-
Bill was born William Jefferson Blythe III in Arkansas in 1946. He was named after his biological father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr., who died in a car accident just months before Bill’s birth. His mother, Virginia Cassidy Blythe (pictured above), married Roger Clinton in 1950. Bill would later take the last name of his stepfather.
According to Bill’s 2004 autobiography “My Life,” Roger Clinton owned a car dealership and his mother worked as a nurse. Bill also says in the book that Roger was an alcoholic and abusive toward his mother.
After Roger Clinton’s death, Bill’s mother married a man named Jeff Dwire, and after his death, she married a fourth time to a man named Richard Kelley. Each time, she took her new husband’s name and died as Virginia Kelley in 1994.
” data-id=”112074265″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20541_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.12074265″/>
Photo Credit: Newsday / John Keating -
Roger Clinton and Bill’s mother had their first and only child together in 1956. Roger Clinton Jr., born in 1956, 10 years after Bill, was the only sibling Bill knew about for years.
In the 1990s, however, investigations into Bill’s family revealed that he had two other half-siblings, who were children of his late father, William Blythe. In “My Life,” Bill says he and his mother did not know about his father’s other marriages and children until the news stories circulated.
“The stories confirmed the things my mother and I knew,” he wrote. “They also turned up a lot we didn’t know, including the fact that my father had probably been married three times before he met Mother, and apparently had a least two more children.”
Bill learned that his half-brother was Leon Blythe Ritzenthaler and his half-sister was Sharon Blythe Pettijohn.
Roger Clinton Jr. has two children. He is most known for being convicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 1985, and attempting to win pardons for his friends.
” data-id=”112074429″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/23217_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.12074429″/>
Photo Credit: Newsday / Dan Goodrich
We all know Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton. But what about the extended Rodham and Clinton families?
Both Clintons have family members who haven’t been talked about much recently, and the family is expanding, with a second grandchild born this year.
Here’s a look at the Democratic presidential candidate’s family and marital roots.
Read more: Actress Lisa Ann Walter Joins School Supply Drive
