Senator Robert Kelly was first seen at a social gathering hosted by the Hellfire Club, where an illusion projected by the mutant villain Mastermind caused him to believe he had witnessed the X-Man Cyclops firing randomly into a crowd.
[3] Kelly, in a meeting with Sebastian Shaw, was shocked when his wife walked in wearing her old servant garb as a bit of fun.
[6] The character's name was chosen by Chris Claremont, in honor of his Bard College professor, the poet Robert Kelly.
[citation needed] In the Age of Apocalypse, Robert Kelly was an activist for mutant-human peace who is eventually elected President of the United States.
[7] In the X-Men Noir reality, Robert Kelly was a Republican Senator of New York who strongly defended the controversial U.S. extraterritorial prison Genosha Bay.
However, in reality, Kelly's true purpose of keeping Genosha Bay was because it was the proving grounds in recruiting the next generation of ideal soldiers and government operatives.