Clinton family
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| Current region | Arkansas and New York, United States |
|---|---|
| Place of origin |
Arkansas (Clintons) Illinois (Rodhams) |
| Members |
Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Chelsea Clinton William Jefferson Blythe Jr. Virginia Dell Cassidy Roger Clinton Sr. Roger Clinton Jr. Jeff Dwire Hugh E. Rodham Dorothy Howell Rodham Hugh Rodham Tony Rodham |
| Traditions | Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church |
The Clinton family is a prominent American political family related to the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, who was in office for two terms from January 20, 1993, until January 20, 2001, and his wife, Hillary Clinton (née Rodham), the 67th United States Secretary of State from January 21, 2009, until February 1, 2013. In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first female presidential nominee from a major political party in United States history. The Clintons (Bill and Hillary) are the first married couple, each to be nominated for president.
Bill Clinton's father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr. (February 27, 1910 – May 17, 1946), was a traveling heavy equipment salesman who died in a car crash three months before Bill was born. Blythe was born as one of nine children to William Jefferson Blythe Sr. (1884–1935), a poor farmer in Sherman, Texas, and his wife, the former Lou Birchie Ayers (1893–1946). He was of English and Scots descent, with family lines in North America since the days of the thirteen colonies.
Blythe was married four times. He married for the first time in December 1935, and the bride was Virginia Adele Gash; they were divorced only thirteen months later. Although no child was born to the couple during their marriage, they later had a son together. After the divorce, Virginia moved to California and married first a man named Coffelt, then a man named Charles Ritzenthaler. However, she and Blythe remained friends, and she visited him on occasion. A son was conceived during these visits, and Henry Leon Blythe was born in Sherman, Texas, on June 17, 1938, some eighteen months after his parents had been divorced. Henry's parents lost touch with each other when he was an infant, after his father briefly married and divorced his mother's sister, and he never knew his biological father or paternal siblings. Later in life, Henry Leon Blythe took the name "Henry Leon Ritzenthaler" in honor of a step-father. He ran several small businesses in Paradise, California, including a janitorial business, and died in 2009. He was unaware of his connection to the future president until the presidential campaign of 1992, when a Washington Post investigation, based on birth registry records, revealed details of Bill Clinton's family. Ritzenthaler met his half-brother for the first time around that time, and the physical resemblance between them was remarked upon.
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