William Penn Patrick


William Penn Patrick was an American entrepreneur and businessman. He was the owner of Holiday Magic, Leadership Dynamics, and Mind Dynamics. Patrick was a proponent of the sour grapes philosophy, and has been widely quoted as stating: "Those who condemn wealth are those who have none and see no chance of getting it."
Patrick tried unsuccessfully to enter politics, first running against Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination for governor of California, and was later nominated by the California Theocratic Party for Vice President of the United States. Patrick was a member of the John Birch Society.
A Sabre jet plane owned by Patrick crashed in the 1972 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident. In 1973 Patrick died in the crash of his P-51D Mustang in Lakeport, California.

Political career

Patrick sought out the Republican nomination for governor of California, in 1966. Patrick alleged that a pollster, Mervin Field, had accepted money to influence a poll in the campaign. Mervin Field sued Patrick for libel, for damages of US$4 million, and was awarded US$300,000. Patrick later lost the nomination, to Ronald Reagan. The New Republic described Patrick's campaign strategy as that of "out-Reaganing Ronald Reagan". In 1967, Patrick formed a fundraising group to run for Thomas Kuchel's Senate seat. Patrick was later nominated for Vice President of the United States, in 1967, by the California Theocratic Party. The Los Angeles Times referred to Patrick as the "strangest politician". He was mainly popular among ultraconservative and ultra right political circles in California.

Businessman

Patrick began his experience in sales selling products door-to-door in Illinois. He was the owner of companies including Leadership Dynamics, a controversial company which was the first form of Large Group Awareness Training, and Holiday Magic, a door-to-door cosmetics company later termed by the United States Federal government to be fraudulent. Mind Dynamics was initially founded by Alexander Everett, and Patrick backed the company before buying it. Patrick's companies were later investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, on allegations of pyramid schemes. Leadership Dynamics folded amidst lawsuits and allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

Death

William Penn Patrick died on June 9, 1973, at age 43, in the crash of his privately owned P-51D Mustang near his farm at Clearlake Oaks, California. He was flying the plane at the time; after making a low pass, he pulled up steeply, stalled, and entered a spin from which he didn't recover. Although he was a certified pilot, he had only 154 hours of flight time in the P-51D, and only about four hours over the preceding three months. He was flying with Christian George Hagert, 30, director of Holiday Magic of Helsinki, Finland, who also died in the crash.