Bill Liedtke

Bill Liedtke, Jr. was the co-founder of Zapata Corporation in 1952, along with his brother, Hugh, and former U.S. President George H.W. Bush. Zapata merged with Pennzoil, and the Liedtkes took over United Gas Pipeline in 1956. They made a killing in the Texas oil industry.

Bill Liedtke became the Texas finance chairman for Richard Nixon's Presidential campaigns in 1968 and 1972. Liedtke raised $700,000 in anonymous donations in 1972, including $100,000 laundered through a Mexican bank. Liedtke passed the 'Mexican' donations to Maurice Stans of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), who gave them to Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy. The largest contribution was $100,000, which came from Robert H. Allen of Gulf Resources, who served as Texas CREEP's chief financial officer. The Liedtkes are enthusiastic supporters of Sarah Palin.

Bill Liedtke, Jr. attended the University of Texas School of Law. He also served as finance chair for the Bush-Quayle campaign of 1988. His son, William C. Liedtke III was treasurer for the Bob Anthony for Senate campaign. His grandson, William Clarence Liedtke IV, naturally attended an elite college preparatory school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He went on to attend university at Tulane, where his studies were tragically interrupted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Will finally received his degree in political economy from Tulane in the spring of 2008. He now plans to head west and start drilling wildcat wells.