It all seemed so uneventful: two couples on a double date, a hearty Southern meal of fried steak and turnip greens, jovial conversations about work, and the "casual" mention of a great business venture involving land on the White River. But these two couples were Bill and Hillary Clinton and their then-close friends Jim and Susan McDougal. The great business scheme was dubbed Whitewater, which snowballed into one of the great political scandals--or witch-hunts, depending on your point of view--of our time.
Arkansas Mischief is the late Jim McDougal's autobiography, but inevitably the book will be devoured not for its strengths as a memoir but for its allegations of presidential misconduct. McDougal makes several new allegations against President Clinton, including one that he intended to fully pardon Susan McDougal for her Whitewater involvement, something the White House vigorously denies.
Is the book just a series of sensational untruths told by an embittered and disillusioned man? McDougal himself admits that he suffered from manic-depression, so can he be believed? The stories of political corruption are casually woven into the book's narrative and don't read like tabloid sleaze. Yet ultimately very few people know the actual truth, and the reader must draw his or her own conclusions. Regardless of the allegations' legitimacy, McDougal and his cowriter Curtis Wilkie have written an engaging and often witty memoir. A devoted Democrat from a young age, McDougal recalls how he "always thought every town should have one Republican, just as every town seemed to have one village idiot and one town drunk." The biography traces McDougal's rise as a Democratic campaigner and activist, opening our eyes to the unique and controversial workings of the Arkansas political scene of the past 50 years. Although McDougal died in prison before the release of his autobiography, Arkansas Mischief remains a lasting testament to an elusive yet endearing man whose revelations threatened to topple the president. --Naomi Gesinger
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
...a lively and engrossing excursion through the Arkansas culture that spawned McDougal and Bill Clinton.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
The Whitewater sections make that knotted story seem more intelligible--and more human. -- The Economist
[H]is book shows more than anything yet written about Whitewater that the human drama of this scandal may outlast even its political effects. -- The Wall Street Journal, James Ring Adams
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Jim McDougal was a major player in Arkansas politics for almost four decades--working with Wilbur Mills, Senators Fulbright and McKellan, and others. He died in prison on March 8, 1998 at the age of 57. Curtis Wilkie has been a staff writer for The Boston Globe since 1975. He now lives in New Orleans where he covers the South and national politics.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
McDougal, self-described political mentor of President Clinton, died recently of cardiac failure in prison at age 57, while serving a sentence for his "creative financing" activities as manager of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan that funded the Whitewater real estate project. Although he suffered from alcoholism and depression, had two failed marriages, and died impoverished, McDougal emerges as a less-than-sympathetic wheeler-dealer who lost at the high-stakes games he played. He admits wrongdoing, but blames a vengeful Republican congressman for the harsh treatment his savings and loan received from federal bank examiners. Much of the book is spent portraying Arkansas's distinctive political/business environment, an unsavory saga much better told in Roger Morris's Partners in Power (LJ 8/96). McDougal claims Whitewater was a business deal in which the Clinton's did nothing wrong, but they perjured themselves afterward in federal testimony. Although he remembers Bill as a one-time friend, McDougal deplores Clinton's reputed affair with Susan, McDougal's former wife, and unleashes most of his contempt on Hillary for her alleged financial dealings at McDougal's expense. Although a "yellow dog" Democrat, McDougal offered to testify against the Clintons in the Whitewater investigation?an offer eagerly accepted. An optional purchase for public libraries.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Listening to this book is almost too much for one person to bear. The weight of McDougal's accusations, that both President and Mrs. Clinton lied about Whitewater, suggests that there is more to come in the continuing Clinton melodrama. Lloyd James's Southern accent and sober inflection reel us in. He has excellent diction, and his voice is easy to listen to. However, his reading is distracting because he's too close to the microphone, and we hear some unsavory mouth sounds. He also has some noticeable pronunciation errors. On the whole, though, James narrates a good story. We should just hope that much of it is fiction. R.I.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
![Arkansas Mischief: The Birth Of A National Scandal by [Jim McDougal]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51MTtKhUirL._SY346_.jpg)
