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Hillary Clinton biography

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When Hillary Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2001, she became the only American first lady to hold national office. She became the 67th U.S. secretary of state in 2009, serving until 2013.

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Hillary joined the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock and, in 1977, was appointed to part-time chairman of the Legal Services Corporation by President Carter. As first lady of Arkansas for a dozen years (1979-1981, 1983-1992), she chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital,

Legal Services and the Children's Defense Fund. She also served on the boards of TCBY and Wal-Mart.

In 1988 and 1991, The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in America.

First Lady

During Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary emerged as a dynamic and valued partner of her husband, and as president he named her to head the Task Force on National Health Reform (1993). The controversial commission produced a complicated plan which never came to the floor of either house. It was abandoned in September 1994.

During this period, she and her husband invested in the Whitewater real estate project. The project's bank, Morgan Guaranty Savings and Loan failed, costing the federal government $73 million. Whitewater later became the subject of congressional hearings and an independent counsel investigation.

In 1998, the White House was engulfed in the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. Though she publicly supported her husband, Mrs. Clinton reportedly considered leaving her marriage. He was impeached, but the U.S. Senate failed to convict and he remained in office.

Running for the Presidency

With her husband limited to two terms in the White House, Mrs. Clinton decided she would seek the U.S. Senate seat from New York held by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He was retiring after four terms. Despite early problems, and charges of carpet bagging, Clinton beat popular Republican Rick Lazio by a surprisingly wide margin: 55 percent to 43 percent. Clinton became the first wife of a president to seek and win national office and the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. She easily won re-election in November 2006.

In early 2007, Hillary Clinton announced her plans to strive for another first—to be the first female president. During the 2008 Democratic primaries, Senator Clinton conceded her nomination when it became apparent that nominee Barack Obama held a majority of the delegate vote.

U.S. Secretary of State

Shortly after winning the U.S. presidential election, Barack Obama nominated Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. She accepted the nomination, and was officially approved as the 67th U.S. secretary of state by the Senate on January 21, 2009.

During her term as secretary of state, Clinton used her position to make women's rights and human rights a central talking point of U.S. initiatives. She became one of the most traveled secretaries of State in American history, and promoted the use of social media to convey the country's positions. She also led U.S. diplomatic efforts in responding to the Arab Spring and military intervention in Libya.

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