Whitewater Inquiry, 1993-2000

The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s, surrounding the Whitewater Development Corporation, a real estate company owned by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim and Susan McDougal. In 1979, while Clinton was governor of Arkansas, the Clintons and McDougals incorporated the Whitewater Development Corporation with the purpose of building vacation properties on land along the White River near Flippin, Arkansas. The corporation was not a success. In 1989, Madison Guaranty, a savings and loan association owned by Jim McDougal, collapsed amid the national savings and loan crisis. Whitewater came to public attention on March 8, 1992, when The New York Times reported on Whitewater during Clinton's campaign for president of the United States. Neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton was prosecuted for their role in the corporation or their conduct during the numerous investigations. Three separate independent inquiries found insufficient evidence linking them with the criminal conduct of the others involved in Whitewater. However, the McDougals; Jim Guy Tucker, Clinton's successor as governor of Arkansas; and twelve other people involved in the scandal were convicted for over forty financial crimes. President Clinton pardoned Susan McDougal before leaving office; Jim McDougal died in 1998.