First Lady Hears Little Rock Cheers, but Others Grumble

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was cheered by old friends and admirers in her adopted hometown Tuesday as she began a 10-city tour intended to promote her new book and answer questions about the Whitewater investigation.

The beleaguered first lady clearly enjoyed the warm reception that awaited her after days of hostile public exchanges with Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) and other critics who say she has lied about her role in Whitewater.

But if Mrs. Clinton had talked with those local citizens who were going about their daily routines beyond the confines of the hotel ballroom where she spoke, her reaction might have been different. Residents interviewed by The Times said that Mrs. Clinton is no longer very popular in Arkansas.

“If she never came back here, people would not be unhappy,” said Mark Rogers, a tax attorney who hosts a local radio call-in show and often fields Whitewater questions. “I don’t think the people of Little Rock are at all flattered that she started her book tour here.”

Even one of Mrs. Clinton’s best friends--Jim Blair, an attorney for Tyson Foods--acknowledged that the first lady has many detractors in Little Rock, particularly among white men. He said residents also resent that, because of Whitewater, editorial writers around the country have Americans believing that “everyone in Arkansas is a crook.”

Indeed, in the three years since former Gov. Bill Clinton and his wife moved to the White House, many Arkansans have come to blame the first family for bringing hardship and ridicule to many citizens of their beloved state.

As Blair noted: “You’ll here them say, ‘If Clinton had never gone to Washington, a lot of people would have been saved a lot of grief.’ ”

Even as Mrs. Clinton spoke, her longtime aide, Carolyn Huber, who accompanied her to Washington from Little Rock, was being questioned by a grand jury here about documents that she recently discovered in the White House that shed light on the first lady’s role as an attorney in the mid-1980s for a savings and loan owned by her Whitewater investment partner, James B. McDougal.

At the same time, McDougal, his former wife, Susan, and Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, Clinton’s successor in the statehouse, were appearing with their attorneys before a federal judge to argue motions in advance of their Whitewater-related trial, scheduled to begin in early March.

One resident touched by Whitewater, who declined to be identified, said that many Arkansans are critical of the Clintons for failing to fully respond to the allegations until recently. He said that members of the Rose Law Firm, which has been drawn into the center of the allegations, are particularly angry with Mrs. Clinton, their former partner.

“Everybody feels rather put upon,” he said. “If they had been more forthcoming, this would have been over a long time ago.”

At the same time, most of those interviewed seemed relieved that Mrs. Clinton is finally beginning to speak out in defense not only of herself but of the others around her who have been hurt by the investigations.

That was the prevailing view among about 100 friends, some of them carrying “I Trust Hillary” signs, who turned out to greet Mrs. Clinton at the airport.

Blair, who was waiting to be called as a witness at the court hearing, admitted that even his longtime friendship with the Clintons has been affected by the investigation into the Whitewater land deal. “I have been reluctant to visit them as much as I would normally. It’s a little awkward.”