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Subscribe to RSSPerhaps no person in America better reflects the possibility and peril of a life lived in the public eye than Hillary Rodham Clinton.
From lashing out at a “vast right-wing conspiracy” when news of her husband’s infidelity emerged to finding her “own voice” after a teary answer to a voter’s question on the campaign trail, Clinton has never failed to confound her critics and inspire her fans.
As Clinton’s final day at the State Department closes the latest chapter of her public life, here is a look at 15 key moments -- from the 1960s through today.
First big speech: Hillary Diane Rodham gives the commencement address at Wellesley College in Massachusetts in May 1969. It establishes her not just as respected but as outspoken: She criticizes a previous speaker, Massachusetts Sen. Edward Brooke, and suggests that he is out of touch with the action her generation craves. Weeks later, she is featured in Life magazine as a shining example of the Class of ’69.
William J. Clinton Presidential Library
Meeting her match: At Yale Law School, Hillary Rodham meets Bill Clinton. She would write later that the attraction was immediate, and that they shared an intellectual bond that never broke: "Bill Clinton and I started a conversation in the spring of 1971," she wrote in the memoir, "and more than 30 years later, we're still talking."
AP
‘If that's not enough ... don’t vote for him': Bill and Hillary Clinton go on “60 Minutes” in January 1992, in an interview that airs immediately after the Super Bowl, to deny that he had had a 12-year affair with an Arkansas state employee, Gennifer Flowers. In the interview, Hillary Clinton says: “You know, I'm not sitting here — some little woman standin’ by my man like Tammy Wynette. I'm sitting here because I love him, and I respect him, and I honor what he's been through and what we've been through together. And you know, if that's not enough for people, then heck, don't vote for him.” The couple are pictured with “60 Minutes” executive producer Don Hewitt.
Paul J. Richards / AFP - Getty Images
Health-care advocate: As first lady, Hillary Clinton leads a presidential effort in 1993 and 1994 to reform health care, a policy role unprecedented for a first lady. The plan ultimately aims for universal coverage by requiring employers to provide health care. But some Republicans, and notably the insurance industry, attack the plan as hopelessly bogged down in bureaucracy, and it dies in Congress. The defeat is a huge setback for a woman who aspired to be a non-traditional first lady but who opponents feared had designs on being a co-president.
Doug Mills / AP
Making her mark: In September 1995, Clinton goes to a U.N. conference in Beijing and delivers a forceful critique of abuse of women in China, using language that would be considered strong for any American leader but particularly out of the ordinary for a first lady. She declares: “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.”
Conspiracy theory: In January 1998, just after allegations surface of a presidential affair with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky, Hillary Clinton goes on TODAY and dismisses the matter as a "feeding frenzy." She stresses that the president has denied the suggestions of an affair. She goes on to tell Matt Lauer: “The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.”
Luke Frazza / AFP - Getty Images
Between the two of them: The Clintons, with daughter Chelsea famously clutching their hands, leave the White House for a two-week vacation on Martha’s Vineyard in August 1998. A day earlier, the president had admitted on national television that he had had an improper relationship with former White House interview Monica Lewinsky. Hillary Clinton later writes of this period in her memoir: “Although I was heartbroken and disappointed with Bill, my long hours alone made me admit to myself that I loved him. What I still didn't know was whether our marriage could or should last.”
Richard Drew / AFP - Getty Images
Engaging debate: Clinton makes a point during a September 2000 debate with Rep. Rick Lazio for a Senate seat from New York. During the same debate, Lazio produces a pledge against “soft money” political contributions and walks over to Clinton’s lectern, encouraging her to “sign it right now.” Some Clinton supporters later say the move was bullying. Clinton wins with 55 percent of the vote, and in 2006 trounces another Republican opponent with 67 percent. She generally wins praise as a hard worker in the Senate, and after re-election quickly turns her attention to a bid for the presidency.
Jim Cole / AP
Finding her voice: Clinton exults after defeating Sen. Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary in January 2008, resuscitating her campaign after a bruising defeat in Iowa days earlier. Clinton, asked by a New Hampshire voter how she deals with the stress of campaigning, had choked up and said: “You know, I have so many opportunities from this country, I just don't want to see us fall backwards.” In her victory speech, Clinton says she “found my own voice.”
Elise Amendola / AP
The laugh: Nearing the end of her primary campaign, Clinton enjoys a drink and some laughs with reporters on her campaign plane after a stop in South Dakota in May 2008. Her laugh — with a boisterous crescendo that borders on a cackle — becomes so famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) that it inspires a parody by Amy Poehler on “Saturday Night Live.”
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
End of a long battle: Clinton waves to supporters at the National Building Museum in Washington in June 2008 after endorsing Obama for president — the end of their historic prizefight of a Democratic primary campaign. In a reference to her popular-vote count in the Democratic race, she says: “Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time.”
Pool / Reuters
Globetrotter: Clinton, as secretary of state for Obama's first term, visits the historic Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, in October 2009. She would say later that it was “hard to believe” that no one in the Pakistani government knew where al-Qaida leaders were hiding. By the end of her tenure as secretary, Clinton had visited 112 countries, logged 956,000 miles and spent the equivalent of 87 days traveling, according to an official State Department count.
Pete Souza / The White House
Finding Osama bin Laden: Clinton, with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and members of the president’s national security team, waits out a tense moment just off the White House Situation Room during the May 2011 raid that ultimately killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Asked later why she had her hand over her mouth, Clinton would say: “Those were 38 of the most intense minutes. I have no idea what any of us were looking at that particular millisecond when the picture was taken. I am somewhat sheepishly concerned that it was my preventing one of my early spring allergic coughs. So it may have no great meaning whatsoever.”
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters / REUTERS
Hillz, the meme: Her popularity as secretary of state spills over to the Internet when, in October 2011, she is photographed checking a mobile device and wearing sunglasses aboard a military C-17 plane bound from Malta for Libya. The shot inspires a Tumblr site, Texts from Hillary Clinton, in which the "secretary" sends snarky texts to the likes of Ryan Gosling, Mark Zuckerberg ... and Mitt Romney.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
‘Prevent it from ever happening again’: Clinton testifies to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Clinton is pressed by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., about why the administration had not learned quickly that the attack was a planned assault, not the spontaneous result of a protest. She answers: “With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d they go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator.”
RELATED: Clinton steps down, but a reluctant style legacy endures
AP
Full slideshow: Hillary Clinton's life has taken her from first lady to senator to secretary of state.
Leave a Comment:
OMG! I read this whole thing and now I'm off to bed with an upset stomach. Just to much sweetness for a person to intake. I pray there will not be a sequel to this story.
What can be said of this woman is that she is smart, ruthless, and will say and/or do anything to get what she wants even if it includes lying for her husband or the guy in the white house. There is nothing lately that you could say are achievements unless if you count the complete unraveling of our middle east foreign policy and that she has no concern for Americans getting murdered while she and the president watch. Her long history of getting away or out of legal problems is simple amazing so I guess she has accomplished something - the media deserves her since they never print the truth themselves.
must not be so great in the bedroom to have billy chase every skirt in the usa
What an ignorant comment! It's 2013. Wake up!
Yeah! And in 2013 cheating on your wife is normal!
Stop living in the past Bob!
*sarcasm off*
I see why ignorance and immaturity are a Republicans best friends. Right out in the open. Thanks both of you.
I see why liberals are called "blind" and hypocritical!
Right out in the open.
Thanks SunsetCliffs.
Hillary's accomplishment # 16
Getting people killed all over the Middle East.....
You go girl!...... No seriously.. GO....
Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you!
No one can legitimately and unemotionally say that our relation with any foreign country is better off today than when she took office, especially the Middle East and Northern Africa. This woman continues to be riddled with controversy after controversy, unethical behavior after unethical behavior. It is endless and dates back to the 1970's. How she remains as popular as she is points to the unwashed masses of this country that have no moral compass, and rather than put the most qualified, ethical person in office (President, who appoints folks like Hillary) versus their left-leaning idealogue is maddening. Character and integrity have flown by the way of the buggy whip in this country - why? Forget the political party - pick the folks that have a demonstrated resume, character, integrity and commitment that supports the position they are running for - remember they work for you, and they have lost their way and think we work for them!
Forget that fact that you may actually "like" Hillary (I can't for the life of me see how, but..), the woman continues to be very incompetent. Sadly, this will NOT be the last we have heard from her.
Its not what you know, it who you know. This is why our government is such a mess.
They know nothing but know many people and purse chains
You talk about these people like they are the best things to ever serve in washington dc. That's bullsht. These are two of the most corrupt politicians to ever serve. It's also funny that the article said nothing about all the people that worked for the clintons in Arkansas that turned up dead while bill was in office. Have no use for either of them. They are typical liberal, democrat Garbage.
I used to hate Hillary, mostly because of her comment "at least I didn't stay home and bake cookies" or some such. I admit I felt for her when her hubby was facing impeachment because of Monica Lewinsky. That had to hurt. I don't agree with everything she does or says, but I have grown to admire her. She looks very tired lately and she's no kid, so I'm glad she will finally get some peace and tranquility, hopefully. I wish her well in whatever she chooses to do in the future.
I'd love to see her as President come 2016...not so much because I agree with ALL of her positions but mostly because I'd like to see a woman in charge thinking with her head instead of the perpetual man thinking with his balls and spending accordingly!!!
Life for women in politics, public service and social activism is hard, isolating, difficult, challenging and full of misunderstandings, missteps and mistreatments. This is especially so when you are the first woman, breaking many doors and cracking many window of power and insularity, like Hillary Rodham Clinton. She went where no woman had gone before, and did it with the kind of courage, conviction (whether it was consistent over time or not, and whether you agree with it or not), direction, hard work, persistence, intelligence, intellect and dogged determination that deserves our admiration, applause and many accolades.
Many people will be writing about her: her life, her struggles, her handling of issues and her achievements for a long time to come too.
She must write three or four books about her experiences in the Senate, running for the highest office in the country, and openly talk about what it is to face a lot of flattering and excessive attention while also receiving a lot of unflattering unfair judgments. This happens to women who vey for power, and who are in places where they are the first or the only one.
I hope she rests, and I hope she gets back into activism...which she does well.
She is a lot more conservative than where she began...which is a disappointment to me. But I understand the world of Congress, the challenging reality of its politics and the cruelties it brings to people who aspire...that can be hurtful and depressing to any woman. In spite of all of that she persisted...my goodness she persisted! Make a statue of that woman and place it in every women's studies department.
Wherever we stand in our political position Ms. Hillary Clinton deserves our utmost admiration and respect for what she took on, achieved and struggled with. One amazing lady!
And what a wonderful political comrade she found in her husband, and what a devoted daughter she has in her life.
Best wishes to all of them!
Mrs Clinton..three words... brilliant, compassionate, presidential.
As to the other article, who should portray her in a movie, I would say Meryl Streep for a mature Mrs. Clinton, and Kate Hudson for the young law student who with makeup could also be the more mature Hiliary.
3 words for you. Sheeple, blind, brain-washed
Quote the Hillary "What difference, at this point, does it make?!”
That pretty much sums up her tenure as Sec. of State.
Need only say one word to explain this creaton's demeanor and way of operations...
"Whitewater". How many dead in that wake? Add the 4 dead in Libya? Good record, eh?
Where's the picture of her standing by Bill when she found out that he lied about Flowers, Paula Jones, and abusing his privilege as president to "cigar" Monica?
Ask Arkansans about this ego-maniac's antics here in this state... I notice they stay as far away from Arkansas as they possibly can after they were nearly indited for their crime sprees here. Crooks! I wonder if New York has experienced the blatant digressions that we saw in Arkansas here on a nearly daily basis?
Anyone remember Whitewater? Now more dead victims are in Libya? Who is next on the hit list?
Love, love, love her. She is intelligent and sensitive. Let's hope for 2016.
How much are you in love with her, I think you have some security issues. I hope hillary will hold your hand and tell you what to do! Amelia3 look in the mirrow and tell yourself you can be an individual not a puppet on a sting!
I'll look in the mirrow to make sure I'm not a puppet on a sting. Okay.
Another moron...
Benghazi, Libya, Egypt, Iran, the Middle East, North Korea; the worst secretary of state of all time. Good riddance, DLTDHYOTWO.
Tiflon is an understatement! She should be in jail! Power is not held accountable.
We are quite well aware of Hillary,....why isn't there anything about Webster Hubble and George Foster in this article? Tell us about the REAL Hillary. By the way,....she has left office in DISGRACE. That's her heritage.
Hillary obstructed justice just like nixon did, where is the outrage, oh it is hillary shall we all get down and praise, should we all hail clinton,wow what loser people you are led like sheep having no guts to be real citizens and not be losers! No respect for goose stepping people
Lets not forget to add her husbands moment with Monica... Probably the best moment of his career.
they forgot killing vince foster and the clinton intern at starbucks that was going the next day to tell the washington post of her affair with "H"..." H" had everyone in the starbucks murdered
Glad to see the lying scum bag, leaving.
Oh the propaganda to make us feel all warm and cozy about her for a 2016 run. I feel like I am reading a old Russian newspaper. Oh the sweet memories of communism and lies from the media.
The thing that defines HillBilly Clintons is their capability to bold face lie to dumb Democrats who believe those lies. She will be way too old and bee itchie to be president. She is no Margaret Thatcher or Margaret Trudeau.
G.W. Bush, running against Al Gore, for the 2000 Presidency, stated "The economy's in terrible shape, horrible shape!" when in fact, it wasn't. But it soon was when the so-called "Tech Bubble" burst and Bush launched his "Cut 'n Spend" fiscal policy that devastated our budget surplus and launched out current debt crisis. After the 9/11 attacks, the Afghan military campaign was launched only to be pretty much abandoned in favor of the Bush-Cheney false war against Iraq; toppling Saddam Hussein, tipping the Middle East Balance of power to Iran. The economic crash of 2008, its cause aside, was made much worse by the gutting of the federal budget by Bush-Cheney to favor the ultra-wealthy and powerful (as if they needed it). In other words, under Bush-Cheney, the GOP and Tea Party, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer at the expense of tax payers and the world economy and world stability.
My point being: Despite the GOP-Tea Party-Right Wing travesty of ineptitude, corruption, obstruction and sabotage of everything Democrat, as well as our National Interests; our country, our economy as well as the world economy and world stability have improved and are recovering.
Where would we all be, had: 1) We continued and completed the mission in Afghanistan and had not detoured to fight a false Republican war in Iraq? Answer: There would still be a balance-of-power in the Middle East and Iran would not be the dominating and dangerous power it is today – and the U.S. Treasury would be, at least, $Trillion dollars richer today and more important, a few thousand American military soldiers and a few hundred thousand Iraqis would be alive today.
Where would the U.S. economy be today, had the GOP-Tea Party-Right Wing Cartel not obstructed and sabotaged our economic recovery from the biggest economic crash in World history (yes, bigger than the “Great Depression” in many ways). Against all the odds – including Republican obstruction and sabotage – the United States of America and the World - is recovering!
Despite the millions of families who lost jobs and homes, despite the loss of millions of businesses (many of which were profitable and well-run at the beginning of the crash) as a result of the continued obstruction and sabotage by the Republican Right Wing – we are recovering! Where would we be today - in terms of economic and political stability Worldwide had the GOP and Tea Party been real partners in the biggest crisis in history instead of the intentional obstructionists and saboteurs that they were – and are still?
The collateral damage caused by the GOP, the Tea Party, their Right Wing base – including “Christian Fundamentalists” – is likely greater than the National Dept that exists today. This, in addition to World chaos (of all types) aggravated by Right Wing prejudices and hypocritical “Puritanical values” (the “C” Street gang for example) along with other “Conservative”- sponsored tyranny. Answer: The World and the United States would be in much more stable condition – in every category. In other words: The Republican GOP-Tea Party Fundamentalist-Right Wing Cartel has been an enormous, incalculable disaster. Removal of them from positions of power and influence will improve our World economic, political and physical well-being along with general health and safety and security….