Nuptials mix with questionable scruples on both sides, a felony conviction, a presidential impeachment, and historical ironies as the wedding of Chelsea Clinton & Marc Mezvinsky approaches.
Ed Mezvinsky, "the golden boy from Ames," was an all-state football player and member of the Iowa state championship basketball and track teams of 1955. His later campaigns, run on all-American principles of good government and trust, proved ironic.
As a lobbyist in 1965, he worked on disclosure and ethics bills in Washington and in 1968 he won a seat on the Iowa Legislature after demanding more forthright consumer protection practices. He earned his first nickname,"Rat Claw" Mezvinsky, during the legislative session when he held up a sausage that he said had rat claws in it.
The Clinton & Mezvinsky Families
Ed Mezvinsky and former President Bill Clinton will fill parallel roles as fathers-in-law after the nuptials of their children on July 31, 2010. Both men had White House experiences, although Ed's came some 20 years prior to Clinton's presidency. After his 1972 election to Congress, Mezvinsky was named to the Judiciary Committee's impeachment investigation of Richard Nixon and wrote a book in 1977 about how appalled he was at President Nixon's lies and schemes and how choked up he was when Nixon resigned, "a spectacle of a man brought to a wretched end."
Although Mezvinsky's book was about the man who infamously said, "I am not a crook," he himself was convicted in 2003 of for allegedly scamming over $10 million from banks and individuals using fraudulent email methods. Ed Mezvinsky and his then wife Marjorie, an ex-TV reporter and former Democratic congresswoman from Pennsylvania,, were part of the social and political elite in Philadelphia. The Mezvinskys were close friends of Bill and Hillary Clinton and were frequent guests at the White House.
Mezvinsky was convicted in 2002 of bilking his friends and family, including his own mother-in-law, out of millions of dollars. The former congressman from Iowa was sentenced in 2003 to almost 7 years in prison for 66 counts of bank, mail, and wire fraud totaling more than $10 million. Prosecutors later said that Mezvinsky exploited his ties to the Clintons and that even his son's relationship with Chelsea was a means of ingratiating himself with potential investors who might contribute more money to his schemes.
Clinton-Mezvinsky Wedding
Historical ironies abound at the wedding location of Chelsea Clinton & Marc Mezvinsky. The setting is the former home to John Jacob Astor IV, who died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. His body, picked up by the steamer McKay-Bennett on April 22, was marked as body 124 and was later identified by his clothing and affects. He was returned to NYC and buried in Trinity Cemetery. His great grandfather, the original John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest person in the U.S. when he died in 1848. He willed $400,000 to found what became the New York Public Library. Chelsea's family also calls New York home, owning residences in both Harlem and Upstate.
The marriage of Chelsea Clinton & Marc Mezvinsky brings together the famous and the infamous. "Fast Talkin" Eddie" Mezvinsky, as political reporters privately called him in the 1970's, is a convicted felon and father of Chelsea Clinton's fiancé, Marc Mezvinsky. But will he attend the wedding on July 31st at the former estate of John Jacob Astor in the Upstate NY town of Rhinebeck? The soon to be father-in-law of Chelsea has a colorful past, as does the father of the bride, former President Bill Clinton.
Sources:
Kilen, Mike. Whirlpool of lies swallows Mezvinsky. DesMoines Register.com. 8-3-03. Accessed 7-23-10.
Rhee, Joseph & Drew Sandholm. Will Father of the Groom Be Welcome at Chelsea Clinton's Wedding? ABC News, The Blotter. 12-1-09. Accessed 7-23-10.
Linda Sue Meagher - Linda Sue loves animals, writing & art and considers herself a student of Human Nature. She loves outdoor adventures like skiing and ...
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