R. Emmett Tyrrell - Boy Clinton: The Political Biography

BOY CLINTON

Copyright 1996 by R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

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First e-book edition 2015: ISBN 978-1-62157-461-3

Originally published in hardcover, 1996; cataloging below

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tyrrell, R. Emmett.

Boy Clinton: the political biography / by R. Emmett Tyrrell.

p. cm.

Includes index.

1. United StatesPolitics and government1993- 2. Clinton, Bill, 1946-. 3. Political corruptionUnited States. I. Title.

E885.T97 1996

Published in the United States by

Regnery Publishing

A Division of Salem Media Group

300 New Jersey Ave NW

Washington, DC 20001

www.Regnery.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

2015 printing

Distributed to the trade by

Perseus Distribution

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For Kenneth Lynn, the perfect prof

And Valerie Lynn, the perfect woman

CONTENTS

A T THE OUTSET I want to acknowledge that this book is the consequence of Erwin Glickess prudent skepticism toward the pert ignoramuses of my generation who in the late 1960s took over many fine universities, degrading them and driving wise faculty members such as himself elsewhere. Erwin left Columbia for the world of publishing, where he performed with great distinction until his untimely death. Even while flourishing as a publisher he never forgot what this snotty sliver of my generation did to American learning; when he saw the Clintons in the White House he invited me to lay bare their essential nonsensicality. Thus this is another salvo in an intergenerational battle that those of us who see America as a good democracy have been waging against those of our peers who see America as a Golden Goose to be plucked. I wish Erwin had lived to appraise the final product.

Since I began working on this book in 1993, the American Spectator, the magazine I founded at Indiana University in 1967 to confront student radicalism, has grown from a circulation of 30,000 to a high point of 340,000, making it the largest intellectual review in the country, which is to say, the world. I acknowledge my debt to Bill and Hillary, but also to my marvelous staff whose members have overseen that growth, stepping in when I was, say, on an expedition to Arkansas or reviewing various criminal codes or composing this monograph. Publisher Ron Burr presided over the magazine with his usual businesslike mastery of detail. The noble Wladyslaw Pleszczynski, ably supported by Chris Caldwell and M. D. Carnegie, kept the editorial department humming in time of crisis and time of bliss. Investigative reporters David Brock and Danny Wattenberg uncovered much that certain people would rather not hear about, and James Ring Adams, our financial investigator, did that and also assisted me in uncovering and explicating Byzantine financial dealings that might have bankrupted Byzantium and left the emperor in the hoosegow. All their labors have assisted me in recreating the Clinton miracle.

Researchers Pedro Manzana, George Neumayr, and Tracy Robinson were very helpful, and the amazing Pedro was great fun to work with. George and my son, P. D. Tyrrell, performed splendidly, reading my changes into the manuscript during its final period of fine tuning. Then came the indefatigable and fastidious Tracy, volunteering her own time to review endnotes with selfless care. I have had the perfect secretaries. Jenny Woodward, in retirement now, read the text for error. Lonnie Rewis stuck by me through the whole ordeal, seeing to it that Jenny was left few errors to detect. Yet Lonnie did so very much more, and she deserves my especial gratitude. We have an all-purpose genius in our office by the name of Catherine Campbell, whose grace and kindness are legendary; as always I am grateful for the literary counsel of the dear Miss Myrna Larfnik, who to my surprise has remained unmarried all these years.

Beyond my immediate colleagues I want to acknowledge my agent, Lois Wallace, who steps in during grim moments and performs above the call of duty. She is a pro. Two superb journalists helped in many ways: the queens gift to the colonies, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, and John Corry, one of the great journalists of his generation, who has now come down from New York to give the American Spectator still more firepower. Jack Hinton and Dave Henderson brought their varied talents to my project, and Andrew Whist of Libertad brought his friendship. The Lynns, Kenneth and Valerie, were always helpful, and then came the colleagues of Regnery Publishing. Following in the great tradition of his father Henry, Alfred Regnery, the president and publisher of Regnery Publishing, runs the most professional publishing house I have ever been associated with. Not surprisingly my editor there, Richard Vigilante, has proven to be my best editor. To all of the above, my gratitude.

One final acknowledgment. I want to thank those selfless Arkansans who helped me with information and critical insights. Arkansas is now the most maligned state in the Union. Yet I have found the vast majority of Arkansans to be uniquely friendly, decent, and law abiding. Theirs is a beautiful state, blessed by nature but not always by history. Arkansans deserve better than the political corruption now on display. I hope what I have written will be of some assistance to the many brave and industrious Arkansans now endeavoring to bring about reform. To them I am very grateful.

RET

McLean, Virginia

April 27, 1996

A LL THE SCANDALS OF the Clinton presidency have their genesis in Arkansas, even the foreign campaign donations that played such a large role in his 1996 reelection. Did the Clinton White House misuse the FBI to gather political intelligence on some nine hundred citizens? Did it abuse its power by leaning on the FBI to malign the employees of the White House Travel Office? Turn to Chapter 6 of this book, and read how Arkansas state troopers were regularly asked to gather political intelligence for the governor. Did the Clintons attempt to turn hitherto unpolitical offices of the federal government into political operations and financial plums for cronies? Turn to , and you will see them doing the very same back home.

The financial irregularities of Campaign 96 are not particularly surprising either. Only in the last days of the campaign did Americas mainstream press become aware of foreign involvement from such shadowy figures as Indonesias Riady family and the Lippo group. Yet, as you will see in Chapter 5, the Riadys activity in Arkansas was observable from the 1980s, as was the fundraising for Clinton by Charlie Trie, who did it amidst the chop suey and egg rolls of his Little Rock oriental eatery (Fu Lin, a play on Foo Lin?) back then and amidst peculiar Asian contacts later, in 1992 and 1996.

Mochtar Riady and his son James infiltrated Arkansas in a serious way when their Lippo Holding Company purchased a substantial piece of Arkansass Worthen bank on February 14, 1984. They became partners with the powerful Stephens family of Little Rock, owners of the largest privately owned investment bank outside of Wall Street.