Hugh E. Rodham

Hugh Ellsworth Rodham (April 2, 1911 – April 7, 1993) was an American businessman. He was the father of Hillary Clinton.

Early life and education Hugh Ellsworth Rodham was born on April 2, 1911, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Hugh Rodham (1879–1965) and Hannah Jones (1882–1952). His parents were from the United Kingdom – his father emigrated from Oxhill, County Durham, England, at a young age with his family, he being the son of a coal miner, while his mother was born in Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents from Wales, one of whom was from Merthyr Tydfil; she was also descended from coal miner parents.

Rodham attended Pennsylvania State University and was a third-string tight end for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. He joined the Delta Upsilon. then freighthopped to Chicago without telling his parents.

Rodham entered politics once. Hoping to work his way into favor with the Cook County Democratic Party political machine in order to capitalize on a downtown investment he had made, he ran for Chicago alderman as a Democratic-leaning independent in 1947. According to some family members, this episode led to his strong dislike of the Democratic Party for the rest of his life. In late 1992, following son-in-law Bill Clinton's election as president, Rodham made a cameo appearance on the television comedy Hearts Afire, whose producers were friends of the Clintons.

Death Hugh Rodham died in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Wednesday, April 7, 1993, five days after his 82nd birthday, three weeks after suffering a stroke,