Rodham entered politics once. Hoping to work his way into favor with the Cook County Democratic Partypolitical machine in order to capitalize on a downtown investment he had made, he ran for Chicago alderman as a Democratic-leaning independent in 1947.[6] The contest, held in Chicago's 49th Ward, was won by Frank Keenan, a Democratic ward committeeman running on the regular Democratic line, with 17,073 votes; a Republican, Joseph Reubens, finished second with 5,509 votes.[9] Rodham finished fifth out of eight candidates with only 382 votes, or 1.5 percent of the total votes cast.[9] According to some family members, this episode led to his strong dislike of the Democratic Party for the rest of his life.[6]
Rodham was a staunch supporter of Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign and remained a committed Republican until his death. Even after his daughter married Democrat Bill Clinton, he (according to Bill Clinton) "never gave up hope that his son-in-law would join him in the Republican Party and support a cut in the capital gains tax."[10] 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.[11]
Personal life
In 1937, while Rodham was making a sales call at a textile company, he met Dorothy Emma Howell (1919–2011), who was applying for a job at that company.[4][7] After a lengthy courtship, they married in early 1942.[4] The Rodhams had three children: Hillary (born 1947), Hugh (born 1950), and Tony (1954–2019). In 1950, they moved to the more affluent Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois.[4] The family still maintained ties to Scranton: all three children were christened there, and they spent summers in a rural region that overlooks Lake Winola, located in Overfield Township in the Endless Mountains area of Pennsylvania.[4][7] staying in a cottage that in 1921, Hugh and his father had built themselves.[12]
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,[11] and less than three months after his son-in-law Bill Clinton's inauguration as 42nd President of the United States. Following a private memorial service in Little Rock attended by the Clintons, he was buried in the Washburn Street Cemetery in his native Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a private funeral also attended by the Clinton family.[11]