Hillary Clinton: A Different First Lady

“There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard. There cannot be true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own lives. There cannot be true democracy unless all citizens are able to participate fully in the lives of their country.”
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, July 11, 1997 

Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the most recognizable women in the United States. She was First Lady from 1993-2001 as the wife of former President Bill Clinton, served as a US Senator from 2001-2009, and has been the Secretary of State under President Barack Obama since his election in 2008. Clinton radiates a sense of power, feminism, and fear (Parry-Giles 208). These qualities, as well as her track record,   have allowed Hillary Clinton to connect with the people of the United States and to have a successful career in politics as a woman. However, as a prominent woman in the political world, Clinton has often been under much public scrutiny, and therefore has been under the media's watch for a large portion of her life. This has led to some controversy in her life, but Clinton seems to remain the same hard-hitting, intelligent woman despite all of this.

Born near Chicago, Illinois, in 1947, Clinton grew up in the upper middle class and was very involved in Republican groups. However, after hearing Martin Luther King speak, she was drawn to the public service sector and became a member of the Democratic Party in 1968. Clinton attended historic Wellesley College (which we learned about in class through the film Mona Lisa Smile) for her undergraduate career, and attended Yale Law School, where she met her husband, future President Bill Clinton. She was very involved in political groups at both universities, and worked on Senate committees and on campaigns during her time in school (Biography.com). 

As you can see, Hillary Clinton broke the mold of the times; she wasn't satisfied with the typical prospects for women at the time she was growing up, "NBC reporter Jamie Gangel asserts in an MSNBC feature on August 4, 1998, that 'as an honor student at Wellesley [HRC's] friends thought she might be the first woman president'" (Parry-Giles 207). Clinton is a wife and mother, yes, but she did not want to stay in the house. She used her intelligence, got a great education, and launched a successful career in law and politics. Running for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008 gained her even more respect, even though she did concede the nomination to Barack Obama. She became America's expert on foreign policy as Secretary of State, and is not only held in high regard in that position to Americans, but is also well-respected by the rest of the world. 

When Bill Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1993, Americans were expecting something new and fresh out of his administration, but also from his wife, First Lady Hillary Clinton (Caroli 294). The public got their wish, as almost nothing about the Clinton administration was traditional. Hillary was a First Lady with her own thoughts and actions, separate from Bill's, but with the same end goal. She was effective and refused to be in her husbands' shadow. The media and public immediately began comparing Clinton to former First Lady Barbara Bush. They were born nearly 20 years apart, and their lives had been extremely differentiated due to these twenty years. Clinton had completed college, started a career, and then fit her family around her already structured lifestyle. Barbara Bush dropped out of college after one year, had never worked full-time, and "had been defined by her husband's jobs and the needs of her children" (Caroli 296-96). These two women could not be more different in their public perception, although they were both First Ladies. Clinton represented an independent, modern working woman, while Bush represented times past, with women defined as mothers and wives. 

However, the sense of power and fear that Hillary instilled in people became troublesome for the White House in the media. Many staffers worried she would become too powerful and people wouldn't see her as a relatable woman anymore. Therefore, as her attempts at reform failed, the White House began to reimage Hillary in public opinion. The media wanted Hillary to appear as more of "a good mother", which would place her in the typical First Lady role (Parry-Giles 208-209). That image is not what the public wanted, though. After President Clinton's extramarital scandal, in which Hillary did not divorce him, many people were concerned that she was taking on the traditional "stand by your man" role of a wife, which she often said she was not (Parry-Giles 209). The media took Hillary on a roller coaster ride through her time as a First Lady, as they still do today. She is obviously still a very successful woman in world and national politics, but the impact of media during non-campaign time can be more damaging than it is even during campaigning. 

It is important to note how the media has changed public opinion of Hillary Clinton over time, because it relates to how she has progressed and identified herself as a woman. Hillary is an example to all women in how they can be a family woman, a mother and wife, but also be a career woman who is educated and can make people listen to her before they listen to a man. She has always remained a figure of strength in the minds of independent women, as she has never attempted to define herself by her husbands' many accomplishments or job titles. We always hear talk of self-made men, but Hillary Rodham Clinton is truly a spectacular example of a self-made woman.

This article from the Boston Globe, published on Dec. 2, 2012, highlights how Hillary has carved out her own path since becoming Secretary of State, and how she continues her legacy of a self-made woman in America. Hillary Clinton: Secretary of 1000 Things-Boston Globe

I begin this blog with an introduction of my project. Over the past 15 weeks, we have been learning about the setbacks and obstacles that women have faced in America from when colonists came here until the present day. We have also learned about the many triumphs that women have achieved in the United States over the same time period. The area of politics is one in which women have not ever had a majority in candidates or victories, although women vote in higher numbers than men do historically. There have, however, been powerful women elected to office, and these women have advanced the goals of America and have proven that women do have a place in politics in the United States. Therefore, my blog posts focus on the contributions and careers of women in politics in the United States since 1980. I will discuss specific women politicians, as well as compare and contrast their paths to the national political level, while also taking a look at the goals and achievements they have attained due to their political status.  Enjoy, guys!