John Latham

Who is John Latham?

John Latham is a former CEO of Madison Guaranty that came into front page national news as a result of the Whitewater investigations.

Madison Guaranty was owned and operated by James and Susan McDougal. On February 7, 1985 Jim McDougal wrote to Gov. Bill Clinton to recommend Latham for the Arkansas State Savings and Loan Board. Richard Massey, a friend of Latham, helped connect Madison Guaranty and the Rose Law Firm to help with legal matters. Hillary Clinton 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 to remove John Latham because the S&L's troubles had grown worse. John Latham became part of Kenneth Starr'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 that had been made to take a warehouse not on Madison's books. He was jailed six months for bank fraud.