Excerpt about Alice Walton
From THE WALTONS/ INSIDE AMERICA’S RICHEST FAMILY
ALICE, THE BOOSTER
A CROWD OF 8,000 gathered on the tarmac outside Bentonville early one November morning six years ago, awaiting the arrival of President Bill Clinton. Almost everyone here had some sort of personal tie to the President, and now he was coming back to them on this momentous day–the dedication of Northwest Arkansas’s brand-new airport (call letters XNA). Many folks had said it couldn’t be done; they’d been trying to build an airport here since the 1950s.The President stepped off Air Force One and spoke: “I have found that there is in any project like this a certain squeaky-wheel factor; there are people that just bother you so much that even if you didn’t want to do it, you’d go on and do it anyway. I would like to pay a special tribute to the people who were particular squeaky wheels to me–starting with Alice Walton, who wore me out.” The crowd roared.
Not long ago I visited with Alice Walton at her remote cabin deep in the woods of Arkansas, high over a river with a stunning view. Alice, 55, was recovering from a cold (“She’s on the go all the time,” says one of her advisors). “I’m proud of what we did here,” she said. “We needed economic development in this part of the state, and the only way to get it was by creating the infrastructure. The roads and the airport. And we accomplished that.” It’s true. Bentonville and all of Northwest Arkansas are booming. That has everything to do with the success of Wal-Mart, but it’s also because you can finally get there.
Alice Louise Walton is Sam and Helen’s youngest child and only daughter, and as such has always been someone special in the family. Like her dad, Alice is headstrong. “In some ways, I believe she’s the most like me–a maverick–but even more volatile than I am,” Sam wrote in his book. “I learned about determination from him,” she laughs. “Just a touch.” And then: “Dad could see things simply. He knew how to take risks. I’d like to think that I have some of that,” she says, suddenly tearing up.
View more about the Waltons such as art benefactor Alice Walton on the Walton Foundation website. Alice Walton is the founder of Crystal Bridges Art Museum.