Arkansas Mischief

Jim McDougal was, as he puts it, “just a guy caught up in the Clinton tornado.” Earlier he had managed J. William Fulbright’s senate campaigns. Before he was old enough to vote, he masterminded JFK’s presidential campaign victory in a state with decidedly anti-Catholic sentiment. Following Kennedy’s election, McDougal worked in Washington for Arkansas’ other powerful senator, John McClellan. A lifelong populist (and part-time rogue entrepreneur), Jim McDougal was convicted on eighteen counts of banking fraud. He died in prison on March 8, 1998, at the age of fifty-seven.

Curtis Wilkie has been a staff writer for The Boston Globe since 1975. Now based in New Orleans, Wilkie covers the South and national politics for the Globe. He has written for George, the Nation, the New Republic, the New York Times Book Review, Playboy, and other publications.

Lloyd James (a.k.a. Sean Pratt) has been narrating since 1996 and has recorded over six hundred audiobooks. He is a seven-time winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award and has twice been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. His critically acclaimed performances include Elvis in the Morning by William F. Buckley Jr. and Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin, among others.