For the father of U.S. President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, see William Jefferson "Bill" Blythe, Jr.

William Jefferson Blythe, Jr.

William Jefferson "Bill" Blythe, Jr. was an Arkansas salesman of heavy equipment and the biological father of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.-Personal life:...

William Jackson Blythe, Jr., usually known as Bill Blythe or William Blythe (born c. 1935), is a real estate broker in Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 former member of the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

 from Harris County

Harris County, Texas

As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...

. His legislative service in the former District 22-3, subsequently District 91, extended from 1971-1983.

Background

A sixth generation Texan, Blythe was born in San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

, Texas, to William Blythe, Sr. (1907-2004), a native of Fordyce

Fordyce, Arkansas

Fordyce is a city in Dallas County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 4,799 at the 2000 census.The city is the county seat, home to the 1911 Dallas County Courthouse .-Geography:...

 in Dallas County in southern Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 and an attorney and colonel in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, stationed throughout the world during thirty-seven years of service. Colonel Blythe had been one of the trainers of the Green Berets

Green Berets

A green beret was the headgear of the British Commandos of World War II. Certain military organisations still wear green berets because they have regimental or unit histories that form a connection with the British Commandos of World War II....

. Blythe's mother is the former Bess Tyson of the Elkins Lake community near Huntsville

Huntsville, Texas

Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....

 in Walker County

Walker County, Texas

Walker County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 67,861. Its county seat is Huntsville.Initially, Walker County was named for Robert J. Walker, a legislator from Mississippi who introduced into the United States Congress the resolution to annex Texas...

 in East Texas

East Texas

East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...

, later of Houston. Her parents were Thomas Brown Tyson and the former Fannie Rose Robinson of San Jacinto County, Texas. Bess Blythe's forbears were among the founders of the Republic of Texas

Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...

.

Blythe earned his Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in general business from the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

. He also studied economics and political science at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 at Charlottesville

Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

, Virginia. and the London School of Economics

London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

 in London, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Blythe served for eight years in the United States Army, both active and reserve duty. He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel from the Texas State Guard

Texas State Guard

The Texas State Guard is one of three branches of the military forces of Texas, reporting to the Adjutant General, and under the command of the Governor. The other branches of the State Military Forces of Texas are the Texas Army National Guard, and the Texas Air National Guard.-History:The Texas...

. A former member of the Junior Chamber, he received that organization's Charles A. Perlitz, Jr. Memorial Award for "Leadership Training through Community Development."

In 1962, Blythe joined his father, who retired that year from the Army, in the establishment in Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 of the former William Blythe Advertising and Public Relations Company.With more than four decades in the real estate business, Blythe in 2011 is an associate with Martha Turner Properties. His experience includes commercial and residential sales, building, and developing within the Houston Metropolitan Area.

From his first marriage to the former Charlene Cotton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Cotton of New Waverly

New Waverly, Texas

New Waverly is a city in Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 950 at the 2000 census.-Geography:New Waverly is located at ....

, also in Walker County, Texas, Blythe has two daughters, Alison Robinson Blythe and Ashley Chastain Blythe Zachry, son-in-law, Josh Zachry, and grandson, Davis Blythe Zachry. After his divorce, Blythe married Adell M. "Dell" Blythe and acquired a stepdaughter, Paige Griffin. Blythe is a member of the associate vestry at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston.

Legislative service

Blythe was elected to the House in 1970 though the top statewide Republican candidates that year, George Herbert Walker Bush and Paul Eggers

Paul Eggers

Paul Walter Eggers is an Indiana native who was the Republican nominee for governor of Texas in both 1968 and 1970, when the state still had two-year gubernatorial terms. Eggers' races for governor were his only attempts at elected office...

 lost their races for the U.S. Senate and governor of Texas

Governor of Texas

The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...

, respectively, to Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., of Houston and Preston Smith of Lubbock

Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...

. As a House member, Blythe authored legislation creating the Texas State Pension Review Board. He served on the pension board 1979 to 1991. He also wrote the Texas Crime Victims Act and the law establishing the Harris-Galveston

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

 Subsidence District. He cdo-authored revisions to the Texas Mass Transit Authority Act for the Houston and San Antonio metropolitan areas. He was a founding member and for fourteen years, he was the executive director of the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems. Blythe is a director of the Texas Hedge Fund Association, established in 2002. He is a founding member of the National Society of Pension Professionals.

In 1982, Blythe ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

 against freshman State Senator J. E. "Buster" Brown

J. E. "Buster" Brown

James Edward Brown, known as J. E. "Buster" Brown , is an attorney and lobbyist in Austin, Texas, who served from 1981 to 2002 as a Republican member of the Texas State Senate from District 17, based in Brazoria, Fort Bend, and part of Harris counties, south and west of Houston...

 of Lake Jackson

Lake Jackson, Texas

Lake Jackson is a city in Brazoria County, Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city population was 27,614....

. Reflecting on that campaign, Brown said that the two disagreed on few issues but that the race became personally divisive.