Clark Clifford
Clark McAdams Clifford (December 25, 1906 – October 10, 1998) was an American lawyer who served as an important political adviser to Democratic presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter. His official government positions were White House Counsel (1946–1950), Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (1963–1968), and Secretary of Defense (1968–1969);[1] Clifford was also influential in his role as an unofficial, informal presidential adviser in various issues.[2] A successful Washington, D.C., lawyer, he was known for his elite clientele, charming manners, and impeccable suits.[2]
Clark Clifford
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
October 10, 1998 (aged 91)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
3
1944–1946
All four Democratic presidents of the Cold War era employed Clifford's services and relied on his counsel, marking him as one of the ultimate Washington insiders.[3] Emblematic of Clifford's influence in postwar Democratic presidential administrations was that after Jimmy Carter won the 1976 presidential election, his transition team was adamant that Clifford, as a symbol of the Washington, D.C., establishment, should not have any influence whatsoever, declaring that "if you ever see us relying on Clark Clifford, you'll know we have failed", yet Carter eventually came to rely on him nonetheless.[3]
In his later years, Clifford became involved in several controversies. He was a key figure in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International scandal, which led to a grand jury indictment.
Background[edit]
Clifford was born on December 25, 1906, in Fort Scott, Kansas. His parents resided there at the time because his father, Frank, was a traveling auditor for Missouri Pacific Railroad.[4] He was named after his maternal uncle, Clark McAdams.[5] He attended Washington University in St. Louis.[6]
Personal life and death[edit]
On October 3, 1931, Clifford married Margery Pepperell "Marny" Kimball (April 20, 1908 – April 14, 2000). They had three daughters: Margery Clifford (nickname: Gery), Joyce Clifford Burland and Randall Clifford Wight.[36]
Clifford was a self-proclaimed Christian Zionist.[37]
Not long after a final, frail appearance in the 1997 PBS television documentary Truman, Clifford died on October 10, 1998, at the age of 91. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington County, Virginia.[30]
Legacy[edit]
Clark Clifford emerged as a national figure almost overnight, moving from a low-level naval aide in the White House to President Truman's top adviser and strategist. His success came from hard work, a good mind, poker skills to match those of his boss, the ability to stroke the press, the knack to immediately seize on serendipitous opportunities, and the ability to identify, reshape and promote good ideas first proposed by others, such as George Kennan. He thus gained fame for papers that he presented forcefully, but did not actually write, including his 1947 proposal on Truman's reelection strategy and the Clifford-Elsey papers on Cold War strategy. He became a trusted advisor to presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in 1960, assuring his access by indicating he wanted no public office. His reputation – and his law practice – continued to soar until finally Lyndon Johnson appointed him Defense Secretary to lead the nation out of the Vietnam trap.[41] Historian Walter Isaacson argues that in many ways Clifford resembled the four wise men who shaped American foreign policy in the 1940s and early 1950s – Dean Acheson, Averell Harriman, Robert A. Lovett, and John J. McCloy. However, Isaacson argues, "Clifford remained a Wise Man wannabe because he could never quite shake his reputation as a partisan wheeler-dealer and manipulator."[42]
In 1995, Tony Goldwyn portrayed Clifford in the HBO television film Truman. In 2002, Donald Sutherland portrayed Clifford in the HBO television film Path to War.
Works[edit]
In 1991, Clifford's memoirs Counsel to the President (co-authored with Richard Holbrooke, later U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations) were published just as his name was implicated in the unfolding BCCI scandal.