of the river, the McDougals were captivated. The land was hilly, lightly forested, descending fairly steeply to the rushing water of the river. No houses were visible on the other side, and the place felt remote and unspoiled."

The fact of the matter is that a man as brilliant as James McDougal knew how to make the right connections. He had a special talent, a keen eye, for spotting just the right plot of land to invest in, develop, and resell. It was the same pattern over and over again: invest, develop, and resell. Repetitively, those three words became McDougal's entire life. In most literature about the Whitewater Affair, names such as McDougal himself, Fulbright, and Clinton constantly come up, but it is this impressive track record of McDougal the financial all-star that is almost never fully elaborated upon. The way he attracted Arkansas's political elite goes almost unmentioned in reading about the "Whitewater Affair".

To some, these may seem like modest beginnings, but back in the late '70's, McDougal was becoming the equivalent of a millionaire.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Doyle RoweMcDougal, James McDougal, White RiverThere, , River Clinton, James Stewart, McDougal's Bone, Bill Clinton, Bill Hillary, Susan Jim, whitewater affair, bill clinton, track record, james stewart, james mcdougal, political science, bill hillary, hillary clinton, jim mcdougal, arkansas's political elite, black-eyed pea, bloodsport james stewart, track record mcdougal, invest develop resell,

Approximate Word count = 2529
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics