William Jefferson Blythe Jr. of her daughter Sharon. Blythe's divorce from Wanetta Alexander was granted in court on April 13, 1944. Seven months before that, on September 4, 1943, Blythe had bigamously "married" Virginia Dell Cassidy of Bodcaw, Arkansas. Blythe and Cassidy remained married until his death in a car crash on May 17, 1946. Three months after Blythe's death, on August 19, 1946, Cassidy gave birth to their only child, William Jefferson Blythe III, who as a teen took his stepfather's surname and became known as Bill Clinton, the future 42nd President of the United States. Cassidy had no knowledge of Blythe's previous
William Jefferson Blythe Jr. to Hope, Arkansas to be with his wife. Shortly after he returned, he purchased a house in Chicago and readied it to receive his wife and expected child; he was apparently laying the ground for a more settled and conventional married life. Blythe moved to the new house in Chicago while Virginia remained behind in Hope. In Chicago, Blythe returned to his old job as a traveling salesman for the Manbee Equipment Company, which repaired heavy machinery. He died three months before the birth of his son. On May 17, 1946, while traveling from Chicago, Illinois, to Hope, Arkansas, Blythe