Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is a former senator, secretary of state, first lady among other accolades she has amassed in her life. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947, she has a rich political profile which climaxed in the 2016 presidential campaign where she won the popular vote but lost to her opponent Donald J. Trump in the electoral college. She is a prolific figure and a role model to many women for her efforts to break a glass ceiling in politics throughout her life. Many people have different opinions of her personal, public and social life.
Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago to Hugh Rodham and Dorothy Howell. She has two siblings, Hugh and Tony. She attended public schools and found favor in her teachers for her exceptional performance and wit. Her interest in politics was sparked by witnessing voting fraud in 1964 and though she came from a conservative family, she found herself compelled to do something about it. Throughout her young age, she remained politically mild till she joined Wellesley college to pursue law. Her passion in politics grew and she found herself involved in various political groups around campus. She later joined Yale University to study law. At Yale, she met her husband-to-be, Bill Clinton, who was also delving into politics and came to be the 42nd president of the United States. Hillary Clinton later received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale in 1973.
After Yale, she went to practice law in several law firms where she was actively involved in gender issues and children rights. She served in various departments with particular interests in children’s law and family policy and these jobs groomed her for a later political career. She later married Bill Clinton and moved in with him in Arkansas. Following her husband’s election as the governor of Arkansas, she became the state’s First Lady in January 1979. She held this position for 12 nonconsecutive years till 1992 when she joined her husband in White House following his election to be the President of the United States of America. In 1980, she bore her only child Chelsea Clinton. Her years in the White House were tumultuous mainly stemming from her husband’s extramarital affair with the White House’s intern Monica Lewinsky. Though she later admitted that the period was rough for her and her family, she remained in the marriage and issued a public statement reaffirming her commitment to fight for her marriage.
Rodham entered national politics after the then-senator of New York announced retirement in 1998. She became the first lady to run for public office and she was guided to throw her hat in the ring by various seasoned politicians at the time. She became the first lady to run for public office and she was guided to throw her hat in the ring by various seasoned politicians at the time. She won against Lazio in November 2000 and she went on to serve as New York’s senator. She kept a low profile in her first term building connections with other politicians from different parties and delivering on her promises to the New Yorkers. She served in various senatorial committees. She was actively involved in rebuilding her statement following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and for advocating going to war in Iraq to exterminate terrorism. Later, she admitted that Iraq’s insurgency was a mistake and supported pulling out of the country. She ran for a second term in 2006 which she won against a Republican candidate John Spencer and went on to serve for a second term. During her second term, she announced her presidential bid on a democratic ticket which she lost to the then-to-be 44th president on United States, Barrack Obama. After losing to Obama in the primaries, she supported his bid for the presidency and he later appointed her to be the secretary of state.
Her nomination to the docket of a secretary of state came with ‘difficulty and adventure,’ but she agreed to serve. She became the first former first lady to serve in the cabinet after resigning as a senator following her historic confirmation by the Senate. Her tenure as the Secretary of State was much focused on brokering peace in the Middle East following American insurgency in the region and negotiating for fair deals in international and regional meetings. Her advocacy for pulling US troops from the Middle East later transitioned to Arab uprising. Her critiques mainly reference her handling to Arab uprising which partially affected her later political career when she ran for the presidency. Notably, the Benghazi attack where several American citizens lost their lives including the Libyan ambassador is one of the dark moments of her public service.
Rodham decided to succeed Obama and she ran for the presidency in the 2016 presidential elections. She became the first female Democratic candidate for the presidency and ran a remarkable campaign. Her campaign, however, was tainted by her previous experiences, actions, and decisions as a public servant. Notably, her email scandal which she deleted in an attempt to cover up her trails in public service drew much attention. Her personal life especially during her years as the first lady and how she handled the Lewinsky scandal attracted controversy and helped his opponent heap political dirt in most of the mudslinging episodes they had during their presidential campaigns. Her dealings with Uranium deals and foreign agents during her tenure as a secretary of state were brought to light and cast a shadow to her bid to success president Obama. On November 8th, 2016, she lost the elections to the current president Trump on the electoral college votes.
After losing the presidential elections she was spotted taking a walk in the woods probably to console herself of the loss. She later founded the Onward Together group she dubbed was meant to ‘the progressive vision that earned nearly 66 million votes in the last election.’ She attended the Trump inauguration ceremony with her husband Bill Clinton in the capacity of a former first lady. She has become vocal in criticizing president Trump economic and social policies citing their negative impact on the American people. She has publicly declared she will not run for any other political office and she is likely to dedicate her efforts to better the lives of Americans as a private citizen.
She has also authored and published several books on her life and notably the ‘What Happened’ which has been recently published detailing her perspective on why she lost the elections. Other notable publications she has made have sold millions of copies worldwide and she has occasionally been spotted in public events and delivered speeches.
In conclusion, many people have varied opinions of Rodham and her actions, decisions, and legacy in American political landscape. Her public service and political life are however unignorable and thus she has booked herself an indelible spot in history. Though she now lives in the shadow of her career, she has remained vibrant and visible in public to voice her opinions on various issues affecting The United States of America.