FAYETTEVILLE -- Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty, former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, predicted former Fayetteville resident and later first lady Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election, and added she was the "perfect person" to restore a better, more professional level of discourse after this year's spirited campaign.
"She knows how to govern, how to get things done, and how to restore the level of discourse," McLarty said during an hourlong interview by James L. "Skip" Rutherford, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock.
The interview was part of a series of interviews hosted by the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society. The interview began at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Giffels Auditorium on the University of Arkansas campus.
Asked for his reaction to the presidential prediction, one of the few Republicans in audience, state Rep. Grant Hodges of Rogers, said "I respect Mr. Rutherford and Mr. McLarty a great deal and thank them for their many years of service. I enjoyed the discussion and their incredible stories. I understand their loyalty to the Clintons, but I disagree that Hillary Clinton should and will be our next president."
"President Obama never cracked 40 percent of the vote in Arkansas, and I don't think our state and the country are looking for his third term," Hodges said. After the event, McLarty said Clinton's presidential prospects are helped by growing appreciation of President Barack Obama, which is resulting in the president's high approval numbers in polls.
About 175 people made up in a friendly crowd that included former Sen. David Pryor and other friends of both men. Both McLarty and Rutherford are alumni of the university, and McLarty was student body president in the 1967-68 academic year.
McLarty recalled how Bill Clinton reached out to influential Republicans during his term and how their help was vital in passing core pieces of his program. For instance, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was very helpful on foreign policy matter and went into an international consulting business with McLarty. McLarty himself called then-Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., when he was a newly appointed chief of staff. Lott was vital in getting Senate confirmation of the new president's cabinet appointments, McLarty said.
McLarty is personal friends with President George H.W. Bush and recently visited him. Bush was the president Clinton defeated in Bush's bid for a second term. McLarty had met the Republican president before in business, and acknowledged things were "tender" for a while after the election.
"These events are a great opportunity for students, because you can see how far someone from a small town in Arkansas can go if they work hard and with passion," said Maggie Benson, an attorney in Fayetteville who attended and is a former student of the Clinton School and raised in El Dorado.
NW News on 04/22/2016