"From the time we were kids, Sam could excel at anything he set his mind to. I guess it's just the way hewas born. Back when he carried newspapers, they had a contest. I've forgotten what the prizeswere maybe $10, who knows. He won that contest, going out selling new subscriptions door to door.

And he knew he was going to win. It's just the makeup of the man. My only explanation is that Sam has alot of our mother's characteristics."BUD WALTONI don't know what causes a person to be ambitious, but it is a fact that I have been overblessed withdrive and ambition from the time I hit the ground, and I expect my brother's probably right. Our mother was extremely ambitious for her kids. She read a lot and loved education, although she didn't have toomuch herself. She went to college for a year before she quit to get married, and maybe to compensate forthat, she just ordained from the beginning that I would go to college and make something of myself. Oneof the great sadnesses in my life is that she died young, of cancer, just as we were beginning to do well inbusiness.

Mother must have been a pretty special motivator, because I took her seriously when she told me Ishould always try to be the best I could at whatever I took on. So, I have always pursued everything Iwas interested in with a true passionsome would say obsessionto win. I've always held the bar prettyhigh for myself: I've set extremely high personal goals.
 
Even when I was a little kid inMarshall,Missouri, I remember being ambitious. I was a class officerseveral years. I played football and baseball and basketball with the other kids, and I swam in thesummers. I was so competitive that when I started Boy Scouts inMarshallI made a bet with the otherguys about which one of us would be the first to reach the rank of Eagle. Before I made Eagle inMarshall, we had moved to the little town of Shelbina, Missouripopulation maybe 1,500but I won thebet; I got my Eagle at age thirteenthe youngest Eagle Scout in the history of the state of Missouri at thattime.
 

FROM THESHELBINA DEMOCRAT, SUMMER 1932:

"Because of his training in Boy Scout work, Sammy Walton, 14-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. TomWalton of Shelbina, rescued Donald Peterson, little son of Prof. and Mrs. K.R. Peterson, from drowningin Salt River Thursday afternoon...

"Donald got into water too deep for him and called for help. Loy Jones, who had accompanied theboys, made an effort to get him out, but Donald's struggles pulled Mr. Jones down several times. YoungWalton, who was some distance away, got to the pair just as Donald went down a fifth time. He graspedhim from behind, as he had been taught to do, pulled him to shore and applied artificial respiration thatscouts must become proficient in.

"Donald was unconscious and his whole body had turned blue. It took quite a while to bring himaround."They said I saved his lifemaybe yes, maybe no. Newspapers tend to exaggerate these things. But atleast I got him out of the water. Looking back on such boyhood episodes helps me to realize now thatI've always had a strong bias toward actiona trait that has been a big part of the Wal-Mart story.

Truthfully, though, talking about this embarrasses me a good bit because I worry that it seems like I'mbragging or trying to make myself out to be some big hero. It particularly bothers me because I learned along time ago that exercising your ego in public is definitely not the way to build an effective organization.

One person seeking glory doesn't accomplish much; at Wal-Mart, everything we've done has been theresult of people pulling together to meet one common goalteamworksomething I also picked up at anearly age.

Team play began for me when I was in the fifth grade, and a friend of mine's dad organized a bunch ofus into a peewee football team. We competed against other towns, likeOdessaandSedaliaandRichmond.

Iplayed end, but I wanted to throw the ball or be a running back, even though I was a little guy andcouldn't squeeze my way in yet. Team athletics remained a big part of my life all through high school andat the intramural levelin college too. By the time we moved to Shelbina, I had more football experiencethan most of the other kids in the ninth grade, so I was able to make the team as a second-stringquarterback. I was still smallonly about 130 poundsbut I knew a lot about blocking and tackling andthrowing the ball, and by being extremely competitive I got my letter.

Then we moved on againthis time toColumbia,Missouri. There, atHickmanHigh School, I got involvedin just about everything. I wasn't what you'd call a gifted student, but I worked really hard and made thehonor roll. I was president of the student body and active in a lot of clubsI remember the speech club inparticularand I was voted Most Versatile Boy. I was really a gym rat. I loved hanging around that gymplaying basketball, but I didn't go out for the teammaybe because I was only five nine. When I was asenior, though, they drafted me for the team, and I became a guard, sometimes a starter. I wasn't a greatshot, but I was a pretty good ball handler and a real good floor leader. I liked running the team, I guess.