Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton is currently the junior Senator from New York. She was nominated by President-Elect Barack Obama to serve as Secretary of State on December 1, 2008.¹

From 1993 until 2001, Clinton was the First Lady of the United States.

Fast Facts

1. Full name: Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton
2. Born: October 26, 1947
3. Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
4. Political party: Democratic
5. Named Barack Obama's Secretaty of State on December 1, 2008
6. New York senator: 2001 to present
7. First lady: 1993 to 2001
8. Religion: Methodist
9. Current residence: Chappaqua, New York
10. 1969: Graduated from Wellesley College
11. 1973: Graduated from Yale Law School
12. Husband: Bill Clinton
13. Daughter: Chelsea Clinton
14. Mother: Dorothy Rodham

Life as First Lady

Mrs. Clinton served as the First Lady of Arkansas and then, when Bill Clinton became president in 1993, of the United States.²

Mrs. Clinton was the first First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree. Looking to play a prominent role in the administration, Mrs. Clinton took an office in the West Wing of the White House and helped draft plans for health care reform.²

Healthcare

Mrs. Clinton's first major policy push during her time as First Lady was chairing the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. Her recommendations became known as the "Clinton Health Care Plan," and her name has been tied to health care since her policy proposals on the task force.³

Clinton's plan would have required every U.S. citizen and resident to enroll in a qualified health care plan, with people of low income being enrolled in a government program. With strong opposition in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the Clinton health care plan failed to gain enough votes for passage.³

Whitewater

The Whitewater Scandal erupted in 1993 when allegations of shady land dealings rocked the Clinton administration. It was alleged that Bill Clinton, while governor of Arkansas, gave an illegal, $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal, one of the Clinton's partners on the Whitewater development land deal.⁴

McDougal and her husband were convicted of wrongdoing, but the Clinton's were never charged despite a lengthy congressional investigation.⁵

Sex Scandals

Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions were the subject of intense media scrutiny and congressional investigation.⁶

Hillary Clinton stood by her husband while he was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for perjury in connection with the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Mrs. Clinton said she was personally hurt by the revelations of her husband's sexual misconduct, but decided to stay with President Clinton.⁷

Senate Career

Hillary Clinton ran for New York's open senate seat in 2000, setting up residence in Chappaqua, New York.

Originally expected to face Rudy Giuliani,⁸ Clinton eventually ran against Republican Rick Lazio after Giuliani was forced to drop out of the race while dealing with prostate cancer.⁹

Clinton won the election and was sworn in on January 3, 2001. During her senate career, Mrs. Clinton has served on five senate committees, including the Budget, Armed Services committees. After September 11, 2001, Clinton supported the U.S. war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.¹⁰

War Vote

Clinton voted to authorize the President George W. Bush to pursue military options in Iraq in 2002. Known as her "war vote," Clinton has faced opposition from liberal groups for authorizing the use of force in Iraq.¹¹

In retrospect, she has said she regrets that her vote allowed Bush to go to war in Iraq, but she maintains that with information available at the time, her vote was the right one.¹¹

2008 Campaign

On January 20, 2007, Hillary Clinton announced her intention to run for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 Presidential Election.

After a long race, she officially ended her campaign on June 7, 2008, in a speech conceding victory to Barack Obama. On August 27, 2008, Clinton ended the roll call vote at the 2008 Democratic Convention and called for public acclamation for the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States.

Related Pages on Mahalo

Susan Sarandon Hillary Clinton | Hillary Clinton On the Issues | Dorothy Rodham | Bill Clinton | Election 2008 | Barack Obama | Lynn Forester de Rothschild | Celebrity Halloween Masks | Hillary Clinton Secretary of State | Janet Napolitano | Susan Rice | General James Jones | Nancy Sutley | Carol Browner | Mary Schapiro | Bruce Karatz | Frank Lowy

Categories