Hillary Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Junior Senator, New York | |
| In office January 2001–Present | |
| Preceded by | Daniel Patrick Moynihan |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| Spouse | President Bill Clinton |
Hillary Rodham Clinton (born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from New York, serving her freshman term since January 3, 2001. She is married to President Bill Clinton, and was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Before that she was a prominent lawyer and First Lady of Arkansas. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life and education
Hillary Rodham was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in a Methodist family in Park Ridge, Illinois. Her father, Hugh Ellsworth Rodham, a conservative, worked in the textile industry, and her mother, Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham, was a homemaker.
As a child, Hillary was interested in sports , her church, and her school, a public school in Park Ridge. Prior to graduating from Maine South High School, she attended Maine East High School, where she served as class president, a member of the student council, a member of the debating team, and as a member of the National Honor Society. During her final year of high school (Maine South High School), she received the school's first social science award. Throughout her youth, Rodham was fond of sports, including tennis, skating, ballet, swimming, volleyball, and softball. She earned many awards as a Brownie and Girl Scout [1]. Hillary entered the world of politics in 1964, at the age of 16, by supporting the presidential bid of Arizona Republican Senator Barry Goldwater. Her parents encouraged her to pursue the career of her choice [2] [3].
After completing high school in 1965, Rodham enrolled at Wellesley College in Massachusetts where she became active in politics, serving, for a time, as President of the Wellesley College Chapter of the College Republicans. During her junior year at Wellesley in 1968, Rodham was affected by the death of the civil rights leader, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom she had met in person in 1962 [4]. After attending the Wellesley in Washington program at the urging of Professor Alan Schechter, her political views became more liberal and she joined the Democratic Party. Having been named valedictorian of her graduating class at Wellesley, Rodham graduated, in 1969, with departmental honors in Political Science. She became the first student in the history of Wellesley College to deliver a commencement address when she spoke at her own graduation [5]. Her speech received a standing ovation and she was featured in an article published by Life magazine [6].
In 1969, Rodham entered Yale Law School where she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Review of Law and Social Action and worked with underprivileged children at the Yale-New Haven Hospital. During the summer of 1970, she was awarded a grant to work at the Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During the summer of 1971, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to work on Senator Walter Mondale's subcommittee on migrant workers, researching migrant problems in housing, sanitation, health and education. For the summer of 1972, Rodham worked in the western states for the Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern's campaign. During her second year in law school, she volunteered at the Yale Child Study Center, learning about new research on early childhood brain development. She also took on cases of child abuse at New Haven Hospital and worked at the city Legal Services, providing free legal service to the poor. She received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Yale in 1973, having written her widely recognized thesis on the rights of children [7], and began a year of post-graduate study on children and medicine at the Yale Child Study Center.
Marriage and family, lawyer and First Lady of Arkansas
During her post-graduate study, Rodham also served as staff attorney for the Children’s Defense Fund. She joined the presidential impeachment inquiry staff advising the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives during the Watergate Scandal. After President Nixon resigned in August of 1974, Rodham became a faculty member (one of only two women in the faculty) at the University of Arkansas Law School, located in Fayetteville, where her Yale Law School classmate and boyfriend Bill Clinton was teaching as well.
In 1975 Rodham and Clinton were married and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1976, Hillary Rodham joined the venerable and influential Rose Law Firm, specializing in intellectual property cases while doing child advocacy cases pro bono. In 1979, she became the first woman to be made a full partner of Rose Law Firm [8]. President Jimmy Carter appointed Rodham to the board of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978.
In 1978, with the election of her husband as governor of Arkansas, Rodham became Arkansas's First Lady, her title for a total of 12 years. On February 27, 1980, Rodham gave birth to Chelsea, their only child.
In 1980, Bill Clinton was defeated in his re-election bid for governor and the couple left the statehouse. In February 1982, Bill Clinton announced his bid to regain the office, which would be successful; at the same time, Rodham began using the name Hillary Rodham Clinton. [Living History p. 93]
As first lady, Clinton chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, where she successfully fought (against some opposition) for improved testing standards of new teachers [9]. She also chaired the Rural Health Advisory Committee and introduced a pioneering program called Arkansas' Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth, which trains parents to work with their children in preschool preparedness and literacy. Clinton was named Arkansas Woman of the Year in 1983 and Arkansas Mother of the Year in 1984 [10].
Throughout her time as first lady, Clinton continued to practice law with the Rose Law Firm. In 1988 and 1991 National Law Journal named Clinton one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America [11]. Clinton 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 [12].
From 1985 to 1992, Clinton served on the Board of Directors for both TCBY ("The Country's Best Yogurt") and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.[13]
First Lady of the United States
After Bill Clinton was elected to the White House in 1992, Hillary Rodham Clinton became the First Lady of the United States in 1993. She was the first First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree and the first to have her own successful professional career. [14] She is regarded as the most openly empowered presidential wife in American history other than Eleanor Roosevelt. [15]
In 1993 the President appointed his wife to head the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. The recommendation of this task force, commonly called the Clinton health care plan and nicknamed "Hillarycare" by its opponents, failed to gain enough support to come to a floor vote in either house of Congress, and was abandoned in September, 1994. In her Living History memoirs, Clinton acknowledged that her political inexperience contributed to the defeat, but also said that many other factors were responsible as well. (A decade later, "Hillarycare" would still be used as a label, sometimes pejoratively, for plans perceived as implementing universal health care. [16] [17])
At the time, some critics called it inappropriate for a First Lady to play a central role in matters of public policy. Supporters, by contrast, argued that Clinton was no different than other White House advisors and that furthermore, voters were well aware that she would play an active role in her husband's Presidency. [18] Indeed, during the campaign Bill Clinton had stated that voting for him would get "two for the price of one." [19] This remark led to the (inaccurate) notion that the two were acting as "co-Presidents" [20], sometimes nicknamed "Billary" [21].
As first lady, Clinton won many admirers for her staunch support for women's rights around the world and her commitment to children's issues [22]. She initiated the Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997, a federal effort that provided state support for those children whose parents were unable to provide them with health coverage. She also successfully sought to increase the research funding for illnesses such as prostate cancer and childhood asthma at the National Institutes of Health. The First Lady worked to solve the mystery behind the illnesses that were affecting veterans of the Gulf War. She initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which she regarded as her greatest accomplishment as First Lady [23].
Clinton hosted numerous White House conferences that related to children's health, including early childhood development and school violence. She fought for nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses and supported an annual drive to encourage older women to seek a mammogram to prevent breast cancer, coverage of the cost being provided by Medicare. With Attorney General Janet Reno, Clinton helped to create the Department of Justice's Violence Against Women office. She was one of the few international figures at the time who spoke out against the treatment of Afghani women by Islamist fundamentalist Taliban that had seized control of Afghanistan. One of the programs she helped create was Vital Voices, a U.S.-sponsored initiative to promote the participation of international women in their nation's political process.
Clinton performed many less political activities in her role as First Lady. With a lifelong interest in regional American history, she initiated the Save America's Treasures program, a national effort that matched federal funds to private donations to rescue from deterioration and neglect, or restore to completion many iconic historic items and sites, including the flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner, and the National First Ladies Historic Site in Canton, Ohio. Clinton initiated the Millennium Project with monthly lectures that considered both America's past and forecasted its future. One of these lectures became the first live simultaneous webcast from the White House. Clinton also created the first Sculpture Garden, which displayed large contemporary American works of art loaned from museums in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on a rotating basis.
In the White House, Clinton placed the donated handicrafts (pottery, glassware, etc.) of contemporary American artisans on rotating display in the state rooms. She oversaw the restoration of the Blue Room on the state floor, and the redecoration of the Treaty Room into the President's study on the second floor. In a unique venue of large white tents on the South Lawn that could accommodate several thousand guests, Clinton hosted many large events such as a St. Patrick's Day reception, a state dinner for visiting Chinese dignitaries, and a contemporary music concert that raised funds for music education in the public schools. For all the foods served in the White House, Clinton hired a chef whose expertise was in American regional cooking. She hosted a massive New Year's Eve party on the turning of the twentieth century into the twenty-first century, as well as a state dinner honoring the November 2000 bicentennial of the White House, which gathered more former Presidents and First Ladies together in the mansion than had ever been present at any other time in its history.
Relationship with Bill Clinton
Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton met at Yale Law School where both were students. On October 11, 1975, when Hillary was 27 years old and Bill was 28 years old, the Clintons married in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Before he proposed marriage to Hillary Rodham, Bill Clinton secretly purchased a small house in Fayetteville that she had noticed and remarked that she had liked. When he proposed marriage to her and she accepted, he revealed that they owned the house. They married and lived there, briefly, before relocating to the state capital of Little Rock, Arkansas, from which Bill conducted his first campaign, for U.S. Congress.
In 1998, the Clintons' relationship became the subject of much speculation and gossip after the Lewinsky scandal when the President admitted to a sexual affair (short of sexual intercourse) with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. During the Lewinsky scandal, Hillary initially claimed that the allegations against her husband were the result of a "vast right-wing conspiracy. [24]" After the evidence of President Clinton's encounters with Lewinsky became incontrovertible, she remained resolute that their marriage was solid. Both Bill's and Hillary's memoirs later revealed that the revelation of the affair was in reality a very painful time in their marriage.
For much of his political career, President Clinton was dogged by rumors of extra-marital affairs. These rumors gained credibility following the Lewinsky scandal. In his memoirs, President Clinton confirmed a "relationship that I should not have had" with Gennifer Flowers, an Arkansas lounge singer [25]. These revelations and rumors resulted in a mix of sympathy and scorn for the First Lady. While many women sympathized with her as a victim of her husband's insensitive behavior, others criticized her as being an enabler to her husband's indiscretions by showing no interest in obtaining a divorce. In her book Living History, Clinton explains that love is the reason she stays with President Clinton. "[N]o one understands me better and no one can make me laugh the way Bill does. Even after all these years, he is still the most interesting, energizing and fully alive person I have ever met. Bill and I started a conversation in the spring of 1971, and more than thirty years later we're still talking[26]."
When President Clinton required immediate heart surgery in October of 2004, Clinton, who was then the junior senator of New York, cancelled her public schedule to be at his side at the Columbia University Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital.
The 2000 Senate race
When long-time New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan announced his retirement, prominent Democratic politicians and advisors, including Charlie Rangel, urged Clinton to run for the New York Senate seat in the U.S. Senate, 2000, elections. When Clinton chose to run, she became the first First Lady of the United States to be a candidate for elected office. She was initially expected to face New York City's Mayor Rudy Giuliani, but Giuliani withdrew after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and after developments in his personal life attracted negative publicity. Instead, Clinton faced a lesser-known candidate, Rick Lazio, who was a Congressman representing Suffolk County on Long Island. The contest drew considerable national attention and both candidates were well-funded. By the end of the race, Democrat Clinton and Republicans Lazio and Giuliani had spent a combined $78 million [27].
While Clinton had a solid base of support in New York City, candidates and observers expected the race to be decided in upstate New York where 45 percent of New Yorker voters live. During the campaign, Clinton vowed to improve the economic picture in upstate New York, promising that her plan would deliver 200,000 New York jobs over six years. Her plan included specific tax credits with the purpose of rewarding job creation and encouraging business investment, especially in the high-tech sector. She called for targeted personal tax cuts for college tuition and long-term care [28]. Clinton began her campaign by visiting every county in the state, in a "listening tour" of small-group settings. During the race, she spent considerable time in traditionally Republican upstate regions.
Clinton faced charges of carpetbagging since she had never resided in the state. Her supporters pointed out that the state was receptive to national leaders, like Robert F. Kennedy who was elected in 1964 despite similar accusations. After she decided to run, the Clintons purchased a home in Chappaqua, New York. The Republican effort to make carpetbagging a major issue failed, according to exit polls that showed more than two-thirds of the voters dismissed the issue as unimportant.
Clinton won the election on November 7, 2000 with 55% of the vote to Lazio's 43% [29]. This 12% margin was smaller than Gore's 25% margin over Bush in the state Presidential contest. However, Clinton's 12% margin was larger than Charles Schumer's 10% margin in his initial 1998 election to New York's other Senate seat. The victory of a Democrat in the Senate election was not assured, because in recent decades the Republicans had won about half the elections for governor and senator.
United States Senator
When Clinton joined the Senate, she was widely reported to have kept a low public profile and learned the ways of the institution while building relationships with senators from both sides of the aisle, thus countering her polarizing celebrity. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] Indeed when Elizabeth Dole (R-North Carolina) joined the Senate in 2003 in somewhat similar circumstances, she modeled her initial approach after Clinton's, as did the nationally visible Barack Obama (D-Illinois) in 2005. [35]
Senator Clinton sits on four Senate Committees with a total of eight subcommittee assignments: the Senate Committee on Armed Services with three subcommittee assignments, on Airland, on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, and on Readiness and Management Support; the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee with three subcommittee assignments on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety, on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water and on Superfund, Waste Control, and Risk Assessment; the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, with two subcommittee assignments, on Aging and on Children and Families; and the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
Senator Clinton has made homeland security one of her top issues following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in downtown New York City, especially regarding obtaining funding for recovery from the attacks and for improving security capabilities in the New York City area. Despite her efforts, she was audibly booed by some in an audience of New York firefighters and police officers during her on-stage appearance at The Concert for New York City on October 20, 2001. [36] Undaunted, Senator Clinton worked with Senator Schumer to secure $21.4 billion in funding to assist clean up and recovery, to provide health tracking for first responders and volunteers at Ground Zero, and to create grants for redevelopment. In 2005, Clinton issued two studies that examined the disbursement of federal homeland security funds to local communities and first responders.
Clinton has used her membership on the Armed Services Committee to take a strong position in favor of U.S. military action in Afghanistan – with the additional benefit that it greatly improved the lives of women in that country, who had suffered terribly under the rule of the Taliban [37] – and a somewhat weaker position regarding action in Iraq (her vote in support of initial military action against Iraq was criticized for being equivocal). Senator Clinton has visited U.S. forces (such as the Fort Drum, New York-based 10th Mountain Division) in both countries. In February 2005 she stated that much of Iraq was functioning well, elections in Iraq had succeeded, and that the insurgency there was failing [38]. In July 2005 she co-introduced legislation to increase the size of the regular United States Army by 80,000 soldiers. [39] By late 2005, with domestic debate intensifying over whether and when the U.S. should remove its forces from Iraq, Clinton stated that immediate withdrawal would be "a big mistake", leading to Iraq becoming "a failed state", but that the Bush administration's open-ended commitment to stay in Iraq was also misguided, as it gives Iraqis "an open-ended invitation not to take care of themselves." [40] This centrist and somewhat vague stance caused frustration among the Democratic party's anti-war activists [41], who have even occasionally protested outside Clinton fundraisers.[42]
Senator Clinton also became a national advocate for retaining and improving health and other benefits for veterans. By the end of 2005, her standing among the military community was much higher than it had been during her days as First Lady. [43]
Senator Clinton was a vocal opponent of the Bush Administration's tax cuts.
Clinton has pressed for education, labor, and technology infrastructure programs to assist economic development in upstate New York and similar regions. For example, in 2003, Clinton solicited offshoring firm Tata Consultancy Services to set up shop in economically beleaguered Buffalo, New York [44]. In 2004, Clinton co-founded and became the co-chair of the U.S. Senate India Caucus with the encouragement and aid of the USINPAC Political Action Committee. In 2005, Clinton co-sponsored with Senator Lindsey Graham the AMTAC proposal regarding incentives and rewards for completely domestic American manufacturing companies [45]. As an advocate for her state, Senator Clinton led a bipartisan effort to bring broadband access to rural communities; co-sponsored the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act; included language in the Energy Bill to provide tax exempt bonding authority for environmentally conscious construction projects; and introduced an amendment calling for funding of new job creation to repair, renovate and modernize public schools.
In May 2005, Senator Clinton joined forces with her former adversary, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, on a proposal for incremental universal health care [46]. In June, 2005, Senator Clinton united with Senator Bill Frist to push for the modernization of medical records, claiming that thousands of deaths caused by medical mistakes, such as misreading prescriptions, can be prevented by greater reliance on computer technology [47].
In July 2005, Senator Clinton called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate how hidden sex scenes showed up in the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. [48]
In 2005, during the intense debate over the filibustering of some of President George W. Bush's federal judicial nominations, Senator Clinton generally kept a low profile. [49] She was not part of the "Gang of 14" that resolved the dispute short of the "nuclear option", but she did vote to endorse that resolution and end debate on the nominations, thereby allowing the nominations to come to a vote. She subsequently voted against three of the nominees, but all were confirmed. [50] Regarding the Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts, in September 2005 Clinton voted against his confirmation, saying "I do not believe that the Judge has presented his views with enough clarity and specificity for me to in good conscience cast a vote on his behalf," but that she hoped her concerns would be unfounded. [51] Roberts was confirmed by a solid majority, with half the Senate's Democrats voting for him and half against. [52] Regarding the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito, in January and February 2006 Clinton not only joined almost all Senate Democrats in voting against his confirmation, but also joined about half the Democrats in supporting a filibuster against bringing his nomination to a vote [53], saying "He would roll back decades of progress, and roll over when confronted with an administration too willing to play fast and loose with the rules." [54] That effort failed and Alito was confirmed on a largely party-line vote.
Clinton sought to establish an independent, bipartisan panel patterned after the 9/11 Commission to investigate what went wrong with federal, state and local governments' response to Hurricane Katrina. She failed to win over a two-thirds majority needed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate rules. [55]
On November 29, 2005, Clinton, together with Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act. The act is intended to protect children from inappropriate content found in video games. Similar bills have been filed in some U.S. states such as Michigan and Illinois, but were ruled to be unconstitutional.
The 2006 Senate race
Clinton announced in November 2004 that she will seek a second term in the Senate in the 2006 New York election for Senator. The two most prominent Republicans contemplating a challenge to Senator Clinton were lawyer Ed Cox (the son-in-law of former President Richard M. Nixon) and Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro. On October 14, 2005, New York Governor George Pataki formally endorsed Pirro, causing Cox to drop out of the race [56]. However, Pirro trailed Clinton badly in fund-raising and in polls, and under pressure from state party officials dropped out of the race herself on December 21, 2005 [57], leaving the Republicans without a well-known candidate. Possible Republican nominees now include Cox and former Yonkers, New York mayor John Spencer.
Clinton also faces opposition for the Democratic party nomination for Senate; it comes from the anti-war base of her own party that has become increasingly frustrated with her support for the Iraq War. In October 2005 New Paltz firefighter and activist Steven Greenfield announced he would run against her. Then on December 6, 2005, labor advocate Jonathan Tasini announced that he would run against her as well [58], calling for immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, universal health care and what he terms "New Rules For the Economy," a more labor-centric as opposed to the corporate-centric approach to economic matters espoused by Clinton. Tasini is supported by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who had in October said, "I will resist her candidacy with every bit of my power and strength...I will not make the mistake of supporting another pro-war Democrat for president again." [59]
Speculation about possible 2008 presidential bid
Clinton has expressed interest in the 2008 U.S. presidential race [60]. The last female candidate from a major political party for a major national office was Walter Mondale's Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro; Mondale and Ferraro lost in a landslide against Ronald Reagan in 1984. No woman has ever been nominated for President by a major party.
Clinton has an established national image that makes her possible candidacy in 2008 a popular and controversial topic among media pundits, bloggers, and the public at large. For example, in July 2005 the magazine Washington Monthly ran two side-by-side articles, one thinking that she could win the presidency and one thinking that she could not [61] [62]. In a December 2005 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 41% of Democrats preferred her for the 2008 presidential nomination. [63] In a poll conducted by the same organizations in May 2005, when general voters were asked the likelihood of voting for Senator Clinton for president, 29 percent of respondents were very likely, 24 percent were somewhat likely, 7 percent were not very likely, and 39 percent were not at all likely. In June 2003, in a similar poll, the numbers had been 21 percent very likely, 21 percent somewhat likely, 12 percent not very likely, and 44 percent not at all likely. In May 2005, 55 percent of respondents held a favorable view of Senator Clinton, while 39 percent held an unfavorable view of her [64]. These findings were similar to the June 2003 poll that found 53 percent reacted favorably toward her and 41 percent unfavorably, with the undecided/no opinion bloc representing only 6% of those polled.
Following the 2004 election cycle, Clinton began what some saw as a movement to the political center by supporting health care reform with Contract with America architect and former adversary Newt Gingrich. [65] The alignment represents for both a reconciliation with the past, for it was Gingrich that helped defeat Clinton's health care plan in the early 1990s. Clinton's January 2005, speech on abortion quoted below was viewed by some as part of her alleged move to the center. Liberal media watchdog Media Matters has offered evidence that Clinton's positions have remained consistent with her past [66] [67]. In August 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported that Clinton was positioning herself as a centrist [68]; critics [69] cited her Senate voting record as proof that was not the case.
In February 2005, associates of Republican political consultant Arthur Finkelstein announced he would be forming a PAC entitled Stop Her Now with the stated goal, "to shed light on the REAL Hillary Clinton and the danger she and her ideas pose for America."
In January 2006, the moderate-liberal magazine The New Republic attempted to debunk the "myth" that Senator Clinton's popularity in traditionally Republican upstate New York was unprecedented, arguing both that the region was not as conservative as was often assumed in the national media and that her approval ratings there were comparable to those of other prominent Democrats. The article challenged the assumption that Sen. Clinton's appeal in upstate New York would be the harbinger of her ability to attract support from moderates and conservatives nationwide, setting off a debate throughout the blogosphere as to her presidential prospects [70].
Political views
As a United States Senator and former First Lady, Clinton has articulated her views on issues ranging from terrorism to abortion.
In a Gallup poll conducted during May, 2005, 54% of respondents considered Senator Clinton a liberal, 30% considered her a moderate, and 9% considered her a conservative. [71]. In 2004, the National Journal's study of roll-call votes assigned Clinton a rating of 30 in the political spectrum, relative to the current Senate, with a rating of 1 being most liberal and a rating of 100 being most conservative [72][73].
Clinton's writings and recordings
As First Lady, Clinton published a weekly newspaper column entitled "Talking It Over", focusing on her experiences and her observations of women, children, and families she encountered during her travels around the world.
The 1996 book, It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us became a best-seller, and she received the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her recording of it. Clinton's book references the African proverb that "it takes a village to raise a child."
Other books released by Clinton as First Lady include An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History (2000) and Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets (1998).
Clinton's memoirs, as the 562-page book Living History, were released in 2003. The book sold more than one million copies in the first month following publication. In anticipation of these sales, the publisher Simon & Schuster paid her an advance of $8 million—a record figure at that time. Her recording in that year of Living History earned her a second Grammy nomination in the Best Spoken Word Album category. Living History was translated into several foreign languages including Chinese.
Clinton has been criticized for not giving adequate credit to the ghostwriters of her published works. See Controversies surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton for more details.
Controversies
Clinton's role in public life has not been free of controversy or criticism. Clinton has faced a number of accusations, ranging from the serious to the lurid.
Cultural matters
As one of the highest-profile American female political figures, Clinton has been involved in a number of situations that attracted attention to cultural matters.
Awards and honors
In May 1998, Clinton received the United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize for her work in health and social welfare, especially as it related to women, children, and families. [74]
In April 1999, Clinton was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund for her support of that Ukrainian organization's efforts regarding legacy effects of the Chernobyl accident. [75]
In June 1999, Clinton received the "Mother Teresa Award", the highest honor given to civilians by Albania. This was in recognition of her humanitarian efforts following the Kosovo War and worldwide. [76]
On March 26, 2004, Clinton was presented with the inaugural Nursing Health and Humanity Award from the University of Rochester School of Nursing. [77]
On February 13, 2005, Clinton was given the German Media Prize 2004, "Hillary Clinton is a model politician for millions of women around the world" who "represents in an exemplary way women's rights", the jury for the prize said. [78]
On February 15, 2005, Clinton was given the American Medical Women's Association's "President’s Vision & Voice Award", for being an advocate for women's health and related issues. [79]
On July 30, 2005, Clinton was given the Reserve Officers Association's National President's Award. [80] [81]
On October 9, 2005, Clinton was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame. [82]
Further reading
Books are broken out by point of view. As with other controversial political figures, there is a larger industry to be found in books against a person than for a person.
External links
Official links
- Senator Clinton's official web site
- HillaryClinton.com: Official 2006 Senate campaign website
- Biography of First Lady Clinton
Unofficial links
- Hillary Rodham Clinton 2008 Discussion Board
- Unofficial Hillary Clinton for President 2008 site
- LookSmart - Hillary Clinton directory category
- Yahoo! - Hillary Rodham Clinton directory category
- Open Directory Project - Hillary Rodham Clinton directory category
- 2008 Presidential Wire - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Senate races
- Clinton's positions in 2000 Senate Race
- Clinton enjoys strong support from Jewish voters
- Allegations during the Senate Race
- Jewish Vote Crucial
- Results & Demographic Breakdown of Votes
- New Square
- Prosecutors Clear Clintons in Hasidic Case
Possible presidential race
- HillPAC - Leadership PAC
- VoteHillary - Unofficial Hillary Clinton For President Committee
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