In 1938, at 7 years old, his father brought him to the Conservative Party of Canada leadership convention in Winnipeg where he met his namesake, R. B. Bennett.

After graduating from high school in 1948 in his home town Hartland, Hatfield attended Acadia University for four years majoring in chemistry and English where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

[3] Hatfield left Halifax in 1957 and moved to Truro to take a job with the firm Patterson, Smith, Matthew and Grant so he could do his six months articling period.

When his family sold their potato chip plant to Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods, he decided to be a politician full-time.

Although the visionary project produced an advanced sports car, huge cost overruns and poor management led to the company's demise.

On September 25, 1984, the RCMP found 35 grams of marijuana in his suitcase during a security check of luggage conducted before a flight from Fredericton to Moncton during a royal visit by Queen Elizabeth II.

The trial was postponed when Judge James D. Harper appeared on a radio show and suggested that privileged people should receive stiffer sentences than "Joe Blow from Kokomo who is the town drunk.

Harrigan sparked legal furor after he suggested that a journalist might have planted the drugs to create "the juiciest story ever to crack the media.

"[4][6][8] Several days after the acquittal, allegations emerged that Hatfield had invited four young men to an all-night party in his Fredericton home in 1981.

His memorial service, which was held at the Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton, New Brunswick, was attended by Premiers and Prime Ministers, friends and opponents.

[11] Janet Cawley of the Chicago Tribune called him, "a flamboyant, eccentric and controversial figure with a penchant for modern art, rock and roll, and New York night life".

[12] Hatfield said of his bachelor lifestyle, "the nuclear family—one wife, two kids and one dog—looks nice on Christmas cards, but they pay an awful price".