OLIVIA: Welcome back to People in the News. Today Ben will tell us about Hillary Clinton. She’s a former first lady of the United States, who could return to the White House.
BEN: That’s true, Olivia, but Hillary wouldn’t be living in the White House as first lady. She has her own political career, and right now she’s running for president. If she wins in 2016, she’ll be the first female president of the United States!
Hillary Rodham was born on October 26, 1947. She and her two younger brothers grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Her mother took care of the family while her father ran a drapery business. Hillary’s parents taught their children to work hard. Hillary learned this lesson well, succeeding at school and joining organizations like the Girl Scouts and a church youth group.
When Hillary was 12, she wanted to be an astronaut. So she wrote to NASA, the American space agency, to ask some questions about training. A NASA employee replied that women couldn’t be astronauts.
OLIVIA: What? Women couldn’t be astronauts? That’s unbelievable!
BEN: Young Hillary was pretty upset by this reply too! But Hillary’s mother—who’d never had the chance to go to college—often encouraged Hillary, telling her that she could do whatever she wanted to do. Mrs. Rodham was a constant source of inspiration to Hillary.
In 1962 Hillary went with her church youth group to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak. He was a civil rights activist, and his speech sparked Hillary’s own interest in social justice. She developed strong opinions about civil rights.
Hillary attended Wellesley College, a women’s college. Her intelligence and commitment to civil rights impressed many people there. She made history as the first student to give a speech at graduation. Hillary spoke after a U.S. senator addressed the crowd. The next day a newspaper reported that the 21-year-old had completely upstaged the senator!
After college Hillary went to law school at Yale University. She was one of a small number of women in the class. At Yale she developed a strong interest in children’s rights, taking on cases related to child abuse. She also volunteered at an agency that helps poor people with legal issues.
While she was a law student, Hillary met Bill Clinton. She had noticed Bill around campus, and one day she decided to introduce herself. Like Hillary, Bill was very interested in social justice.
When Bill and Hillary graduated in 1973, Bill moved back to Arkansas, where he’d grown up. Hillary went to work for the Children’s Defense Fund in another state about 1,500 miles away. The next year Hillary joined Bill. They both taught at the University of Arkansas law school; Hillary had a reputation for being a tougher professor than Bill!
Hillary and Bill married in 1975. The next year she joined a law firm, and in 1978 Bill was elected governor of Arkansas. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980.
OLIVIA: That must have been a happy time for Hillary.
BEN: Amazingly, she received a lot of criticism for being too independent. Some people were upset that she hadn’t taken Bill’s last name when they married. Hillary was also criticized for returning to work after she had a baby. And then there was the matter of her appearance. Hillary wore big glasses and didn’t care about fashion. When Bill lost his 1980 campaign for reelection, some people actually blamed Hillary!
By the time Bill decided to run for governor again in 1982, Hillary was wearing contact lenses and more fashionable clothes. She was now known as Hillary Rodham Clinton.
This time Bill won the election, and he continued to serve as governor until 1992. Meanwhile Hillary was named one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America." When Bill appointed her chairman of a state-wide education committee, he was criticized for giving the job to his wife. But other people admired Hillary’s focus on children’s rights and her intelligent arguments for improving public schools.
Bill ran for president of the United States in 1992. Hillary played a far more active role in his campaign than most candidates’ wives. In fact, she was one of his chief advisers!
Soon after Bill was elected president, he named Hillary to head a committee studying health care reform. The Clintons were concerned because many Americans were unable to afford health care.
Once again Bill was criticized for giving his wife a job. Hillary and her committee worked hard and developed an ambitious plan. But from the start, the plan didn’t have many supporters. It was seen as too complicated and expensive, and it was never adopted by the government.
Bill was reelected in 1996, but his second term proved difficult. The Clintons’ finances and ethics were being investigated. No charges were filed against them but another scandal broke out when Bill was accused of lying about a romance with a White House intern. The scandal threatened to ruin his political career, and it was a difficult time for the Clintons.
Before Bill’s term ended, Hillary decided to launch her own political career by running for Senate. No first lady had ever done anything like that! She won that election and was reelected in 2006. As a senator she continued to fight for women and children. In 2008 she ran for president of the United States, but Barack Obama wound up winning.
After he was elected, President Obama decided to overlook their political rivalry. He appointed Hillary secretary of state—that’s an important official in charge of foreign affairs. She served in this position for four years, and traveled to 112 countries, the most of any secretary of state.
In 2015 she took on another huge challenge, announcing that she would once again run for president.
OLIVIA: Hillary Clinton has certainly led an interesting life, Ben. It’ll be fascinating to see whether she’s elected president in 2016.
See you next time, Little Fox readers!