William Jefferson Blythe Jr. lost touch with each other when he was an infant, after his father briefly married and divorced his mother's sister, and he never knew his biological father or paternal siblings. Later in life, Henry Leon Blythe took the name Henry Leon Ritzenthaler in honor of a step-father. He ran several small businesses in Paradise, California, including a janitorial business, and died in 2009. He was unaware of his connection to the future president until the presidential campaign of 1992, when an investigation by "The Washington Post", based on birth registry records, revealed details of Bill Clinton's family. Ritzenthaler met his
William Jefferson Blythe Jr. marriages until decades later when "The Washington Post" ran an extensive story in 1993, based on birth and marriage registry records, to mark Father's Day. Blythe was a traveling heavy equipment salesman for most of his brief career. It was while he worked as a travelling salesman that he met and married all his four wives. Some time after his fourth wedding, which happened in September 1943, Blythe shipped out for military service during World War II. He was stationed in Egypt and Italy. He worked in a motor pool, repairing jeeps and tanks. After the war ended, Blythe returned