Hillary Clinton (b. 1947)

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Biography

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and the first lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 as the wife of Bill Clinton. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party and the only woman to win the popular vote for U.S. president. Clinton lost the United States Electoral College vote to Republican Party nominee Donald Trump. She is the only first lady of the United States to have run for elected office.

In Their Own Words (5)

Many of you are well enough off that… the tax cuts may have helped you… We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.

Explaining her opposition to President Bush's tax cut in San Francisco (28 June 2004) , 2001

Children in early adolescence tend to exaggerate or romanticize sexual experiences and that adolescents with disorganized families, such as the complainant, are even more prone to such behavior.

Hillary Clinton (1975) State of Arkansas V. Thomas Alfred Taylor affidavit as quoted in Did Hillary Clinton betray a criminal client? CNN (2014/07/01). , 1975

In 2008: abortion should be "safe, legal and rare, and by rare I mean rare."

LA Times, July 27, 2015, Opinion: Does Hillary still think abortion should be ‘safe, legal and rare’? , 2008

I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president.

Quoted in Blood Sport: The President and His Adversaries (p. 368), James B. Stewart, December 1993 , 1993

It saddens me that a historic event like this is being misconstrued by a small but vocal group of critics trying to spread the notion that the UN gathering is really the work of radicals and atheists bent on destroying our families.

"China, UN Seek to Put Conference Back on Track" (Reuters: September 4, 1995) , 1993

Timeline

The story of Hillary Clinton, told in moments.

1947 Birth

Born Hillary Diane Rodham in Chicago. Raised in Park Ridge, a conservative suburb. Her father runs a small drapery business. She's a Goldwater Girl in 1964. By the time she graduates Wellesley in 1969, she's given a commencement speech that gets her into Life magazine. She is 21.

Goldwater Girl to Wellesley commencement speaker. What happened in between? Life magazine at 21. Did you sense a public life was coming?

1975 Life

Marries Bill Clinton in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She'd turned him down twice. They met at Yale Law School when she walked up to him in the library: "If you're going to keep staring at me, we might as well be introduced." She keeps her maiden name until it becomes a political liability in Arkansas. She becomes the first female partner at Rose Law Firm in Little Rock.

You turned Bill down twice. What changed? Keeping your maiden name until it became a political liability. Was dropping Rodham a sacrifice?

1993 Event

Named to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. First time a First Lady heads a major policy initiative. The plan fails spectacularly in Congress. Republicans run against "Hillarycare" in the 1994 midterms and take both chambers for the first time in 40 years.

Hillarycare failed and cost the Democrats both chambers. Was the ambition worth the backlash? Did chairing a health care task force as First Lady go too far?

2000 Event

Elected to the U.S. Senate from New York while still First Lady. First sitting First Lady ever elected to office. She wins by 12 points. Serves two terms, chairs the Senate Democratic Steering Committee.

First sitting First Lady elected to office. Was the Senate always the plan? Winning by 12 points in a state you d barely lived in. How did you pull that off?

2016 Event

Loses the presidential election to Donald Trump. She wins the popular vote by nearly 3 million but loses the Electoral College 227 to 304. She's the first woman nominated for president by a major party. The FBI reopens its investigation into her email server 11 days before the election.

Three million more popular votes and still lost. Does the Electoral College feel broken? The FBI reopened the investigation 11 days before the election. Do you blame Comey?

2017 Legacy

Writes What Happened and launches Onward Together, a political action organization. The only person in American history to have been First Lady, senator, Secretary of State, and a major-party presidential nominee.

First Lady, senator, Secretary of State, nominee. Which title fits you best? What Happened. Did writing it give you closure?