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Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton (born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from New York. She is married to Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, and was the First Lady from 1993 to 2001. Before that, she was a lawyer and the First Lady of Arkansas. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Departing from the traditional role of the First Lady, Clinton was directly involved in policy-making during her husband's presidency. She headed the task force that proposed the Clinton health care plan, which was not enacted by Congress, and initiated the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Her prominent role has been at times controversial, and generated debate on the changing status of women in America.
In 2000, Clinton was elected into the United States Senate to succeed Daniel Patrick Moynihan, becoming the only First Lady ever to run for public office and the first female senator to represent New York. She was re-elected in 2006. As senator, she sits on the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging. Although she has not stated her intentions, Clinton is widely seen as a potential candidate for president in the 2008 presidential election.
In 1998, the Clintons' relationship became the subject of much speculation and gossip after the Lewinsky scandal, when the President admitted to a sexual affair (short of sexual intercourse) with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. During the Lewinsky scandal, Clinton initially claimed that the allegations against her husband were the result of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".After the evidence of President Clinton's encounters with Lewinsky became incontrovertible, she remained resolute that their marriage was solid. Both Clintons' memoirs later revealed that the revelation of the affair was in reality a very painful time in their marriage.
For much of his political career, President Clinton was dogged by rumors of extramarital affairs. These rumors gained credibility following the Lewinsky scandal. In his memoirs, President Clinton confirmed a "relationship that I should not have had" with Gennifer Flowers, an Arkansas lounge singer.These revelations and rumors resulted in a mix of sympathy and scorn for the First Lady. While many women sympathized with her as a victim of her husband's insensitive behavior, others criticized her as being an enabler to her husband's indiscretions by showing no interest in obtaining a divorce. In her book Living History, Clinton explains that love is the reason she stays with her husband. "[N]o one understands me better and no one can make me laugh the way Bill does. Even after all these years, he is still the most interesting, energizing and fully alive person I have ever met. Bill and I started a conversation in the spring of 1971, and more than thirty years later we're still talking."
When President Clinton required immediate heart surgery in October 2004, Clinton, the junior senator of New York, canceled her public schedule to be at his side at the Columbia University Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Clinton announced in November 2004 that she would seek a second term in the Senate. No major Republican entered the race; the presumptive nominee, Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, dropped out in December 2005 after her campaign failed to gain traction. Clinton easily won a September 2006 Democratic primary against labor activist and anti-war candidate Jonathan Tasini, gaining 83% of the vote. Clinton's eventual Republican opponent was former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer; several third-party candidates were also running. Polls during the campaign generally showed Clinton with a 20-point lead or better over Spencer.
Clinton won the election on 7 November with 67% of the vote to Spencer's 31%, carrying all but 4 of New York's 62 counties.
Despite the lack of serious opposition, Clinton spent $36 million towards her re-election, well more than any other candidate for Senate in the 2006 election cycle; she received criticism from other Democrats after the election for lack of spending discipline and from potential supporters for not leaving more funds in the bank for a potential 2008 presidential bid. Clinton's organizations may have disbursed funds to aid other Democratic candidates during the 2006 campaign. However, as of 5 December 2006, campaign finance reports from government agencies have not yet been released to verify this theory. While Clinton's opponent, John Spencer, may have been deeply outspent, his campaign was still able to raise and expend a considerable sum of nearly $5 million. A typical major party candidate for the Senate will raise between $2 to $10 million; had Spencer faced another candidate, he likely would have been considered a serious contender for the seat.
Clinton has expressed interest in the 2008 United States presidential race. No woman has ever been nominated for President by a major party. Clinton's 2008 campaign has been the subject of media speculation for years.
Although not announced as a candidate, it is widely expected that she will be running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2008. Nationwide polls place her well ahead of other potential Democratic presidential candidates and most pundits, as of November 2006, consider her the presumptive frontrunner for the nomination. Speculation of a presidential bid and her senate profile helped place Clinton in the rankings for the world's most powerful people by Forbes magazine and Time magazine's Time 100.
Departing from the traditional role of the First Lady, Clinton was directly involved in policy-making during her husband's presidency. She headed the task force that proposed the Clinton health care plan, which was not enacted by Congress, and initiated the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Her prominent role has been at times controversial, and generated debate on the changing status of women in America.
In 2000, Clinton was elected into the United States Senate to succeed Daniel Patrick Moynihan, becoming the only First Lady ever to run for public office and the first female senator to represent New York. She was re-elected in 2006. As senator, she sits on the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging. Although she has not stated her intentions, Clinton is widely seen as a potential candidate for president in the 2008 presidential election.
In 1998, the Clintons' relationship became the subject of much speculation and gossip after the Lewinsky scandal, when the President admitted to a sexual affair (short of sexual intercourse) with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. During the Lewinsky scandal, Clinton initially claimed that the allegations against her husband were the result of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".After the evidence of President Clinton's encounters with Lewinsky became incontrovertible, she remained resolute that their marriage was solid. Both Clintons' memoirs later revealed that the revelation of the affair was in reality a very painful time in their marriage.
For much of his political career, President Clinton was dogged by rumors of extramarital affairs. These rumors gained credibility following the Lewinsky scandal. In his memoirs, President Clinton confirmed a "relationship that I should not have had" with Gennifer Flowers, an Arkansas lounge singer.These revelations and rumors resulted in a mix of sympathy and scorn for the First Lady. While many women sympathized with her as a victim of her husband's insensitive behavior, others criticized her as being an enabler to her husband's indiscretions by showing no interest in obtaining a divorce. In her book Living History, Clinton explains that love is the reason she stays with her husband. "[N]o one understands me better and no one can make me laugh the way Bill does. Even after all these years, he is still the most interesting, energizing and fully alive person I have ever met. Bill and I started a conversation in the spring of 1971, and more than thirty years later we're still talking."
When President Clinton required immediate heart surgery in October 2004, Clinton, the junior senator of New York, canceled her public schedule to be at his side at the Columbia University Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Clinton announced in November 2004 that she would seek a second term in the Senate. No major Republican entered the race; the presumptive nominee, Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, dropped out in December 2005 after her campaign failed to gain traction. Clinton easily won a September 2006 Democratic primary against labor activist and anti-war candidate Jonathan Tasini, gaining 83% of the vote. Clinton's eventual Republican opponent was former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer; several third-party candidates were also running. Polls during the campaign generally showed Clinton with a 20-point lead or better over Spencer.
Clinton won the election on 7 November with 67% of the vote to Spencer's 31%, carrying all but 4 of New York's 62 counties.
Despite the lack of serious opposition, Clinton spent $36 million towards her re-election, well more than any other candidate for Senate in the 2006 election cycle; she received criticism from other Democrats after the election for lack of spending discipline and from potential supporters for not leaving more funds in the bank for a potential 2008 presidential bid. Clinton's organizations may have disbursed funds to aid other Democratic candidates during the 2006 campaign. However, as of 5 December 2006, campaign finance reports from government agencies have not yet been released to verify this theory. While Clinton's opponent, John Spencer, may have been deeply outspent, his campaign was still able to raise and expend a considerable sum of nearly $5 million. A typical major party candidate for the Senate will raise between $2 to $10 million; had Spencer faced another candidate, he likely would have been considered a serious contender for the seat.
Clinton has expressed interest in the 2008 United States presidential race. No woman has ever been nominated for President by a major party. Clinton's 2008 campaign has been the subject of media speculation for years.
Although not announced as a candidate, it is widely expected that she will be running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2008. Nationwide polls place her well ahead of other potential Democratic presidential candidates and most pundits, as of November 2006, consider her the presumptive frontrunner for the nomination. Speculation of a presidential bid and her senate profile helped place Clinton in the rankings for the world's most powerful people by Forbes magazine and Time magazine's Time 100.
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