The whole thing was kind of surreal," McIngvale recalls. He'd never
heard of Paul. He had also just donated $250,000 to the tsunami relief
program launched by former presidents Bush and Clinton.
"I just figured, if you've got enough money to buy a billion-dollar airplane, you oughta have enough money to [pump it] full of gas," McIngvale says. "That'd be like some guy in a brand-new Rolls-Royce pulling up here asking for gas money."
It smelled bad. McIngvale denied Paul's request.
So the minister did what any good Christian would do:
He held a press
conference blaming McIngvale for withholding desperately needed
supplies from helpless children.
Paul was not used to being denied. His ministry claims powerful backers. Dallas millionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt was a major contributor. Cincinnati Reds owner Carl Lindner Jr., too. Flying around the world in his 747, Global Peace One (for more about the plane, see the sidebar "The 'Flying Death Trap,' " at the end of this article), Paul says he's counseled dictators Charles Taylor, Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic. He claims to operate the biggest, most successful orphanage in India. He's saved countless widows in India and brought peace to Rwanda. His peacekeeping missions have succeeded where America's have failed, which has put him in the crosshairs of A-list enemies like Condoleezza Rice.
"I just figured, if you've got enough money to buy a billion-dollar airplane, you oughta have enough money to [pump it] full of gas," McIngvale says. "That'd be like some guy in a brand-new Rolls-Royce pulling up here asking for gas money."
It smelled bad. McIngvale denied Paul's request.
So the minister did what any good Christian would do:
Paul was not used to being denied. His ministry claims powerful backers. Dallas millionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt was a major contributor. Cincinnati Reds owner Carl Lindner Jr., too. Flying around the world in his 747, Global Peace One (for more about the plane, see the sidebar "The 'Flying Death Trap,' " at the end of this article), Paul says he's counseled dictators Charles Taylor, Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic. He claims to operate the biggest, most successful orphanage in India. He's saved countless widows in India and brought peace to Rwanda. His peacekeeping missions have succeeded where America's have failed, which has put him in the crosshairs of A-list enemies like Condoleezza Rice.
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