Bush to Visit in the Heart of Clinton Turf

WASHINGTON —  President Bush will travel Tuesday to Bill Clinton’s home state of Arkansas, the only state he has not visited as President, to award the presidential Medal of Freedom to retail-store magnate Sam Walton, sources said Saturday.

Walton, described by Fortune magazine as the wealthiest person in the United States, founded the nation’s largest retail chain, Wal-Mart. He has suffered from bone cancer for two years.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Bush will present Walton the nation’s highest civilian award at Wal-Mart headquarters. They said he will laud Walton as one of the century’s great entrepreneurs and an example of what individuals can accomplish.

The sources said Walton had requested that Bush address his employees at the company’s Bentonville headquarters in the Ozark Mountains. Bush is said to be a great admirer of Walton, who built Wal-Mart over nearly four decades from one store to a 1,600-plus chain.

As Bush’s campaign looks toward the increasing prospect that the Arkansas governor will be the 1992 Democratic presidential nominee, the visit gives Bush a chance to make a showy and positive presence on Clinton’s home turf.

White House Chief of Staff Samuel K. Skinner, without confirming where Bush was going on his Tuesday trip, insisted that it “has nothing to do with politics.”

Clinton campaign spokesman Max Parker said Saturday that Walton, his wife, Helen, and five other family members each have contributed the maximum allowable $1,000 to Clinton’s campaign.