HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
US News
Jasmin K. Williams
From first lady of Arkansas to First Lady of the nation, New York’s junior senator has known a lifetime of public service.
  YOU probably first heard of...
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New York Post
From first lady of Arkansas to First Lady of the nation, New York’s junior senator has known a lifetime of public service.

YOU probably first heard of Hillary Rodham Clinton as the wife of our 42nd president, Bill Clinton. But during her White House years and beyond, she has captured the world’s attention all on her own.

Hillary Diane Rodham was born on Oct. 26, 1947, in Park Ridge, Ill. She has two younger brothers, Hugh and Tony.

At school, Hillary excelled in her studies. She was a member of the National Honor Society and was a student leader. She loved sports, especially tennis, ice-skating and ballet. In 1969, she graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and was named valedictorian.

During her commencement speech, she said, “The challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible.” She would make public service and politics her life’s work.

Hillary entered Yale Law School in 1969. While there, she served on the board of editors of the Yale Law Review. She focused on helping children, taking on child-abuse cases and working with underprivileged children at Yale Hospital. She even wrote her thesis on the rights of children, which earned her a Juris Doctor degree.

It was at Yale that she met her future husband, Bill Clinton, who later quipped that she strode up to him and said, “If you’re going to keep staring at me, I might as well introduce myself.” The two soon became inseparable.

After graduating from Yale, Hillary became the staff attorney for the Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge, Mass. She joined the impeachment inquiry staff, which advised the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives during the infamous Watergate scandal.

Next, it was off to Arkansas, where Bill Clinton began his political career. The two married in 1975. Hillary joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School and the Rose Law Firm.

Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas in 1978 and, in 1980, the couple’s only child, Chelsea, was born.

Hillary quickly got to work on children’s issues. During her husband’s 12 years as governor, she chaired numerous committees devoted to the rights of children and families. She continued to practice law and, in 1988 and 1991, was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America.

In 1992, Bill Clinton successfully ran for president. Hillary used her position as First Lady to continue her work for children and families.

She was the first wife of a president to hold a post-graduate degree and have a successful professional career of her own.

President Clinton appointed her to head the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. However, the Clinton Health Care Plan failed to get enough support from Congress.

She later acknowledged that her political inexperience contributed to the plan’s defeat.

While at the White House, Hillary wrote a weekly column called “Talking it Over,” about families she met in her travels as first lady. In 1996, she wrote the bestselling book, “It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us,” and won a Grammy for her recording of it. In 1998, she wrote “Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets.” When New York state Sen.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan announced his retirement, prominent Democrats urged Hillary to run for his seat. She established residency in the state, buying a home in the Westchester County town of Chappaqua and conducted a “Listening Tour,” visiting every county in the state. On Nov. 7, 2000, Hillary became the first former First Lady to hold political office when she was elected to the Senate.

Today, Sen. Clinton is busy sitting on five Senate committees, with nine subcommittee assignments. Along with Eleanor Roosevelt, she’s regarded as one of the most powerful first ladies in our country’s history. It is speculated that Sen. Clinton will run for president herself in 2008.

No woman has ever been nominated as a presidential candidate by a major party – at least not yet.

Today’s lesson fulfills the following standards: ELA 1c, 3c, 3d, 5a Social Studies Standards 1

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New York Post Activities

* USE the Internet or other resource to learn more about the life of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

* DO you think our country is ready for a female president? Have a discussion in class. Which woman would you vote for and why?

* THIS busy first lady found time to write a weekly column and three books. Visit the library and read one of Hillary Clinton’s books.