Hillary Clinton's Career in Politics
Hillary Clinton’s career in politics has been one of many firsts. In 2001, she became the first American first lady ever to win a public office when she was elected to the United States Senate. In 2009, she became the 67th United States secretary of state, serving in this position until 2013 (Clinton 50). But it was in 2016 that she would make her boldest move ever in politics and one never achieved by women before her. She became the first woman in United States history to vie for the presidency, becoming the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. But even with such a wonderful career, she has also faced some challenges, such as the Whitewater real estate project, and most recently, the email leaks. So, who is Hillary Clinton?
Early Life and Political Beginnings
Hillary Diane Clinton was born on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. Even as a young woman, she was involved in politics, heavily involved with the young Republican groups. In 1964, she campaigned for the then-Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, her first taste in active politics. She would later become a Democrat in 1968, a decision she took after listening to speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., the man who she says inspired her to public service (Clinton 134). As a student at Wellesley College, she became actively involved in student politics, and in 1969, she got her first political triumph by being elected senior class president. She later attended Yale Law School, where she would meet Bill Clinton. She graduated with honours in 1973, and eventually enrolled at Yale Child Study Center, taking courses on children and medicine.
Political Rise as First Lady
While a lot of people credit her success in politics to her husband, President Bill Clinton, it is clear that Hillary’s political ambitions were evident even before marrying Bill Clinton in 1975, and by 1971, she was already making inroads in Washington DC, the political capital of America. In 1971, she worked on the United States Senator Walter Mondale’s sub-committee on migrant workers. In 1974, she was a member of the presidential impeachment inquiry staff, responsible for advising the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives during the Watergate scandal (Bamberger 92). But it was her marriage to Bill Clinton that would position her as a promising politician. In 1977, she served as the part-time chairman of the Legal Service Corporation. During her stint as the first lady, a position she held for a dozen years, she served as the chairwoman of the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee. She also served on the boards of Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Wal-Mart, Arkansas Legal Services, TCBY, and the Children’s Defense Fund.
Views and Controversies
Some people in the political sphere have a different view on Hillary Clinton as a political leader, and firmly believe that she played an essential role in Bill Clinton’s election as the 42nd president of the United States. Apart from giving speeches and greeting voters, it is alleged that she was one of Clinton’s chief advisers. But it was her role as a committed wife that won the American public. Her appearance with Bill Clinton on '60 Minutes,' a television news program, instantly made her a household name. She played down Bill’s alleged sexual relationship with an Arkansas woman and instead chose to talk publicly about their marital problems, even daring those against her husband’s alleged infidelity not to vote for him if they did not like what they saw (Weed 120). However, some critics argue that Hillary was hungry for power and would do anything to achieve her political ambitions, which were somewhat intertwined with her husband’s success. She would repeat this trend during Bill’s presidency, publicly standing by him during the Lewinsky scandal. Her heavy involvement in her husband’s administration was also a show of her thirst for power and political ambitions. She made an unprecedented move as the first lady, appointing her staff and setting her own office in the west wing. She also headed the Task Force on National Health Care, which was one of Bill Clinton’s main legislative agendas. Bill Clinton’s remarks of 'two for the price of one' presidency also served as a hint of Hillary’s political ambitions.
Senate Career and Presidential Ambitions
Her first significant stab in elective politics would come in 1999 when she launched her candidacy for the United States Seat from New York. After a bitter campaign, accompanied with scandals and accusations, she defeated Rick Lazio by a considerable margin, showing everyone she was a brilliant strategist and fierce politician. Hillary was well aware of the political baggage the name Clinton carried and worked hard to distance herself from the name, which created an unreachable persona capable of hurting her ability to connect with voters. Establishing herself as 'Hillary' was a brilliant move, creating an aura of a regular person. She understood that by allowing people to use her first name, not only was she creating her own identity as a politician, but it created an underlying signal that there is not much between her and the ordinary people (Clinton 267). For the first time in American history, she showed that the ceremonial roles of the first lady's job could be merged with an active role in public service. She brilliantly used her clout as the first lady to establish a personal political power base.
Secretary of State and Presidential Campaign
Her win as the New York Senator introduced Hillary to the combative and aggressive politics at Capitol Hill. Her election to the Senate came at a time when the United States was fighting the war on terrorism. The September attacks on the World Trade Center briefly united the Democrats and Republicans, but would later be the cause of substantial political differences between the two parties. It was during this troubled time that she became a fierce critic of George W. Bush, particularly on his handling of the Iraqi war. She easily got re-elected to the Senate for a second term but would not finish the second term, having set her eyes on the presidency. Her first attempt to seek the Democratic Party's presidential nominations for 2008 was a failure. After fierce campaigns, she lost the nominations to Barack Obama, who went on to become the 44th president of the United States.
Her appointment as the Secretary of State by the Obama administration in 2009 saw Hillary make another step in her public service and political careers. She enjoyed a successful tenure as Secretary of State, widely praised for her efforts in improving U.S. foreign relationships. However, the revelation that she used her private e-mail address and server during her tenure, which raised security and government transparency questions, would prove costly during her next attempt at the presidency (Weed 263). After resigning in 2013, she made clear her intentions to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination for the second time. After facing fierce competition from other formidable candidates, such as Bernie Sanders, Hillary got the nomination and now had to face Donald Trump for the presidential elections.
2016 Presidential Election
The presidential election of 2016 was a promising one for the former first lady. She was facing a political outsider, Donald Trump, who was considered inexperienced. On the other hand, the majority saw Hillary as the safest bet for the presidency, having been in the political scene for a long time compared to her competitor. Her previous offices also served as a boost for Hillary. But it was her actions as Secretary of State that would later come back to haunt her. The private e-mail scandal investigation was underway during the campaigns, and the Trump campaign team used it to discredit Hillary Clinton. What followed was a dramatic decrease in her ratings and approvals, and suddenly, Trump, who was playing catch-up before, was showing constant poll improvements. Apart from the email scandal, there was the Benghazi attack that killed four U.S citizens, an attack that many critics blamed on Hillary, the then Secretary of State. Although she was cleared of any wrongdoing, the damage had already been done. The Republicans used this information to campaign against Hillary. There seemed to be no much effect on the voters, as she got the popular votes, marginally defeating Donald Trump. However, she trailed Trump in Electoral College votes, eventually losing the presidency to Trump (Weed 349). Following her defeat, Hillary took a laid-back approach in active politics preferring to remain behind the scenes. However, 2018 has seen her return to active politics, campaigning for Democratic candidates for the mid-term primaries together with Former President Obama. It is unclear whether she will run for the presidency again, but many believe she remains the best choice for the Democrats.
Works Cited
Bamberger, Joanne. Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox. She Writes Press, 2015.
Clinton, Hillary. Living History. Headline Publishing Group, 2012.
Doug, Weed. Game of Thorns: The Inside Story of Hillary Clinton’s Failed Campaign and
Donald Trump’s Winning Strategy. New York, Center Street, 2017.
