John Latham is a former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Madison Guaranty Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan Association was a savings and loan association based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The company operated from 1979 until 1989 when it was shut down by federal regulators as a result of bank failure, leading to a loss o ...

that came into front page national news as a result of the

Whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

investigations. Madison Guaranty was owned and operated by

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and

Susan McDougal Susan Carol McDougal (née Henley; born 1955) is a real estate investor who served prison time as a result of the Whitewater controversy. Her refusal to answer "three questions" for a grand jury, on whether President Bill Clinton lied in his tes ...

. On February 7, 1985, Jim McDougal wrote to Gov.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to recommend Latham for the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

State Savings and Loan Board. Richard Massey, a friend of Latham, helped connect

and the

Rose Law Firm Rose Law Firm is an American law firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It dates its origins to November 1, 1820, sixteen years before Arkansas statehood, when Robert Crittenden, born 1797, and Chester Ashley, born 1791, entered into an a ...

to help with legal matters.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

also worked with Latham during this period. On July 11, 1985, an internal memo from Jim McDougal to John Latham stated, "I need to know everything you have pending before the Securities Commission as I intend to get with Hillary Clinton within the next few days." On July 11, 1986, the FHLBB told Madison Guaranty's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

to remove John Latham because the S&L's troubles had grown worse. John Latham became part of

Kenneth Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, kno ...

's investigation into the Whitewater land deal. John Latham attempted to hide from federal bank examiners a $500,000 insider loan, with a

nonrecourse debt Nonrecourse debt or a nonrecourse loan (sometimes hyphenated as non-recourse) is a secured loan (debt) that is secured by a pledge of collateral, typically real property, but for which the borrower is not personally liable. If the borrower defaul ...

that had been made to take a warehouse not on Madison's

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

. He was jailed for six months for

bank fraud Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...

References

*Washington Post, Hillary Clinton and the Whitewater Controversy: A Close-Up, Sunday, June 2, 1996; Page A01. * CNN Money, Fortune Magazine, Favorite S&L Felonies, November 5, 1990 *President Clinton's videotaped testimony at the bank fraud and conspiracy trial of James and Susan McDougal and Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. * New York Times, "At Whitewater Session, a Struggle to Recall", By STEPHEN LABATON Published: January 12, 1996 Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American chief executives of financial services companies Whitewater controversy {{US-CEO-stub