Born: October 26, 1947, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Democratic member of the United States Senate from New York (2001- ) and wife of United States president Bill Clinton (1993-2001). During her husband’s presidency, she became a powerful symbol of the changing role and status of women in American society. Her election to the U.S. Senate while being first lady was unprecedented in the U.S. history.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Hillary Rodham was the first student ever asked to give the commencement address at Wellesley College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in 1969. At Yale Law School, she met her future husband, Bill Clinton, and her lifelong mentor, Marian Wright Edelman; Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund, an organization that lobbies for children’s welfare. Rodham worked there as a staff attorney for a year after graduating from law school in 1973 and later chaired the organization’s board.
In 1974, after working for the special U.S. House panel investigating a possible impeachment of President Richard Nixon, she moved to Arkansas, where she began teaching law at the University of Arkansas. She and Bill Clinton were married a year later. A daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980.
In 1977, Clinton founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and joined the Rose Law Firm, where she practised until 1992, specializing in patent infringement and intellectual property. She was twice named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal.
As the first presidential spouse with her own successful professional career, Clinton drew criticism from those who favoured a more traditional role for the first lady. After taking office, President Clinton chose her to head a special commission on health-care reform, the most significant public policy initiative of his first year in office.
The special commission developed a comprehensive health-care proposal, which was presented to the Congress of the United States in September 1993. Although Clinton was praised for her intricate knowledge of the issue yet critics attacked the cost of the plan and the burden it placed on small employers. Throughout 1994, other groups drafted proposals, but Congress could not reach agreement on the health-care issue. The failure of health-care reform resulted in a major defeat for the Clintons and caused the first lady to step back from a prominent role in public policy decisions.
In 1993, both Clintons came under scrutiny during an investigation that questioned the couple’s 1978 investment in a failed real estate venture called the Whitewater Development Corporation and their connection to a bankrupt savings and loan association. In January 1996, Hillary Rodham Clinton was called to testify before a grand jury investigating the Whitewater Affair, as these financial dealings came to be known. It was the first time a first lady was asked to appear before a grand jury.
Clinton travelled extensively as the first lady and promoted new responsibilities and opportunities for women, particularly in the world’s developing countries. In September 1995 she attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. In addition to helping her husband in his 1996 presidential election campaign, Clinton also worked actively for children’s welfare issues. In 1996, she published a book, It Takes a Village, that focuses on the responsibilities that society has toward children.
In 2000 Clinton made her own bid for political office when she announced her candidacy for a seat in the U.S. Senate from New York. In January 2000, she moved from the White House to a new home in Chappaqua, New York, to establish residency in the state. In the 2000 election, Clinton defeated Republican Rick Lazio. She took office in January 2001.
