Bill Blythe

William Jefferson Blythe III (August 19, 1946 - January 15, 2005) was an American politician who served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and then as a member of the U.S. senate from 1983 until his resignation in 1999. A member of the Republican party, Blythe is perhaps best known for his affair with documentary filmmaker and sister-in-law Rory Kennedy and the ensuing scandal that culminated in his resignation. His death six years later from a cocaine overdose led to numerous government inquiries and conspiracy theories.

Blythe was born and raised in Arkansas and attended Georgetown University. He received a Rhodes Scholarship to study at University College, Oxford and later graduated from Yale Law School. At Yale he met and dated future president Hillary Rodham and the pair worked together on Ella Baker’s presidential campaign, although both would later identify more with Republican politics. He and Rodham separated after he admitted to an affair with British writer Sara Maitland. Blythe also met Susan Graber at Yale; they married in 1975 but quickly divorced in 1977 after he was caught having an affair with their house-cleaner. After graduating from law school, Blythe returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by a term as Arkansas governor. As governor, he overhauled the state's education system and was marked by his colourful personal life. In 1980 he married Kathleen Kennedy, the eldest daughter of former president Robert F. Kennedy. Following a failed re-election bid for governor of Arkansas, Blythe ran for a seat in the U.S. senate and narrowly defeated AFP incumbent David Pryor.

In the senate, Blythe was known for his moderate views for a Republican, but his Kennedy family ties meant that this didn’t penalise him. In 1982 Blythe’s only child, a daughter, named Sarah was born. Throughout his time in the senate, Blythe gained a positive reputation amongst the media and his colleagues as being effective and well-respected. During the early 1990s, Blythe gained notoriety by successfully drafting firearm restriction legislation which cleared Congress.

In 1996, Blythe began an eighteen month long affair with documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, who was also a sister of his wife. In June 1998, evidence of the affair broke to the press and he received an intense media backlash. The affair also dented the reputation of the prestigious Kennedy family, which came to represent a libertine elite in the late ‘90s. After months of obstruction and apologies, Blythe was forced to resign after receiving an open-letter from Republican president Ross Perot calling on him to do so. Not long afterwards, Kathleen announced her intentions to divorce Blythe on the grounds of adultery.

Although he attempted to remain active in campaigning for the Republican party in his retirement, the Arkansas Republican party was reluctant to associate with Blythe. In 2000, Blythe was asked not to endorse Republican presidential candidate Joe Biden. By the mid 2000s, Blythe had become a heavy smoker and had begun abusing substances. On the morning of January 15, 2005 Blythe was found dead in his New York apartment from an apparent cocaine overdose. Numerous conspiracy theories surrounding Blythe’s death have been published, blaming the likes of the Kennedy family, the CIA and the outgoing Republican president Ron Paul. His funeral was made a controversial affair by Collin Powell’s attendance, which some took as an indirect endorsement of adultery and substance abuse.