On Friday, November 16, the world lost a powerful figure, and I lost a dear friend. I have known Clifford Aaron Jones for nearly twenty-five years. For two decades he was the attorney for and member of the Board of Directors of Gambling Times Incorporated. I consider it my greatest privilege and highest honor to have been close to this great man. But I will not grieve for Cliff Jones, although I will miss him greatly. Instead I will celebrate his wonderful life and the truly exceptional human being that he was. As you will learn, the fictional Indiana Jones had nothing on the real-life Cliff Jones.
Born in Long Lane, Missouri in 1912, he spent much of his youth in the Far East as his father worked for the Royal Dutch Shell Co., in Sumatra. Convinced that the vast reserves of power and water created by the building of the Hoover Dam would spawn a boom, his father moved the family to Nevada in 1931. Cliff worked on the dam project in various capacities, including a signalman’s job that required him to sit on a board 350 feet in the air with no safety belt. Cliff was possessed of the kind of courage that few men exhibit.
After earning a law degree from the University of Missouri, he returned to Nevada and was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1940. He quickly became majority leader and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Cliff was a man of great charm and persuasive ability. His rugged cowboy good looks and great personality made him one of the most influential members of Nevada government. Although he was given the moniker “Big Juice,” Cliff brokered deals out of logic and highest and best interest rather than power and intimidation. Always a man of intellect, integrity, and honor he was a great building force not only in Nevada but also throughout the world. He has held interests in more casinos than anyone in history.
Cliff was a highly decorated war hero. Serving in General Patton’s Third Army in World War II, he mustered out as a Lieutenant Colonel. Returning to Nevada in 1945, he was immediately appointed a Federal District Judge—a comfortable seat he could have held for life. Instead, he ran for Lieutenant Governor and was elected for two consecutive terms.
Cliff moved in the highest circles, yet he was possessed of that winning common touch. He personally knew presidents like Harry Truman and dictators like Fulgencio Battista of Cuba. My favorite Cliff Jones story is how he managed to get out of Cuba when Castro was moving in to Havana. With a suitcase of cash from his casino, he coolly took advantage of the man in front of him, fainting in the sweltering heat, by nonchalantly walking past the distracted guards. He moved from the bottom to the top of the ladder as an attorney for Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegal, and as a confidant of Spain’s King Carlos. Will Rogers often said, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” I would say, “I never met a man that didn’t like Cliff Jones.”
One of only a few Nevadans listed in “Who’s Who in the World,” it is an unerring characteristic of life that fame and fortune breeds envy and attack. Over the years, false charges were leveled at him. To avoid embarrassing his party as he fought these adversaries, Cliff resigned his appointment as Democrat National Committeeman from Nevada. Cliff had the character to stand up to this and other attacks and charges, winning his victory in court, but never again returned to politics.
Cliff was an entrepreneur extraordinaire. He held interests in the Pioneer, El Cortez, Thunderbird, Golden Nugget, Algiers, Westerner, and Dunes in Las Vegas. Overseas, his gaming interests in dozens of countries extended to Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America. He started the state’s first ready-mix concrete company and co-founded the Bank of Las Vegas, which later became the Valley Bank of Nevada. Much of the growth and development of Las Vegas is due to his personal efforts.
In my humble opinion, it would be an appropriate honor to rename the Las Vegas Strip after Clifford Aaron Jones, as he has had more to due with its growth and development than any other single human being.
A testament to his great charm was that his second wife, the beautiful and intelligent actress Christie Wagner, fell in love with a man nearly forty years her senior. One day, an intruder burst into their West Hollywood apartment, slashing Cliff with a hunting knife and hitting him over the head with the butt of a gun. Wagner managed to hand Cliff a gun and he shot the intruder to death. Coincidentally, I had called him the next day and am grateful that I was able to counsel him at that dark moment, as he had counseled me so many times before and after. I will miss that counsel. But I will not grieve for my dear friend. Instead, I will pray that I am fortunate enough to make it to heaven, where I will surely see him again, sitting at the right hand of God.
Cliff is survived by his wife Marilyn, daughter Joni Lee of Seattle, son Cliff Jones II of Las Vegas, brother and law partner Herbert Jones of Jones Vargas in Las Vegas and several grandchildren, nephews and great nephews.
Stanley R. Sludikoff,
President, Gambling Times Inc.
