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Document 251345

BILL CLINTON
The President writes to one of his half-brothers, his natural father's eldest child.
TLS: "Bill" as 42nd U.S. President, 1p, 6¾x9. The White House, Washington, 1997 July 14. Pale green stationery with embossed presidential seal at top. To Mr. and Mrs. Leon Ritzenthaler, Paradise, California. Begins: "Dear Judy and Leon". In full: "It was good to receive your recent note and to learn of your plans to visit Arkansas. It's a beautiful state, with lots of wonderful people. My birthplace home in Hope is now open for visitors. Both of my parents are buried at Rosehill Cemetery. The restored depot is an interesting place, and you may be able to enjoy some famous Hope watermelon while in town. Among points of interest you might want to include in your tour of Little Rock are the Arkansas State Capitol, the Governor's Mansion, the Old State House, the Statehouse Convention Center and the Arkansas Gazette building. I hope you have a good trip." This letter was written by President Clinton to his half-brother, (Henry) Leon Ritzenthaler and his wife. Seventeen-year-old William Jefferson Blythe 3rd had married 17-year-old Adele Gash Coffelt in 1935; they divorced in 1937, shortly before the birth of their son, Henry Leon Blythe. Adele then married the police chief of Brawley, California, Charles Ritzenthaler. When he was eight years old, Henry Leon Blythe changed his name to Ritzenthaler. His natural father had two other failed marriages and was killed in an automobile accident on May 17, 1946, three months before his fourth wife, Virginia Cassidy Blythe, gave birth to William Jefferson Blythe 4th. In 1950, Virginia married car salesman Roger Clinton. They were divorced, but remarried in 1962, the year 16-year-old William Jefferson Blythe 4th took his stepfather's name and became William Jefferson Clinton. Virginia, who died in 1994, also married Jeff Dwire (1968) and Richard Kelley (1982). Lightly soiled in right blank margin, else fine condition.

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