Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician, diplomat, lawyer, writer and public speaker.
Raised in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Clinton graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 and earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1973. After serving as a congressional legal counsel, she moved to Arkansas and married future president Bill Clinton in 1975; the two had met at Yale.She 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.
In 1997 and 1999, 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. Her marital relationship came under public scrutiny during the Lewinsky scandal, which led her to issue a statement that reaffirmed her commitment to the marriage.
During her Senate tenure, Clinton advocated for medical benefits for first responders whose health was damaged in the September 11 attacks. In 2008, Clinton ran for president but was defeated by eventual winner Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries.
Upon leaving her Cabinet position after Obama’s first term, she wrote her fifth book and undertook speaking engagements.
Following her loss, she wrote her third memoir, What Happened, and launched Onward Together, a political action organization dedicated to fundraising for progressive political groups.
