W. Clement Stone

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William Clement Stone (May 4, 1902 – September 3, 2002) was a prominent businessman, philanthropist and self-help book author. Stone is remembered for contributing $2 million to President Richard Nixon's election campaigns in 1968 and 1972—these were cited in Congressional debates after Watergate to institute campaign spending limits.

1 Early life
2 Work
3 Books
4 Philanthropy
5 References

[edit] Early life

Stone himself was born in Chicago and was just three when his father died. He began his business career at age six, when he started selling newspapers to help support himself and his mother. At age 16, he journeyed to Detroit to help out his mother at an insurance company she'd opened there. Soon, he was making $100 a week selling casualty insurance. Stone was soon a prime example of a character right out of the Horatio Alger stories, in which poor boys make good.

[edit] Work

In 1919, Stone built the Combined Insurance Company of America, and, by 1930, he had over 1000 agents selling insurance for him across the United States. By 1979, Stone’s insurance company exceeded $1 billion in assets. His company merged with the Patrick Ryan Group to form the Aon Corporation in 1987. Combined Insurance Company was one of Aon's largest subsidiaries until sold to ACE Limited in April 2008.

[edit] Books

Above all, Stone emphasized using a "positive mental attitude" to make money for him and for millions of people who read his books. In 1960, Stone teamed up with Napoleon Hill to author Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. The two also founded a monthly digest magazine, entitled Success Unlimited. Two years later, Stone, by himself, wrote the Success System That Never Fails, in which he told his secrets to becoming wealthy and having a healthy, productive lifestyle. In 1964, he and Norma Lee Brown collaborated on writing The Other Side of the Mind.

[edit] Philanthropy

Stone was noted for his striking appearance, with his pencil-thin black mustache, vibrant suspenders, polka-dot bow ties and spats, as well as his charitable endeavors of over $275 million to mental health and Christian organizations. He was also a gifted inspirational speaker, and would shout "Bingo!" at board meetings if attention lapsed. Mr. Stone's most often used quote was "All I want to do is change the world."

Among his philanthropic activities, notable was his long-time support of the Boys Clubs of America (now Boys and Girls Clubs of America), of which he was at one time the National Board Chairman. The Jessie V. and W. Clement Stone Foundation quietly provided for the college scholarships - requiring little more than diligence and good citizenship - of many individuals through the years. One such recipient, Elliott Stonecipher, now a Louisiana-based political and demographic analyst, described his lone meeting, at age 16, with Stone as, "... astounding at the time, and increasingly remarkable ever since." Stonecipher received a no-questions-asked full college scholarship from Stone after the benefactor heard and was impressed by an emotion-laden speech the teen gave in Macon, Georgia, in 1967, detailing the "life-saving" role the Boys Club had played in his life. "Clement Stone spoke to me, briefly, twice. Once was after my speech, as he sat beside me, just to confirm that I had no certain way to pay for college. The second was a brief phone call a year later to apologize for the delay of delivery to him of the letter he had requested of me. A full-tuition check arrived in my name at college for four years, until my graduation, but I never again heard from him or his staff. My unsolicited letters to him over the years, to report major events in my life, were sufficient communication." Stonecipher described the experience with Stone as " ... among the most quietly powerful, important and remarkable of my life, or - I am certain - any other life."

Stone celebrated his 100th birthday in May 2002 with a gift of $100,000 to the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 1980 he received recognition for his philanthropic endeavors in founding the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation. Stone founded Religious Heritage of America, a non-profit organization which was influential in getting the phrase, "one nation, under God", added to the US Pledge of Allegiance. Stone provided much of the initial funding for the self-help organization, GROW.^[1] Stone was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, and was a 33rd degree FreeMason.