During the 1992 presidential
campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton observed, "Our lives are a
mixture of different roles. Most of us are doing the best we
can to find whatever the right balance is . . . For me, that
balance is family, work, and service."
Hillary Diane Rodham, Dorothy and Hugh Rodham's first child,
was born on October 26, 1947. Two brothers, Hugh and Tony,
soon followed. Hillary's childhood in Park Ridge, Illinois,
was happy and disciplined. She loved sports and her church,
and was a member of the National Honor Society, and a
student leader. Her parents encouraged her to study hard and
to pursue any career that interested her.
As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, Hillary mixed
academic excellence with school government. Speaking at
graduation, she said, "The challenge now is to practice
politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible,
possible."
In 1969, Hillary entered Yale Law School, where she served
on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and Social
Action, interned with children's advocate Marian Wright
Edelman, and met Bill Clinton. The President often recalls
how they met in the library when she strode up to him and
said, "If you're going to keep staring at me, I might as
well introduce myself." The two were soon
inseparable--partners in moot court, political campaigns,
and matters of the heart.
After graduation, Hillary advised the Children's Defense
Fund in Cambridge and joined the impeachment inquiry staff
advising the Judiciary Committee of the House of
Representatives. After completing those responsibilities,
she "followed her heart to Arkansas," where Bill had begun
his political career.
They married in 1975. She joined the faculty of the
University of Arkansas Law School in 1975 and the Rose Law
Firm in 1976. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her
to the board of the Legal Services Corporation, and Bill
Clinton became governor of Arkansas. Their daughter,
Chelsea, was born in 1980.
Hillary served as Arkansas's First Lady for 12 years,
balancing family, law, and public service. She chaired the
Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on
the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Legal
Services, and the Children's Defense Fund.
As the nation's First Lady, Hillary continued to balance
public service with private life. Her active role began in
1993 when the President asked her to chair the Task Force on
National Health Care Reform. She continued to be a leading
advocate for expanding health insurance coverage, ensuring
children are properly immunized, and raising public
awareness of health issues. She wrote a weekly newspaper
column entitled "Talking It Over," which focused on her
experiences as First Lady and her observations of women,
children, and families she has met around the world. Her
1996 book It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children
Teach Us was a best seller, and she received a Grammy Award
for her recording of it.
As First Lady, her public involvement with many activities
sometimes led to controversy. Undeterred by critics, Hillary
won many admirers for her staunch support for women around
the world and her commitment to children's issues.