In many ways, C. Arnholt Smith seemed to personify the American Dream. A high school dropout and former grocery clerk, he rose to the ownership of a major league baseball team (the San Diego Padres) and became head of a financial empire that included one of California's largest banks and a multimillion-dollar conglomerate with interests that ranged from hotels, real estate and insurance to tuna-fishing fleets, canneries and a commuter airline. He became the chum of a President, so close to Richard Nixon that the two watched the 1968 election returns together...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
