James Howard Hatfield (1958? - July 18, 2001) was an American author.

Contents

1 Fortunate Son 1.1 Controversial allegations 2 Criminal past 3 Book recall 4 Republication 5 Death 6 Bibliography 7 External links

Fortunate Son

Hatfield was the author of Fortunate Son, a book which alleges that George W. Bush received preferential treatment throughout his life, from his early schooling at Andover, Yale, and Harvard, to his business connections in Midland and his personal ownership interest in the Texas Rangers baseball team, to his candidacy for Governor and President. Hatfield argues that Bush succeeded in life not on merit, but on family connections alone, as a member of a modern oligarchy.

Controversial allegations

Hatfield's most controversial allegation involves Bush's alleged 1972 cocaine possession arrest in Harris County, Texas. According to Hatfield's book, three unnamed sources claimed a judge had expunged Bush's drug case and given Bush community service as a favor to his father, who was then ambassador to the United Nations. Hatfield later claimed that his sources were Karl Rove, Clay Johnson, and Michael Dannenhauer.

Criminal past

Soon after the book's release, The Dallas Morning News reported that Hatfield was a paroled felon who had been convicted in 1988 of paying a hit man $5,000 to murder his former boss with a car bomb. It was also revealed that Hatfield pleaded guilty to embezzlement in 1992. Hatfield at first denied the allegations when his publisher confronted him, but he eventually owned up to his criminal history.

Book recall

Due to the revelations of Hatfield's criminal past, and the damage to his credibility, in October 1999, Hatfield's publisher, St. Martin's Press, recalled 70,000 copies of Fortunate Son and left an additional 20,000 books in storage. Even so, the book had already reached the New York Times bestseller list. Hatfield responded that, before the Bush campaign brought pressure to bear, St. Martin's had publicly stated that the book had been "carefully fact-checked and scrutinized by lawyers." [1]

Republication

The book was later republished by Soft Skull Press, a company headed by a New York punk musician named Sander Hicks. The relationship between Hicks and Hatfield was explored in the movie Horns and Halos, an award-winning documentary film directed by Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky. In one scene from the DVD extra disc, Hatfield says to the camera, "If anything happens to me, get it out to the press."

Death

According to Detective John Hubbard of the Bentonville, Arkansas Police Department, on July 17, 2001, the Police went to Hatfield's house to arrest him on charges of credit card fraud but they were unable to locate him.

On July 18, 2001, Hatfield's body was found by a hotel housekeeper in room 312 at Days Inn in Springdale, Arkansas, an apparent suicide by prescription drug overdose. According to the police, notes were left listing alcohol, financial problems and "Fortunate Son" as reasons for killing himself.

Bibliography

• (1999). Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President. Soft Skull Press. ISBN 1887128840

External links

• Bush Accuser Dies Of Drug Overdose, Washington Post
• Interview with James Hatfield, Democracy Now!
• Horns and Halos - website for the documentary film
• Village Voice article about Horns and Halos