The business rapidly became a national success, and Wilkinson re-invested his profits in real estate, farming, transportation, banking, coal, and construction ventures, becoming extremely wealthy.

He also helped craft a significant education reform bill in response to a ruling by the Kentucky Supreme Court that declared the state's entire public school system unconstitutional.

[2] He began selling livestock feed in Scottsville, Kentucky, and also worked at a venetian blind factory while taking classes at Campbellsville College to earn the credits he needed.

[1] Wilkinson opened Wallace's Book Store in June 1965 after a local stockbroker helped him raise the initial capital needed through a public stock offering.

[5][8] In January 1971, he considered issuing more stock to raise capital to buy Providence, Rhode Island–based Barnes & Noble, but the executive committee of Wallace's was averse to purchasing a company so far away and blocked the move.

[2] With the success of his chain of bookstores, Wilkinson pursued other business ventures in the fields of real estate development, farming, transportation, banking, coal interests, and construction.

[7] He purchased several private aircraft to help him tend to his diverse interests throughout the state, and in 1973, created Wilkinson Flying Service to keep the planes busy when he wasn't using them.

[9] Despite playing a major role in the Lexington real estate market, Wilkinson was fiercely protective of his privacy; for a time, he even refused to allow newspapers to publish pictures of him.

[10] Wilkinson conceded that he would not be able to develop the proposed World Coal Center in the near-term, and Lexington mayor Scotty Baesler wanted to improve the property before the city hosted the finals of the 1985 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Rupp Arena.

[11] Critics claimed that the city-county government bailed Wilkinson out of a bad investment by purchasing the property from him and by giving him a government-subsidized, low interest rate on his $12 million mortgage for the apartment building.

[14] Jernigan told authorities that he and Wilkinson had spent the previous night at the Crowne Plaza negotiating a settlement to their differences stemming from their earlier business relationship.

[14] Over the objection of his legal counsel, the court ordered Jernigan to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he was insane or mentally incompetent for his own defense.

[18] After announcing his plans for the World Coal Center, Wilkinson began attending meetings of the Lexington Urban City Council, where he advocated his fiscally conservative political views.

[23] He called the incentive package that sitting governor Martha Layne Collins had offered to lure a Toyota manufacturing plant to the state "a massive mistake and terrible deal" that had made Kentucky "an international laughingstock".

[3] Democrats enjoyed a 3-to-1 voter registration advantage in Kentucky, and while he had been the underdog in the primary campaign, Wilkinson became the heavy favorite against the Republican nominee, State Representative John Harper of Shepherdsville.

[23] Larry Forgy, who had been groomed for the Republican nomination, unexpectedly dropped out of the race before the primary, leaving the party at a significant disadvantage with a largely unknown and underfunded candidate.

[31] Gary Stafford, Wilkinson's brother-in-law who was serving as president of Wallace's Book Store, pleaded guilty to illegal wiretapping and rolling back the odometers on company vehicles.

[32] Gable also hired a private investigator who determined that there was "substantial reason" to suspect that foul play was involved in the death of Wilkinson's business partner, Jerome Jernigan.

Just two days after his election, he told reporters that he would exert the "full power" of his office toward getting his agenda approved by the legislature and that he "conceive of a situation" where he would use his political action committee (PAC), Kentuckians for a Better Future, to help defeat legislators who opposed him.

[42] This amendment essentially overturned a 1956 court ruling and negated the practice of issuing broad form deeds which allowed property owners to sell their mineral rights while retaining ownership of structures and other improvements above-ground.

[44] A Lexington Herald-Leader story noted that a promised news conference to elaborate on Jones' role in the administration had not yet happened and that "[m]ost observers expect it never will".

[46] On December 14, legislators adjourned the session after passing a bill that created an eight-member lottery board, headed by a president appointed by the governor and confirmed by the other seven members.

[48] Several Republican amendments, including one by Senator David L. Williams to implement a local option for counties to decide whether or not to sell lottery tickets, were defeated on party-line votes.

[48] On May 31, 1988, Franklin County circuit court judge Ray Corns issued a ruling in the case of Council for Better Education v. Collins, et al. stating that Kentucky's system of school financing was unconstitutional.

An advocate for education, Wilkinson dropped the governor's office's defense in the suit and joined the plaintiffs when Corns' decision was appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

[53] Then on March 9, 1990, Wilkinson announced that he would drop his opposition to the tax in exchange for the Assembly's approval of a $600 million bond issue to finance road improvements he had promised during the campaign.

[53] With the impasse between the legislature and Wilkinson resolved, House Speaker Don Blandford announced that the remainder of the session would focus only on approving the state budget and passing the court-mandated education reforms; any bills still in committees would not be brought to a vote, he said.

[56] Wilkinson threatened to veto the measure, claiming he did not need the General Assembly's approval to issue the bonds, but ultimately, he chose to allow it to become law without his signature.

The following year, Kentucky Insurance Commissioner George Nichols III assumed the liquidation and brought suit against Wilkinson stating that the property was only worth $6 million.

[63] Franklin County Circuit Judge Earl O'Bannon dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Wilkinson had not knowingly participated in Kentucky Central's breach of financial responsibility, even though it had, in his words, an "odor of politics.