Hillary Clinton

Synopsis: Hillary Clinton was born on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. She has a law degree from Yale University and married Bill Clinton in 1975. After her husband became president, she served as first lady from 1993 to 2001. She became a U.S. senator in 2001 and secretary of state in 2009. In 2016, she became the first woman in U.S. history to be chosen by a major political party as its candidate for president.

Background

Hillary Clinton was born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were Hugh Rodham and Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham. Her father was a wealthy fabric store owner.

As a young woman, Clinton was active in Republican groups. Republicans and Democrats are the two major political parties, or groups, in the United States. She was inspired to work in public service after hearing a speech by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. She became a Democrat in 1968.

Education And Early Career

Hillary Clinton attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She was was elected senior class president. She then attended Yale Law School in Connecticut, where she met Bill Clinton. She graduated with honors in 1973.

Hillary Clinton taught at University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Her Yale Law School classmate and boyfriend, Bill Clinton, also taught there.

Marriage To Bill Clinton

Hillary Clinton married Bill Clinton on October 11, 1975. In 1980 they had a daughter who they named Chelsea.

In 1976, Hillary Clinton worked on Jimmy Carter's campaign for president. Her husband was elected attorney general, the top lawyer for the state of Arkansas. Bill Clinton then became governor of Arkansas in 1978 at age 32.

Hillary Clinton worked as a lawyer in Little Rock, the capitol of Arkansas. In 1988 and 1991, The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in America.

First Lady

Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992 and was elected. Hillary Clinton was an important part of his campaign. As president, he named her to head the Task Force on National Health Reform. It came up with a complicated plan that was never used.

Senate Win And Presidential Run

In 2001, Clinton became a U.S. senator from New York. She was the first wife of a president to be elected to a public office. She won reelection in November 2006.

In early 2007, Clinton announced her plans to be the first female president. In 2008, Clinton dropped out of the race when it became clear that Barack Obama would be the Democratic choice for president.

U.S. Secretary Of State

After he was elected, Obama named Clinton secretary of state. In this role, Clinton traveled around the world. She emphasized women's rights and human rights.

As secretary of state, Clinton was in charge of the the State Department. In 2012, an attack in Benghazi, Libya, killed U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens. A committee investigated the attack and found many problems at the State Department.

Clinton left her position on February 1, 2013. She had previously said she only wanted to serve one term.

Campaign Issues

In 2015, Clinton announced that she would once again run for president. 

On her campaign site, Clinton talks about many issues that are important to her. She wants to lower student debt, the amount of money students owe for their college education. She wants to improve health care. Women's rights are also important to her.

In the past, Clinton has changed her positions on some issues. Some people think she changes her mind too much. For example, she used to be against gay marriage, but now she supports it. She has changed her mind about the rules for how we should trade goods with other countries. She is also in favor of the death penalty but says it should only be used in rare cases.

Email Scandal

In 2015, it came out that Clinton had used her personal email account for official government business while she was secretary of state. The FBI investigated this. The next year, the FBI said that Clinton should not be charged with a crime. The director said that she and her staff members were "extremely careless" in handling secret information, though.

Making History

In July 2016, Clinton became the Democratic candidate for president. It was a historic achievement for women in the U.S. Clinton is the first woman in the 240-year history of the country to be chosen as the presidential candidate for a major political party.