Clyde Jay Jennings (born 1947) is the only son of Martha Mitchell, a conservative political figure and socialite who was the wife of John N. Mitchell, the US attorney general during President Richard Nixon’s administration. Although his mother, Martha, was well recognized in the United States, Clyde Jay keeps a very low profile, hence, his current whereabouts is not ascertained at the moment.
Clyde lived an interesting life at a young age but chose to maintain a private life as he grew older. It was revealed that he spent some time with his mother throughout her illness and even took on the role of her spokesperson. Martha Mitchell had a controversial reputation due to her outspoken criticism of the government during the Watergate scandal. Get to know more about Clyde Jay Jennings.
Summary of Clyde Jay Jennings’ Biography
- Full name: Clyde Jay Jennings
- Gender: Male
- Date of birth: 1947
- Place of Birth: Rye, New York, United States
- Clyde Jay Jennings’ Age: 77 years old
- Nationality: American
- Religion: Christianity
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Clyde Jay Jennings’ Parents: Clyde Jennings Jr (Father) and Martha Mitchell (Mother)
- Grandparents: George V. Beall and Arie Beall Ferguson
- Siblings: Marty (Step-sister)
- Famous for: Being the only son of Martha Mitchell
How Old is Clyde Jay Jennings?
Clyde Jay Jennings is 77 years old now. He was born in Rye, New York City, United States of America in the year 1947 to his parents, Martha Mitchell and Clyde Jennings Jr. but his actual date of birth is not known. His father was a US Army officer from Lynchburg, Virginia, while his mother was a secretary at Pine Bluff Arsenal, later transferred to Washington DC. He has a sister named Marty.
The media has no access to most information about both Clyde Jay’s personal and professional life. Thus, details regarding his early years, academic background, career path, and net worth are unknown. It is also not known whether he is married and has children or not. Meanwhile, he reportedly spent the 1980s in Washington, DC, working as a GAO investigator.
Martha Mitchell’s Relationship With Clyde’s Father Lasted For 11 Years
Martha Mitchell was born September 2, 1918, in Pine Bluff Arkansas. She graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 1937. She loved art and had dreamt of becoming an actress but her parents, George V. Beall and Arie Beall Ferguson, were not in support of it. However, she later went to the University of Miami and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History. Martha returned to Pine Bluff after World War II and worked as a secretary.
She married Clyde Jennings Jr., a former US Army officer, on the 5th of October 1946 after they met in Washington DC. Jennings Jr. took a job as a traveling handbag salesman after he was discharged from the military. Upon that, he and his wife Martha relocated to Rye, New York, and had their son Jay in the following year, 1947.
Clyde Jay’s parents married for 11 years before divorcing on 1st August 1957. The actual reason for their divorce is not known. On the heels of their divorce, Mitchell met attorney John N. Mitchell, who immediately won her over with his brilliance and confidence. On 30th December 1957, they got married and their marriage produced a daughter named Marty who is today Clyde Jay Jennings’ only sibling.
Martha and John N. Mitchel would later divorce in 1973 after 16 years of marriage. Meanwhile, Martha Mitchell first gained widespread attention when she told a television reporter that the November 1969 peace demonstrations in Washington, DC, reminded her husband, John Mitchell, of the Russian Revolution. She further gained additional fame because the statement made breaking news for the media.
Martha Mitchell regularly appeared on television discussion shows and was a source of political intelligence for many journalists. She rose to prominence in Washington and earned the nickname “The Mouth of the South” for her honesty and unrestrained speech in support of Republican causes. She unveiled the truth regarding the dirty election campaigning that her husband and Richard Nixon had planned.
Clyde Served As His Mother’s Spokesman When She Got Sick
Clyde Jay became his mother’s spokesman when she fell ill in 1975, she suffered from advanced stages of Multiple Myeloma. At this time, her family and most friends had abandoned her because of several controversies. She had previously separated from John Mitchell, who also took their daughter with him. John Mitchelle received 19 months in federal prison for his role in the Watergate break-in after being found guilty of perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy.
The ex-couple did not cross paths again ever since then. Jay Jennings was the one that was always available to take care of his mother throughout the predicament. Sadly, on the 31st of May 1976, she fell into a coma and died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City. Martha Mitchelle was 57 years old at the time of her death. Even after his mother’s death, Clyde Jay Jennings never commented on the various controversies surrounding her.
Is Clyde Jay Jennings Retired, and Where is He Now?
Clyde Jay Jennings has probably retired from whatever work he did and is assumed to be living a simple, lowkey life with his family at the moment. It is obvious that Jay Jennings does not want to disclose information about his life to the media. He made his public debut decades ago but has continued to maintain a low profile since then.
However, he came to public awareness again on the 15th of October 2021 when @FilmUpdates made a Twitter post that Johnny Berchtold, an American actor has been cast opposite Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Carlos Valdes, and Patton Oswalt in Starz’s Watergate drama ‘Gaslit’ to play Jay Jennings, son of Martha Mitchell (Julia Roberts).
Also, a new Netflix documentary covering the life of Martha titled Gaslit was released. This further made many people develop an interest in knowing more about her and her only son, Clyde Jay Jennings. In Stephanie Kennedy’s post on Twitter on April 24, 2022, she made some revelations about Martha Mitchell, a.k.a. “the mouth of the south,” including some shocking details of precisely what happened to her the time she tried to tell the truth.