I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond where they've been.

Included in the effort was a willingness to find American manufacturers who could supply merchandise for the entire Wal-Mart chain at a price low enough to meet the foreign competition. Upon graduating in 1940 with a Bachelor's of Economics he was voted "permanent president" of the class. Buying in volume and efficient delivery permitted sale of discounted name brand merchandise.