Who is she: Hillary Rodham Clinton is the 67th US Secretary of State and prior to this, from 2001 to 2009 she was a Democratic senator from New York. Hillary Clinton was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 until 2000 and is the wife of former US President Bill Clinton. The Clinton Health Care Plan, which she proposed in 1994 and sponsored while First Lady, was defeated by Congress.
Hillary Clinton served as a Democratic senator from New York from 2001 until she ran for president in the 2008 Democratic primaries where Clinton was ultimately defeated by Barack Obama. Some political experts suggest she might eventually run again for the Democratic presidential nomination, which is possible, although like most presidential aspirants, Hillary Clinton claims to have no interest in the nomination.
Background: Hillary Diane Rodham was born on October 26, 1947 in Illinois. During her school years, Clinton was somewhat involved in politics and in particular the 1964 campaign of Barry Goldwater. In 1965 Clinton began her college career at Wellesley College, graduating in 1969 with a degree in political science. Hillary Clinton's senior thesis was written about radical organizer, Saul Alinsky. By this time Clinton had obviously left the conservative Republican views of her family and youth for a more progressive and liberal view of politics and social action. Decades later, when Clinton was First Lady, access to the thesis was restricted.
Hillary Clinton was the first student commencement speaker at her college and attracted national media attention with her address, for which applause lasted over seven minutes. Clinton's speech also resulted in national news coverage in Life magazine. In 1973 Hillary Clinton graduated from Yale Law School and began working as a congressional legal counsel.
In 1975, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham were married and they definitely were a true power couple when it came to politics. Hillary Clinton already had her own personal Democratic political consultant named Betsey Wright, who she had met in Texas. Wright followed Clinton back to DC and then to Arkansas. Hillary had already attracted some top insiders who thought she had a political future and were willing to spend the time and money to get her started – not to mention provide her with the necessary connections to become a senator or even the US president some day in the future.
Although Hillary Clinton was the one initially with the powerful connections, Bill with his Rhodes scholarship to University College at Oxford helped make them a team destined for high positions and elected office. Arkansas had long been under control of the Anglo-American Axis and the political system was run as a dynasty by an ardent one-worlder, Senator William J. Fulbright and Winthrop Rockefeller. This was the perfect place to get the power couple started on their race to the top.
Of course, they had to work and campaign hard but when cash was needed, things just seemed to happen for them. Hillary Clinton joined the Rose Law Firm with a good salary. Bill was elected governor of Arkansas. Whitewater and Bill's many whispered affairs caused problems but Hillary Clinton nonetheless became quite an investment success.
When Bill Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination and White House win he became a press favorite. They often referred to him as Teflon Bill because scandals seemed to just roll off his back. Of course, he was a press favorite because the media establishment supported his candidacy for President of the US. In hindsight, this probably helped to create his belief in invincibility; problems seemed to just die or disappear when he was involved.
As Senator and now Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has represented monied interests fairly well. Clinton has been instrumental in using her influence and powers of persuasion to get Washington involved in a new Middle East war in Libya, for instance. Clinton claims she wants to retire and become a grandmother but given what Hillary has accomplished and her considerable ambitions, many find this hard to believe.