Existing comment:
Clark Clifford
1991
Bronze, Edition 9/10
Clark Clifford (1906-1998) served as an advisor to every Democratic administration during the Cold War, first as Truman's White House Counsel (1946-1950), then as Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (1963-1968) and Secretary of Defense (1968-1969) in the Johnson administration, and Special Emissary to India in the Carter administration. Clifford thereafter was an influential lawyer and lobbyist whose judgment was highly valued in complicated international matters. From 1982 to 1991, he served as Chairman of First American Bankshares, which was revealed to be owned by Bank of Credit and Commerce International, a bank connected with money laundering, arms trafficking and over $13 billion in unaccounted-for funds.
Clifford became the target of a grand jury investigation, acknowledging his dilemma to the New York Times saying, "I have a choice of either seeming stupid or venal." Eventually it was found that Clifford handsomely profited from bank stocks purchased with unsecured loans from BCCI. Oliphant's bust captures a venal Clifford besieged by scandal, with his head bowed, his emaciated frame hunched and bent. The only recognizable remnant of his once elegant and charming manner is the characteristic gesture of fingertips pressed together in thought -- known as the "Clifford Tent." |