| Anthony Dean Rodham | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 8, 1954 |
| Known for | Brother of Hillary Rodham Clinton |
| Spouse | Nicole Boxer (divorced) Megan Madden |
| Children | Zachary (by Nicole) Fiona and Simon (by Megan) |
| Parents | Hugh E. Rodham (deceased) Dorothy Howell Rodham (deceased) |
Anthony Dean Rodham (born 8 Aug 1954)[1]) is an American consultant who is the youngest brother of former First Lady and Senator and current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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Rodham is the younger son of Hugh Ellsworth Rodham, a Chicago textile wholesaler, and Dorothy Howell Rodham. He has one other sibling in addition to Hillary, older brother Hugh Edwin Rodham.
He attended Iowa Wesleyan College and the University of Arkansas, although he never received a degree from either school.[2]
He did work for future brother-in-law Bill Clinton's 1974 nomination campaign for Congress.[3] He then worked at a metal equipment company in Texas,[2] did insurance sales in Chicago, acted as a repo man in Chicago (where shots were fired at him in the infamous Cabrini–Green housing project),[4] and worked as a prison guard,[4] before moving to South Florida in 1983. There he shared a condominium with his brother Hugh, and worked as a process server and private detective until 1992.[2] In 1992, during Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, Rodham began working for the Democratic National Committee, coordinating constituency outreach.[2]
In 1993, he and his brother Hugh ignited a small controversy when they tried to solicit corporate donations for Clinton's inaugural parties; they dropped the effort after a public outcry.[5]
On May 28, 1994, Rodham married Nicole Boxer, daughter of United States Senator from California Barbara Boxer, in a ceremony at the White House attended by 250 guests;[6] it was the first White House wedding since Tricia Nixon married Edward Cox in 1971.[6] They had one son, Zachary, in 1995[7][8] (who later held a unique distinction in that he was simultaneously the grandson and nephew of sitting U.S. senators), before separating by 2000[9] and then getting a divorce.
By now, Tony Rodham had left his position at the Democratic National Committee[10] and described himself as "a consultant ... [in] all kinds of businesses. I'm a general consultant. I just bring different peoples together. I help them negotiate deals. I solve problems for people."[7] In 1997, Rodham tried to arrange meetings between Paraguayan President Juan Carlos Wasmosy and President Clinton,[10] and also powerful Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the President.[4] In 1998, he paid a visit to dictatorial Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia.[10] In each of these cases, there was criticism that he was giving an unauthorized impression of White House approval to these foreign figures, or was seeking financial gain for himself.[4][10]
In 1999, Tony and brother Hugh Rodham entered into a $118 million venture to grow and export hazelnuts from the Republic of Georgia.[11] The U.S. State Department and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger became upset, however, when the Rodhams' local business connection in Batumi turned out to be Aslan Abashidze, a major political opponent of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, then a key U.S. ally in the region.[4][11] Moreover, Tony Rodham flew to Rome to become godfather to Abashidze's grandson.[4] After initial resistance,[4] Berger and the Clintons prevailed upon the Rodham brothers to drop the deal.[11] Tony Rodham would not state what his financial stake in the venture was.[4]
Episodes such as these led Hillary Clinton's White House staff to refer to Tony and Hugh as "the Brothers Rodham",[12] extending the American tradition of troublesome presidential siblings to the brother-in-law category;[4] one senior White House official would be quoted as saying, "You never wanted to hear their name come up in any context other than playing golf."[12]
In March 2001, it was revealed that Tony Rodham had helped gain a March 2000 presidential pardon for Edgar Allen Gregory, Jr. and his wife, Vonna Jo, a Tennessee couple in the carnival business who had been convicted of bank fraud.[13] The pardon was granted over the objections of the U.S. Justice Department.[13] Rodham acknowledged talking to President Clinton about a pardon;[7] he said he received no money for his work, but he did have financial ties to the couple as a consultant.[13] His actions gained much public focus and criticism, as they came on the heels of the general Bill Clinton pardons controversy and his brother Hugh's own involvement in taking money for work done towards pardons.[7] Hillary Clinton, who had strongly criticized Hugh's involvement and requested he return his money, said that Tony Rodham was not paid for his work.[14] The Republican-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigated the matter and concluded that Tony Rodham had in fact been paid.[14] One aspect of the case dragged out into 2007, as Tony Rodham battled a bankruptcy court's order that he repay over $100,000 in loans from the now-deceased Edgar Gregory.[14]
In August 2001, Tony Rodham was involved in an assault episode at the multi-generational Rodham family summer cottage[15][16] at Lake Winola in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania.[17] A man who claimed he saw Rodham having sex with his girlfriend broke into the cottage and assaulted him; Hugh Rodham and the woman restrained the attacker.[17] Both Tony Rodham and the attacker received some injuries.[18] At a hearing on the case in November, 2001, Tony Rodham testified that he might have smoked marijuana with the attacker several hours before the incident.[19] The man subsequently pleaded guilty to trespassing, assault, and making terroristic threats.[16] By 2002, Rodham was in disputes with his former wife over child support payments, with Nicole Boxer saying he had not paid them in six months.[9]
In the summer of 2005, Tony Rodham married Megan Madden of Vienna, Virginia.[20]
As of mid-2007, Tony Rodham was helping Hillary Clinton raise funds in Pennsylvania for her 2008 presidential campaign.[10] By the end of 2007, he was back in the news for owing Nicole Boxer about $158,000 in back alimony, child support, and related payments following a court judgement.[9] In May 2008, he expressed disgust with how the Democratic National Committee was handling the Michigan and Florida primary delegate issue between Clinton and Barack Obama, and said he did not know who he would vote for if his sister were not nominated.[21]
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