Hillary Clinton

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Hillary Clinton
BornHillary Diane Rodham
26 10, 1947
BirthplaceChicago, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPolitician, lawyer, diplomat, author
Title11th Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast
Known forFirst woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party; 67th U.S. Secretary of State; U.S. Senator from New York; First Lady of the United States
EducationWellesley College (BA)
Yale University (JD)
Spouse(s)Template:Marriage
Children1
AwardsGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album (1997)

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, diplomat, and author who has occupied a central position in American public life for more than three decades. She served as the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama, as a United States Senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. In 2016, Clinton became the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party when she secured the Democratic Party nomination; she won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to Republican nominee Donald Trump.[1]

Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Clinton graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 and Yale Law School in 1973. She moved to Arkansas, where she married Bill Clinton in 1975 and co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. She became the first woman partner at Rose Law Firm in Little Rock and served as First Lady of Arkansas during her husband's governorship. As First Lady of the United States, she took a leading role in advocating for healthcare reform and children's welfare legislation. After her husband's presidency, she was elected to the U.S. Senate, making her the first female senator from New York and the only First Lady to have subsequently held elected office. Following an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, she served as Secretary of State during Obama's first term, overseeing U.S. foreign policy during a period that included the Arab Spring and the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. Since her 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton has remained active in public discourse through writing, public speaking, and political advocacy, including her organization Onward Together. In January 2020, she became the 11th Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast.[2]

Early Life

Hillary Diane Rodham was born on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the suburb of Park Ridge.[3] She is of English, Welsh, Scottish, and French-Canadian ancestry on her father's side, and of Welsh, English, Scottish, French-Canadian, and other European descent on her mother's side.[4] Researchers have also traced Celtic roots in her family lineage.[5]

Clinton grew up in the Park Ridge community on the northwest side of Chicago's metropolitan area, part of the Edgewater neighborhood's broader cultural orbit on the city's North Side.[6] As a child, Clinton has often recounted a story about writing to NASA as a young girl expressing her desire to become an astronaut, only to be told that the space agency did not accept women. The accuracy of this anecdote has been scrutinized over the years, with fact-checkers noting some inconsistencies in the retelling.[7]

Clinton attended Maine South High School in Park Ridge, where she was active in student government and various extracurricular activities. Her legacy at the school has been noted in local media coverage, particularly during election seasons.[8][9] During her high school years, Clinton was influenced by both her father's conservative political views and a Methodist youth minister, Don Jones, who introduced her to social justice issues and the civil rights movement. She entered college identifying as a Republican, having supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election.[10]

Education

Wellesley College

Rodham enrolled at Wellesley College in 1965. During her time at Wellesley, she underwent a significant political transformation, shifting from her earlier Republican leanings toward more progressive positions. She was active in the college's Young Republicans organization during her early years on campus.[11] Her political evolution was shaped by the era's tumultuous events, including the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[12]

In 1969, Rodham became the first student in Wellesley College's history to deliver a commencement address. Her speech, which she partly improvised, garnered national attention and was featured in Life magazine. In the address, she critiqued the previous commencement speaker, Senator Edward Brooke, and articulated a generational call for more authentic politics and social engagement.[13] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with departmental honors in political science.

Yale Law School

After Wellesley, Rodham enrolled at Yale Law School, where she was one of only 27 women in a class of 235. It was at Yale that she met Bill Clinton in 1970. She served on the editorial board of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action and worked on several research projects related to children's rights and family law. She earned her Juris Doctor degree in 1973.[3]

Career

Early Legal Career and Arkansas

After graduating from Yale, Rodham served as a staff attorney for the Children's Defense Fund and was a member of the impeachment inquiry staff advising the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate scandal in 1974. Following the conclusion of the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, she moved to Arkansas to join Bill Clinton, who was launching a political career there. The couple married on October 11, 1975.[3]

In 1977, Clinton co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a nonprofit organization focused on children's issues in the state. In 1979, she became the first woman to be named partner at Rose Law Firm, the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi River, based in Little Rock, Arkansas.[14] During this period, she also served on several corporate boards, including that of Walmart.

First Lady of Arkansas

Clinton served as First Lady of Arkansas during two periods: from January 9, 1979, to January 19, 1981, during Bill Clinton's first term as governor, and again from January 11, 1983, to December 12, 1992. During these years, she chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee and was instrumental in reform efforts aimed at improving the state's public school system. She continued her legal career at Rose Law Firm during this time and was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America.[14]

First Lady of the United States (1993–2001)

When Bill Clinton was inaugurated as the 42nd President of the United States on January 20, 1993, Hillary Clinton became First Lady. She took a more active policy role than many of her predecessors, most notably heading the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, an ambitious effort to overhaul the American healthcare system. The resulting proposal, colloquially known as "Hillarycare," sought to achieve universal health coverage through a system of managed competition. The plan faced intense opposition from the insurance industry, congressional Republicans, and some Democrats, and failed to secure a vote in Congress in 1994.[14]

Despite the failure of the comprehensive healthcare reform effort, Clinton remained engaged in policy advocacy. In 1997 and 1999, she played a leading role in promoting the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provided health coverage to millions of children in families that earned too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance. She also advocated for the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, both of which reformed elements of the American child welfare system.[14]

In 1998, Clinton's personal life became the subject of intense public scrutiny during the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, involving President Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The scandal led to the impeachment of President Clinton by the House of Representatives in December 1998, though he was acquitted by the Senate in February 1999. Throughout the ordeal, Hillary Clinton publicly reaffirmed her commitment to the marriage.

In connection with her husband's administration, Clinton was also drawn into several political investigations. The Whitewater controversy, involving a real estate investment the Clintons had made in Arkansas, led to a wide-ranging independent counsel investigation. Separately, the "Filegate" controversy involved the improper accessing of FBI background files of former Republican White House employees by Clinton administration staff, though investigations found no criminal wrongdoing by either Clinton.[15]

U.S. Senator from New York (2001–2009)

In 2000, Clinton entered the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, becoming the first sitting First Lady to seek elected office. She won the election against Republican candidate Rick Lazio, taking her seat on January 3, 2001. She was reelected in 2006 by a wide margin.[14]

As a senator, Clinton served on several committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. She chaired the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee from 2003 to 2007. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Clinton played an active role in securing federal funding for the rebuilding of lower Manhattan and for health benefits for first responders and survivors. She voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, a vote that would become a significant political liability in her later presidential campaigns.[16]

2008 Presidential Campaign

Clinton announced her candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination in January 2007. She entered the race as the early frontrunner, with high name recognition and a formidable fundraising operation. However, she faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, whose campaign message of hope and change resonated with many Democratic primary voters.

The Democratic primary contest between Clinton and Obama was one of the closest and most prolonged in modern American history. Clinton won notable victories in the New Hampshire primary, where she defied late polling that had shown Obama surging ahead, as well as in large states such as California, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.[17] By some measures of the popular vote total across all primaries, Clinton received more votes than any other candidate.[18] However, Obama's campaign strategy focused on accumulating delegates through caucus states and smaller primaries, and he ultimately secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination. Clinton conceded on June 7, 2008, and endorsed Obama, campaigning actively for him in the general election.[19]

Secretary of State (2009–2013)

Following Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election, he nominated Clinton as United States Secretary of State. She was confirmed by the Senate on January 21, 2009, succeeding Condoleezza Rice. Clinton's appointment was seen as a strategic move to unite the Democratic Party after the contentious primary and to leverage her international profile and policy expertise.

As Secretary of State, Clinton visited 112 countries during her tenure, making her one of the most-traveled holders of the office. She promoted a strategic "pivot to Asia," which sought to rebalance American foreign policy attention and resources toward the Asia-Pacific region in recognition of its growing economic and strategic significance.

Clinton responded to the Arab Spring uprisings that swept across the Middle East and North Africa beginning in late 2010 and early 2011. She advocated for the 2011 military intervention in Libya, supporting the NATO-led campaign that helped overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi. However, the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, which killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, drew intense criticism from Republican lawmakers. Multiple congressional investigations examined the State Department's handling of security at the Benghazi compound and the administration's initial public statements about the attack. Clinton testified before Congress on the matter in January 2013.

Clinton helped organize international sanctions against Iran aimed at pressuring the country to curtail its nuclear program. These sanctions contributed to the conditions that eventually led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the multinational nuclear agreement reached in 2015, after Clinton had left office.

She resigned from the position on February 1, 2013, and was succeeded by John Kerry.

Email Controversy

During her tenure as Secretary of State, Clinton used a private email server located at her home in Chappaqua, New York, for official government communications rather than the State Department's secure email system. The existence of the private server became public in 2015 and generated an extended political and legal controversy. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted an investigation into whether classified information had been improperly handled. In July 2016, FBI Director James Comey announced that while Clinton and her staff had been "extremely careless" in handling classified material, no charges would be filed. The email controversy became the single most covered topic during her 2016 presidential campaign.

2016 Presidential Campaign

Clinton announced her second presidential campaign on April 12, 2015. She secured the Democratic nomination after defeating Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in a contested primary. On July 26, 2016, she formally accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, becoming the first woman to be nominated for president by a major American political party.

In the general election, Clinton faced Republican nominee Donald Trump. The campaign was marked by several significant events, including the release of a 2005 Access Hollywood tape featuring Trump making vulgar remarks about women, the FBI's investigation into Clinton's emails, and allegations of Russian interference in the election. On October 28, 2016, less than two weeks before Election Day, Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing the FBI was reviewing additional emails potentially related to Clinton's private server, a development that many analysts believe affected the race's trajectory.

On November 8, 2016, Clinton won the national popular vote by approximately 2.87 million votes but lost the Electoral College 227 to 304. Trump's narrow victories in key swing states—Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin—proved decisive. Clinton became the fifth presidential candidate in American history to win the popular vote while losing the Electoral College.

Post-2016 Activities

Following her 2016 loss, Clinton launched Onward Together, a political action organization dedicated to fundraising for progressive political groups. She authored several books, including What Happened (2017), a personal account of the 2016 campaign, and The Book of Gutsy Women (2019), co-authored with her daughter Chelsea Clinton.

In January 2020, Clinton was appointed the 11th Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast, succeeding Thomas J. Moran. The role is largely ceremonial and involves presiding over degree ceremonies and serving as an ambassador for the university.

Clinton has continued to participate in public discourse through writing and public appearances. In early 2026, she authored an essay for The Atlantic on the subject of empathy in American political life, arguing against what she described as an erosion of empathy in the nation's politics.[20] She also spoke at international events, including urging India to take a more active role on climate issues.[21]

In February 2026, both Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify before a House investigative panel examining the activities of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Clintons had initially refused to appear before the panel but agreed ahead of a scheduled contempt vote in the full House. They requested that the testimony be conducted publicly.[22][23][24]

Personal Life

Hillary Rodham married Bill Clinton on October 11, 1975, in a small ceremony in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Their daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was born on February 27, 1980. The family resided in the Arkansas Governor's Mansion during Bill Clinton's terms as governor and in the White House during his presidency.

Clinton has been a practicing United Methodist throughout her life, and has spoken publicly about the influence of her faith on her public service and personal values. She has cited the Methodist emphasis on social justice and service to others as formative influences.

The Clintons' marriage has been the subject of extensive public scrutiny, particularly during the Monica Lewinsky scandal of 1998. Clinton addressed the matter publicly on several occasions and chose to remain in the marriage. After leaving the White House, the Clintons established residences in Chappaqua, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Chelsea Clinton earned degrees from Stanford University, the University of Oxford, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and New York University. She has pursued careers in consulting, academia, and public health advocacy and has served as vice chair of the Clinton Foundation.

Recognition

Over the course of her career, Clinton has received numerous awards and honors. She won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 1997 for the audio version of her book It Takes a Village. She has received honorary degrees from multiple universities worldwide.

Clinton has been named to Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world on multiple occasions. Forbes magazine has repeatedly included her on its list of the world's most powerful women.

Her 2016 presidential campaign earned her a place in American political history as the first woman to win a major party's presidential nomination and the only woman to win the popular vote in a U.S. presidential election. Her concession speech following the 2016 election, in which she told young women and girls that "nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion," received widespread attention.

As Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast, Clinton has been recognized for her international diplomatic experience, particularly her involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process during her time as First Lady and as Secretary of State.

Legacy

Clinton's career spans multiple domains of American public life—law, policy advocacy, electoral politics, and diplomacy—over a period of more than four decades. Her tenure as First Lady redefined the role, establishing a precedent for greater policy involvement by the president's spouse. The failure of her 1993–1994 healthcare reform plan, while a political setback, contributed to subsequent incremental reforms, including the SCHIP program that she helped champion.

As the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from New York and the first former First Lady to hold elected office, Clinton broke barriers in American politics. Her 2008 primary campaign, in which she came close to securing the Democratic nomination, and her 2016 general election campaign, in which she became the first female nominee of a major party and won the popular vote, marked milestones in the history of women in American politics.

Her tenure as Secretary of State is associated with the strategic pivot to Asia, the international response to the Arab Spring, and the building of a sanctions regime against Iran. The Benghazi attack and the private email server controversy remain subjects of political debate.

Clinton's influence on Democratic Party politics has been substantial, spanning from her work on children's issues in the 1970s and 1980s through her role as a leading figure in the party's moderate wing in the 2000s and 2010s. Her political career has been the subject of extensive scholarly analysis, journalistic coverage, and public debate, reflecting her polarizing position in American political culture.

References

  1. ↑ "Hillary Clinton".The White House.https://web.archive.org/web/20170120221819/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/first-ladies/hillaryclinton.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  2. ↑ "Hillary Clinton: MAGA's War on Empathy".The Atlantic.2026-01-28.https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/war-empathy-hillary-clinton/685809/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Hillary Rodham Clinton".CNN.1996.https://web.archive.org/web/20230404143042/http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/democrat/clinton/hillary.shtml.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  4. ↑ "Ancestry of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton".American Ancestors (New England Historic Genealogical Society).https://web.archive.org/web/20101203151445/http://www.americanancestors.org/ancestry-of-senator-hillary-rodham-clinton/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  5. ↑ "Hillary Clinton's Celtic Roots".Irish America.2015-03.https://web.archive.org/web/20190323062511/http://irishamerica.com/2015/03/hillary-clintons-celtic-roots/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  6. ↑ "Edgewater Historical Society article".Edgewater Historical Society.https://web.archive.org/web/20171018060902/http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/articles/v14-3-4.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  7. ↑ "Hillary Clinton's often-told story that NASA rejected her childhood dream of becoming a female astronaut".The Washington Post.2015-11-30.https://web.archive.org/web/20210215010720/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/11/30/hillary-clintons-often-told-story-that-nasa-rejected-her-childhood-dream-of-becoming-a-female-astronaut/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  8. ↑ "Hillary Clinton's high school legacy lives on at Maine South".Medill Reports (Northwestern University).2016-07-06.https://web.archive.org/web/20240712144107/https://dc.medill.northwestern.edu/blog/2016/07/06/hillary-clintons-high-school-legacy-lives-on-at-maine-south/#sthash.8cRHIk0g.dpbs.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  9. ↑ "Maine South and the election".Chicago Tribune.2016-10-27.https://web.archive.org/web/20231207204821/https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge/ct-prh-maine-south-election-tl-1103-20161027-story.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  10. ↑ "Chicago Tribune profile".Chicago Tribune.https://web.archive.org/web/20190719100217/https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/chi-1127hillaryclintonnov27-story.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  11. ↑ "Wellesley College GOP history".Wellesley College.https://web.archive.org/web/20060903132835/http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/gop/history.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  12. ↑ "Hillary: The Wellesley Years".The Boston Globe.1993-01-12.https://web.archive.org/web/20210215010721/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/1993/01/12/hillary-the-wellesley-years/OEapzWGuzSNAFiIHL2zm9K/story.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  13. ↑ "1969 Student Commencement Speech".Wellesley College.https://web.archive.org/web/20180212212604/https://www.wellesley.edu/events/commencement/archives/1969commencement/studentspeech.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "Hillary Clinton".The White House.https://web.archive.org/web/20170120221819/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/first-ladies/hillaryclinton.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  15. ↑ "Clinton Filegate".CNN.2000-07-28.http://edition.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/07/28/clinton.filegate/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  16. ↑ "In Candidates' Words".The New York Times.2007-09-05.https://web.archive.org/web/20191011140448/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/us/politics/05clinton.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  17. ↑ "New Hampshire Democratic Primary".RealClearPolitics.http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/nh/new_hampshire_democratic_primary-194.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  18. ↑ "Democratic Vote Count".RealClearPolitics.http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/democratic_vote_count.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  19. ↑ "NBC News profile".NBC News.https://web.archive.org/web/20180308205444/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17388372/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  20. ↑ "Hillary Clinton: MAGA's War on Empathy".The Atlantic.2026-01-28.https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/war-empathy-hillary-clinton/685809/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  21. ↑ "Hillary Clinton Urges India to Step Up on Climate".Bloomberg.com.2026-02-21.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-02-21/hillary-clinton-urges-india-to-step-up-on-climate.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  22. ↑ "House Cancels Contempt Vote As Clintons Agree to Testify on Epstein".The New York Times.2026-02-03.https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/clintons-epstein-testify.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  23. ↑ "Bill and Hillary Clinton agree to testify in House Epstein probe ahead of contempt vote".NBC News.2026-02-02.https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/clintons-agree-testify-house-epstein-probe-ahead-contempt-vote-rcna257143.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  24. ↑ "Bill and Hillary Clinton agree to testify in House Epstein investigation".The Guardian.2026-02-02.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/bill-clinton-interview-rejected-epstein.Retrieved 2026-02-24.

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