189 Facts About Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was born on October 26,1947 and is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States secretary of state under president Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as the first lady of the United States as the wife of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001.

In 1977, Hillary Clinton co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

Hillary Clinton was appointed the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978 and became the first female partner at Little Rock's Rose Law Firm the following year.

Hillary Clinton was the First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992.

In 1997 and 1999, Hillary Clinton played a leading role in advocating the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act.

Hillary Clinton advocated for gender equality at the 1995 UN conference on women.

In 2000, Hillary Clinton was elected as the first female senator from New York and became the first First lady to simultaneously hold elected office, and then the first former First lady to serve in the Senate.

Hillary Clinton was re-elected in 2006 and chaired the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee from 2003 to 2007.

Hillary Clinton supported the resolution authorizing the Iraq War in 2002, but opposed the surge of US troops in 2007.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton ran for president but was defeated by eventual winner Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries.

Hillary Clinton was US Secretary of State in the first term of the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013.

Hillary Clinton responded to the Arab Spring by advocating military intervention in Libya but was harshly criticized by Republicans for the failure to prevent or adequately respond to the 2012 Benghazi attack.

Hillary Clinton helped to organize a diplomatic isolation and a regime of international sanctions against Iran in an effort to force it to curtail its nuclear program; this effort eventually led to the multinational JCPOA nuclear agreement in 2015.

Hillary Clinton made a second presidential run in 2016, winning the Democratic nomination, and ran in the general election with Virginia senator Tim Kaine as her running mate.

Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election to Republican opponent Donald Trump in the Electoral College, despite winning the popular vote by close to 3 million votes.

Hillary Clinton Diane Rodham was born on October 26,1947, at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

Hillary Clinton was raised in a Methodist family who first lived in Chicago.

Hillary Clinton's mother, Dorothy Howell, was a homemaker of Dutch, English, French Canadian, Scottish, and Welsh descent.

Hillary Clinton participated in swimming and softball and earned numerous badges as a Brownie and a Girl Scout.

Hillary Clinton was inspired by US efforts during the Space Race and sent a letter to NASA around 1961 asking what she could do to become an astronaut, only to be informed that women were not being accepted into the program.

Hillary Clinton attended Maine East High School, where she participated in the student council and school newspaper and was selected for the National Honor Society.

Hillary Clinton was elected class vice president for her junior year but then lost the election for class president for her senior year against two boys, one of whom told her that "you are really stupid if you think a girl can be elected president".

Hillary Clinton was raised in a politically conservative household, and she helped canvass Chicago's South Side at age 13 after the very close 1960 US presidential election.

Hillary Clinton stated that, investigating with a fellow teenage friend shortly after the election, she saw evidence of electoral fraud against Republican candidate Richard Nixon; she later volunteered to campaign for Republican candidate Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election.

In 2003, Hillary Clinton would write that her views concerning the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War were changing in her early college years.

Hillary Clinton's address followed that of the commencement speaker, Senator Edward Brooke.

Hillary Clinton was featured in an article published in Life magazine, because of the response to a part of her speech that criticized Senator Brooke.

Hillary Clinton appeared on Irv Kupcinet's nationally syndicated television talk show as well as in Illinois and New England newspapers.

Hillary Clinton was asked to speak at the 50th anniversary convention of the League of Women Voters in Washington, DC, the next year.

Hillary Clinton canceled his original summer plans and moved to live with her in California; the couple continued living together in New Haven when they returned to law school.

Hillary Clinton received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale in 1973, having stayed on an extra year to be with Clinton.

Hillary Clinton first proposed marriage to her following graduation, but she declined, uncertain if she wanted to tie her future to his.

Meanwhile, boyfriend Bill Hillary Clinton had repeatedly asked Rodham to marry him, but she continued to demur.

Hillary Clinton thus followed Clinton to Arkansas, rather than staying in Washington, where career prospects were brighter.

Hillary Clinton was then teaching law and running for a seat in the US House of Representatives in his home state.

In 1974, Bill Hillary Clinton lost an Arkansas congressional race, facing incumbent Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt.

Rodham and Bill Hillary Clinton bought a house in Fayetteville in the summer of 1975 and she agreed to marry him.

Hillary Clinton wanted to keep the couple's professional lives separate, avoid apparent conflicts of interest, and as she told a friend at the time, "it showed that I was still me".

In November 1976, Bill Hillary Clinton was elected Arkansas attorney general, and the couple moved to the state capital of Little Rock.

Hillary Clinton specialized in patent infringement and intellectual property law while working pro bono in child advocacy.

Hillary Clinton held that position from 1978 until the end of 1981.

Hillary Clinton would hold that title for twelve nonconsecutive years.

Hillary Clinton appointed his wife to be the chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee the same year, in which role she secured federal funds to expand medical facilities in Arkansas's poorest areas without affecting doctors' fees.

In November 1980, Bill Hillary Clinton was defeated in his bid for re-election.

Two years after leaving office, Bill Hillary Clinton returned to the governorship of Arkansas after winning the election of 1982.

Hillary Clinton was named chair of the Arkansas Education Standards Committee in 1983, where worked to reform the state's public education system.

Hillary Clinton continued to practice law with the Rose Law Firm while she was the first lady of Arkansas.

Hillary Clinton was very influential in the appointment of state judges.

From 1982 to 1988, Hillary Clinton was on the board of directors, sometimes as chair, of the New World Foundation, which funded a variety of New Left interest groups.

Hillary Clinton was chairman of the board of the Children's Defense Fund and on the board of the Arkansas Children's Hospital's Legal Services In addition to her positions with nonprofit organizations, she held positions on the corporate board of directors of TCBY, Wal-Mart Stores and Lafarge.

Hillary Clinton was the first female member on Wal-Mart's board, added following pressure on chairman Sam Walton to name a woman to it.

Hillary Clinton was largely unsuccessful in her campaign for more women to be added to the company's management and was silent about the company's famously anti-labor union practices.

Hillary Clinton received sustained national attention for the first time when her husband became a candidate for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination.

Hillary Clinton was the first in this role to have a postgraduate degree and her own professional career up to the time of entering the White House.

Hillary Clinton was the first to have an office in the West Wing of the White House in addition to the usual first lady offices in the East Wing.

Hillary Clinton's choices filled at least eleven top-level positions and dozens more lower-level ones.

Hillary Clinton later acknowledged in her memoir that her political inexperience partly contributed to the defeat but cited many other factors.

Hillary Clinton participated in campaigns to promote the enrollment of children in the program after it took effect.

Together with Attorney General Janet Reno, Hillary Clinton helped create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice.

Hillary Clinton did not hold a security clearance or attend National Security Council meetings, but played a role in US diplomacy attaining its objectives.

Hillary Clinton declared, "it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights".

In delivering these remarks, Hillary Clinton resisted both internal administration and Chinese pressure to soften her remarks.

Hillary Clinton helped create Vital Voices, an international initiative sponsored by the US to encourage the participation of women in the political processes of their countries.

Hillary Clinton was a subject of several investigations by the United States Office of the Independent Counsel, committees of the US Congress, and the press.

Some in the press had alleged that Hillary Clinton had engaged in a conflict of interest and disguised a bribery.

Accusations were made that Hillary Clinton had requested these files and she had recommended hiring an unqualified individual to head the White House Security Office.

The 2000 final Independent Counsel report found no substantial or credible evidence that Hillary Clinton had any role or showed any misconduct in the matter.

In 1996, Hillary Clinton presented a vision for American children in the book It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us.

Hillary Clinton received the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 1997 for the book's audio recording.

Hillary Clinton published a weekly syndicated newspaper column titled "Talking It Over" from 1995 to 2000.

Hillary Clinton characterized the Lewinsky charges as the latest in a long, organized, collaborative series of charges by Bill's political enemies rather than any wrongdoing by her husband.

Hillary Clinton later said she had been misled by her husband's initial claims that no affair had taken place.

Hillary Clinton was the founding chair of Save America's Treasures, a nationwide effort matching federal funds with private donations to preserve and restore historic items and sites.

Hillary Clinton was the head of the White House Millennium Council and hosted Millennium Evenings, a series of lectures that discussed futures studies, one of which became the first live simultaneous webcast from the White House.

Hillary Clinton created the first White House Sculpture Garden, located in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden.

When New York's long-serving US senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan announced his retirement in November 1998, several prominent Democratic figures, including Representative Charles Rangel of New York, urged Hillary Clinton to run for his open seat in the Senate election of 2000.

Hillary Clinton became the first wife of the president of the United States to be a candidate for elected office.

Hillary Clinton then faced Rick Lazio, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives who represented New York's 2nd congressional district.

Hillary Clinton began her drive to the US Senate by visiting all 62 counties in the state, in a "listening tour" of small-group settings.

Hillary Clinton devoted considerable time in traditionally Republican Upstate New York regions.

Hillary Clinton's plan included tax credits to reward job creation and encourage business investment, especially in the high-tech sector.

Hillary Clinton called for personal tax cuts for college tuition and long-term care.

Hillary Clinton maintained a low public profile and built relationships with senators from both parties when she started her term.

Hillary Clinton forged alliances with religiously inclined senators by becoming a regular participant in the Senate Prayer Breakfast.

Hillary Clinton sat on five Senate committees: Committee on Budget, Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Environment and Public Works, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Special Committee on Aging.

Hillary Clinton was a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Hillary Clinton voted for the USA Patriot Act in October 2001.

Hillary Clinton strongly supported the 2001 US military action in Afghanistan, saying it was a chance to combat terrorism while improving the lives of Afghan women who suffered under the Taliban government.

In late 2005, Hillary Clinton said that while immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake, Bush's pledge to stay "until the job is done" was misguided, as it gave Iraqis "an open-ended invitation not to take care of themselves".

Hillary Clinton's stance caused frustration among those in the Democratic Party who favored quick withdrawal.

Hillary Clinton supported retaining and improving health benefits for reservists and lobbied against the closure of several military bases, especially those in New York.

Hillary Clinton used her position on the Armed Services Committee to forge close relationships with a number of high-ranking military officers.

Hillary Clinton voted against President Bush's two major tax cut packages, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.

Hillary Clinton's audio recording of the book earned her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Hillary Clinton voted against the 2005 confirmation of John Roberts as chief justice of the United States and the 2006 confirmation of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court, filibustering the latter.

In 2004 and 2006, Hillary Clinton voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment that sought to prohibit same-sex marriage.

In November 2004, Hillary Clinton announced she would seek a second Senate term.

Hillary Clinton easily won the Democratic nomination over opposition from antiwar activist Jonathan Tasini.

Hillary Clinton opposed the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, for both military and domestic political reasons.

In March 2007, in response to the dismissal of US attorneys controversy, Hillary Clinton called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign.

Hillary Clinton had been preparing for a potential candidacy for US president since at least early 2003.

When Bill Clinton became president in 1993, a blind trust was established; in April 2007, the Clintons liquidated the blind trust to avoid the possibility of ethical conflicts or political embarrassments as Hillary undertook her presidential race.

Several remarks by Bill Clinton and other surrogates, and a remark by Hillary Clinton concerning Martin Luther King Jr.

The South Carolina campaign had done lasting damage to Hillary Clinton, eroding her support among the Democratic establishment and leading to the prized endorsement of Obama by Ted Kennedy.

On Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton won the largest states, such as California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, while Obama won more states; they almost evenly split the total popular vote.

The Hillary Clinton campaign had counted on winning the nomination by Super Tuesday and was unprepared financially and logistically for a prolonged effort; lagging in Internet fundraising as Hillary Clinton began loaning money to her campaign.

Obama did well in primaries where African Americans or younger, college-educated, or more affluent voters were heavily represented; Hillary Clinton did well in primaries where Hispanics or older, non-college-educated, or working-class white voters predominated.

Hillary Clinton was the first woman to run in the primary or caucus of every state and she eclipsed, by a very wide margin, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm's 1972 marks for most votes garnered and delegates won by a woman.

Hillary Clinton gave a passionate speech supporting Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and campaigned frequently for him in fall 2008, which concluded with his victory over McCain in the general election on November 4.

In mid-November 2008, President-elect Obama and Hillary Clinton discussed the possibility of her serving as secretary of state in his administration.

Hillary Clinton said she did not want to leave the Senate, but that the new position represented a "difficult and exciting adventure".

Hillary Clinton took the oath of office of secretary of state, resigning from the Senate later that day.

Hillary Clinton became the first former first lady to be a member of the United States Cabinet.

Hillary Clinton was regarded to be a team player within the Obama administration.

Hillary Clinton was considered a defender of the administration to the public.

Hillary Clinton was regarded to be cautious to prevent herself or her husband from upstaging the president.

Obama and Hillary Clinton both approached foreign policy as a largely non-ideological, pragmatic exercise.

Hillary Clinton met with Obama weekly, but did not have the close, daily relationship that some of her predecessors had had with their presidents.

Hillary Clinton formed an alliance with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates with whom she shared similar strategic outlooks.

Hillary Clinton advocated an expanded role in global economic issues for the State Department, and cited the need for an increased US diplomatic presence, especially in Iraq where the Defense Department had conducted diplomatic missions.

Hillary Clinton announced the most ambitious of her departmental reforms, the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, which establishes specific objectives for the State Department's diplomatic missions abroad; it was modeled after a similar process in the Defense Department that she was familiar with from her time on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

One cause that Hillary Clinton promoted throughout her tenure was the adoption of cookstoves in the developing world, to foster cleaner and more environmentally sound food preparation and reduce smoke dangers to women.

Hillary Clinton prevailed over Vice President Joe Biden's opposition but eventually supported Obama's compromise plan to send an additional 30,000 troops and tie the surge to a timetable for eventual withdrawal.

In March 2009, Hillary Clinton presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with a "reset button" symbolizing US attempts to rebuild ties with that country under its new president, Dmitry Medvedev.

Secretary Hillary Clinton testified to Congress that the administration did not need congressional authorization for its military intervention in Libya, despite objections from some members of both parties that the administration was violating the War Powers Resolution.

Hillary Clinton later used US allies and what she called "convening power" to promote unity among the Libyan rebels as they eventually overthrew the Gaddafi regime.

Hillary Clinton met with Burmese leaders as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and sought to support the 2011 Burmese democratic reforms.

Hillary Clinton said the 21st century would be "America's Pacific century", a declaration that was part of the Obama administration's "pivot to Asia".

In December 2012, Hillary Clinton was hospitalized for a few days for treatment of a blood clot in her right transverse venous sinus.

Hillary Clinton's doctors had discovered the clot during a follow-up examination for a concussion she had sustained when she fainted and fell nearly three weeks earlier, as a result of severe dehydration from a viral intestinal ailment acquired during a trip to Europe.

Hillary Clinton greatly expanded the State Department's use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to get its message out and to help empower citizens of foreign countries vis-a-vis their governments.

Hillary Clinton has been criticized for accepting millions in dollars in donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation during her tenure as Secretary of State.

Hillary Clinton said she accepted the conclusions of the report and that changes were underway to implement its suggested recommendations.

Hillary Clinton gave testimony to two congressional foreign affairs committees on January 23,2013, regarding the Benghazi attack.

Hillary Clinton defended her actions in response to the incident, and while still accepting formal responsibility, said she had had no direct role in specific discussions beforehand regarding consulate security.

On October 22,2015, Hillary Clinton testified at an all-day and nighttime session before the committee.

Hillary Clinton was widely seen as emerging largely unscathed from the hearing, because of what the media perceived as a calm and unfazed demeanor and a lengthy, meandering, repetitive line of questioning from the committee.

Hillary Clinton had said over a period of months that she kept no classified information on the private server that she set up in her house.

The New York Times reported in February 2016 that nearly 2,100 emails stored on Hillary Clinton's server were retroactively marked classified by the State Department.

Hillary Clinton maintained she did not send or receive any emails from her personal server that were confidential at the time they were sent.

Hillary Clinton said it was possible Clinton was not "technically sophisticated" enough to understand what the three classified markings meant.

The probe found Hillary Clinton used her personal email extensively while outside the United States, both sending and receiving work-related emails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries.

Hillary Clinton added that "[although] we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information".

When Hillary Clinton left the State Department, she returned to private life for the first time in thirty years.

In 2014, Hillary Clinton published a second memoir, Hard Choices, which focused on her time as secretary of state.

However, even though the Hillary Clinton Foundation had stopped taking donations from foreign governments, they continued to take large donations from foreign citizens who were sometimes linked to their governments.

Hillary Clinton began work on another volume of memoirs and made appearances on the paid speaking circuit.

Hillary Clinton made some unpaid speeches on behalf of the foundation.

Hillary Clinton resigned from the board of the Hillary Clinton Foundation in April 2015, when she began her presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton had a campaign-in-waiting already in place, including a large donor network, experienced operatives and the Ready for Hillary and Priorities USA Action political action committees and other infrastructure.

Hillary Clinton's campaign focused on: raising middle class incomes, establishing universal preschool, making college more affordable and improving the Affordable Care Act.

Hillary Clinton opened up a significant lead in pledged delegates over Sanders.

Hillary Clinton maintained this delegate lead across subsequent contests during the primary season, with a consistent pattern throughout.

Hillary Clinton did better among older, black and Hispanic voter populations, and in states that held primaries or where eligibility was restricted to registered Democrats.

Hillary Clinton was formally nominated at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 26,2016, becoming the first woman to be nominated for president by a major US political party.

Around the time of the convention, WikiLeaks released emails that suggested the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign tilted the primary in Hillary Clinton's favor.

Hillary Clinton held a significant lead in national polls over Trump throughout most of 2016.

FBI Director James Comey concluded Hillary Clinton had been "extremely careless" in her handling of classified government material.

Hillary Clinton was defeated by Donald Trump in the November 8,2016, presidential election.

Hillary Clinton then phoned Trump to concede and to congratulate him on his victory, whereupon Trump gave his victory speech.

Hillary Clinton is the fifth presidential candidate in US history to win the popular vote but lose the election.

Hillary Clinton won the most votes of any candidate who did not take office and the third-most votes of any candidate in history, though she did not have the greatest percentage win of a losing candidate.

On December 19,2016, when electors formally voted, Hillary Clinton lost five of her initial 232 votes due to faithless electors, with three of her Washington votes being cast instead for Colin Powell, one being cast for Faith Spotted Eagle, and one in Hawaii being cast for Bernie Sanders.

Hillary Clinton delivered a St Patrick's Day speech in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on March 17,2017.

Hillary Clinton reiterated her comments in March 2019 and stated she would not run for president in 2020.

In May 2017, Hillary Clinton announced the formation of Onward Together, a new political action committee that she wrote is "dedicated to advancing the progressive vision that earned nearly 66 million votes in the last election".

Hillary Clinton had worked on it with Frazee during her 2016 presidential election campaign.

Hillary Clinton has been involved in a number of media ventures.

On September 29,2020, Hillary Clinton launched an interview podcast in collaboration with iHeartRadio titled You and Me Both.

Hillary Clinton has produced television series, so far being a producer on the Apple TV+ series Gutsy and the upcoming The CW adaption of The Woman's Hour.

On January 2,2020, it was announced that Hillary Clinton would take up the position of Chancellor at Queen's University Belfast.

In January 2023, Columbia University announced that Hillary Clinton would join the university as professor of practice at the School of International and Public Affairs and as a presidential fellow at Columbia World Projects.

In March 2016, Hillary Clinton laid out a detailed economic plan, which The New York Times called "optimistic" and "wide-ranging".

Hillary Clinton supported "equal pay for equal work", to address current shortfalls in how much women are paid to do the same jobs men do.

Hillary Clinton has explicitly focused on family issues and supports universal preschool.

Hillary Clinton supported the Affordable Care Act and would have added a "public option" that competed with private insurers and enabled people "50 or 55 and up" to buy into Medicare.

On foreign affairs, Hillary Clinton voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in October 2002, a vote she later "regretted".

Hillary Clinton favored arming Syria's rebel fighters in 2012 and has called for the removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Hillary Clinton supported the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the NATO-led military intervention in Libya to oust former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Hillary Clinton is in favor of maintaining American influence in the Middle East.

Hillary Clinton has been a lifelong Methodist, and has been part of United Methodist Church congregations throughout her life.

Hillary Clinton has publicly discussed her Christian faith on several occasions, although seldom while campaigning.

Books praising Hillary Clinton did not sell nearly as well.

Hillary Clinton has been featured in the media and popular culture in a wide spectrum of perspectives.

Hillary Clinton has made guest appearances on the show herself, in 2008 and in 2015, to face-off with her doppelgangers.

Hillary Clinton has often been described in the popular media as a polarizing figure, though some argue otherwise.

Once she became secretary of state, Hillary Clinton's image seemed to improve dramatically among the American public and become one of a respected world figure.

In September 2022, Hillary Clinton discussed the evolution of her trademark pantsuits.

Hillary Clinton noted that she began wearing them because of "suggestive" photos taken during a trip to Brazil in 1995 that showed her underwear when she was seated that ended up being used in an ad for lingerie company DuLoren.