Hillary Clinton: Difference between revisions

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Hillary Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois as Hillary Diane Rodham) is the junior United States Senator from New York, serving her freshman term since January 3, 2001. She was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, as the wife of President Bill Clinton. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, then Hillary Diane Rodham, was raised in Park Ridge, Illinois. Her father, Hugh Ellsworth Rodham, a dedicated conservative, was involved 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. She attended Maine South High School where she served as class president, as a member of the student council, as a member of the debating team, and as a member of the National Honor Society. She received Maine South High School's first social science award. Throughout her youth, Clinton was fond of sports, including tennis, skating, ballet, swimming, volleyball, and softball. She won every possible badge as a Brownie and Girl Scout [1]. Her parents encouraged her to pursue the career of her choice [2] [3].

After graduating from high school, Clinton enrolled at Wellesley College where she became interested in politics, serving, for a time, as President of the College Republicans. During her junior year at Wellesley in 1968, Clinton was deeply 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. Clinton was named valedictorian of her graduating class at Wellesley and graduated, in 1969, with departmental honors in Political Science.

In 1969, she entered Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review, Social Action, and met her future husband, Bill Clinton. After graduation, she advised the Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She joined the staff advising the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives in the impeachment inquiry against President Richard M. Nixon. It was then that she met Bernard Nussbaum, who would become the future White House Counsel for President Clinton.

In 1975, she moved to Arkansas and married Bill Clinton. After her marriage, Clinton, then Hillary Rodham, joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School in 1975, and the Rose Law Firm in 1976. Her partners at the law firm included Webster Hubbell, who would serve in the U.S. Justice Department as Associate Attorney General during the Clinton Administration, and Vince Foster, who worked in the Clinton Administration as a deputy counsel.

In 1978 Bill Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas, and Hillary served as Arkansas's First Lady for a total of 12 years. In 1980 the Clintons' only daughter, Chelsea, was born.

During her time as First Lady, 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. She also, from 1986 to 1992, served on the Board of Directors for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Bill Clinton was the first Baby Boomer elected to the White House. His wife Hillary quickly became the most politically active First Lady in American history. During the 1992 US presidential campaign then Governor Clinton made extensive use of his wife as a political asset, arguing her background and professional experiences would make her an important contributor to his administration. Both critics and supporters alike would often allude to an inevitable Clinton "co-presidency" in which both spouses would hold power.

After Clinton was elected President, there was some speculation Mrs. Clinton might become a member of the cabinet, chief of staff, or obtain some other formal role within the US government. However, anti-nepotism laws that had been passed in the wake of Robert Kennedy's appointment as Attorney General limited her options.

In 1993 the President asked Mrs. Clinton to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, dedicated to reforming the America health care system, commonly known as the Clinton health care plan, which was rejected by Congress and was abandoned in September 1994.

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. She continues to be a leading advocate for expanding health insurance coverage, child immunization, and promoting public awareness of health issues. She worked on other noteworthy projects like the CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) and breast cancer research funding.

Clinton's relationship with her husband has been the subject of much speculation and gossip, especially in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal in which the President admitted to a sexual affair (short of sexual intercourse) with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.

During the Lewinsky scandal, Mrs. Clinton initially claimed that the allegations against her husband were the result of a "vast right-wing conspiracy. [5]" After the evidence of President Clinton's encounters with Lewinsky became incontrovertible, she remained resolute that their marriage was solid. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton'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 had been 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 [6]. The revelations and rumors surrounding President Clinton's extra-marital affairs resulted in a mix of sympathy and scorn for Mrs. Clinton. While many women sympathized with her as a victim of her husband's insensitive behavior, others criticized her for showing no interest in obtaining a divorce. As Hillary Clinton is considered by many to be a political figure in her own right, some have charged that she was in a marriage of convenience [7], the primary purpose of which was to advance her political career. In her book Living History, Mrs. 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 Clinton and I started a conversation in the spring of 1971, and more than thirty years later we're still talking [8]." To supporters her loyalty and perseverance in a sometimes difficult marriage has been viewed as a sign of her personal commitment, strength, and resolve.

When long-time New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan announced his intent to retire, speculation began over the possibility of Hillary Clinton moving to New York to run for Senate in the election. Leading New York Democrats, including Moynihan himself, urged her to run. Initially she said she would not do so, but eventually changed her mind and made a run for the seat, thus becoming the first sitting First Lady to be a candidate for elected office. While she was initially expected to face New York City's Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he withdrew after being diagnosed with prostate cancer (difficulties in his personal life at the time may have also contributed). Instead, Clinton faced a lesser-known candidate, Rick Lazio, a Congressman representing Suffolk County on Long Island. The contest drew considerable national attention and both candidates were well-funded. Before the end of the race, Democrat Clinton, Republican Lazio and one-time candidate New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had spent a combined $78 million [9].

While Mrs. Clinton had a solid base of support in Manhattan, candidates and observers alike 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 [10].

Clinton faced charges of carpetbagging, since the Clintons neither resided in the State of New York nor participated in state politics prior to her Senate race. Opponents made this a focal point throughout the campaign race, and in debates. Her candidacy was not without precedent in New York, however: Robert F. Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1964 under similar circumstances.

Mrs. Clinton began her campaign by visiting every county in the state, in a "listening tour" of small-group settings. She spent considerable time in traditionally Republican upstate regions. A turning point in the race was a televised debate where Lazio's behavior towards Clinton was perceived as too aggressive. According to exit polls conducted in the race, more than two-thirds of the voters dismissed the "carpetbagging" issue as unimportant.

Clinton won on November 7, with 55% of the vote to Lazio's 43%. [11] This was less than Gore's margin over Bush of 60% to 35% in the state Presidential contest. It was similar to fellow New York senator Charles Schumer's winning margin over incumbent Republican Al D'Amato in the hotly contested 1998 race. Clinton's margin of victory was considerably smaller than the margin by which Senator Schumer would win reelection in 2004 with 71% of the vote, compared to 24% for Republican challenger Howard Mills [12].

Political observers have credited Clinton with an effective approach upon initially joining the Senate. To counter her polarizing celebrity, she kept a low public profile and learned the ways of the institution, while building relationships with senators from both sides of the aisle. Indeed when Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) joined the Senate in 2003 in somewhat similar circumstances, she modeled her initial approach after Clinton's.

In the Senate, Clinton is a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Senator Clinton has made homeland security one of her top issues in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, especially regarding obtaining funding for recovery from the attacks and for improving security capabilities in the New York City area.

She has used her position on the Armed Services Committee to take strong position in favor of U.S. military action in Afghanistan and a not quite as strong position regarding action in Iraq (her vote in support of initial military action against Iraq was criticized for being equivocal), and has visited U.S. forces (such as the Fort Drum, New York-based 10th Mountain Division) in both countries.

Clinton has also pressed for education, labor, and technology infrastructure programs to assist economic development in upstate New York and similar regions. For instance, in 2003, Clinton solicited offshoring firm Tata_Consultancy_Services to set up shop in economically beleaguered Buffalo,_New_York as part of "bringing new businesses to the state of New York". 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 May, 2005, Senator Clinton joined forces with her former nemesis, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with a proposal for universal health care [13]. 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 [14].

Clinton announced in November 2004 that she will seek a second term in the Senate. Senator Clinton faces a possible challenge from Republican lawyer Ed Cox in the 2006 New York Senate race. As of June, 2005, Cox had formed an exploratory committee for the race and hired a campaign manager, spokesmen, pollsters and fund raisers. Cox accused Senator Clinton of not being able to produce because "she's not in the party in power in Washington." Another possible contender for the New York Senate seat is Westchester District Attorney Republican Jeannine Pirro. Current polls, including a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in February, 2005, and a Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. poll conducted in May, 2005, indicate that Senator Clinton is the favorite going into the 2006 race. In February, 2005, Senator Clinton's approval rating stood at 65-27 among New York voters [15] [16].

Senator Clinton is generally regarded to be a proponent of liberalism. In a Gallup poll conducted during May, 2005, fifty-four percent of respondents considered Senator Clinton a liberal, thirty percent considered her a moderate, and nine percent considered her a conservative [17]. Senator Clinton's remarks on the salient issues of our time provide an outline of her political views.

In a speech on December 8, 2004, regarding the passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, Senator Clinton delivered remarks on her approach to homeland security. She emphasized her desire to improve aviation security, air cargo security, port security, and the security of our Northern Border.

"The legislation calls for dramatic improvements in the security of our nation's transportation infrastructure, including aviation security, air cargo security, and port security. Through this legislation, the security of the Northern Border will also be improved, a goal I have worked toward since 2001. Among many key provisions, the legislation calls for an increase of at least 10,000 border patrol agents from Fiscal Years 2006 through 2010, many of whom will be dedicated specifically to our Northern Border. There will also be an increase of at least 4,000 full-time immigration and customs enforcement officers in the next 5 years [18]."

Later in the speech, Senator Clinton described her satisfaction with the way in which this piece of legislation tackles the root causes of terrorism. She supports improving education around the world, including establishing schools in Muslim countries that will replace madrassas, so that all children can learn math and science instead of hate.

"I am also pleased that the legislation addresses the root causes of terrorism in a proactive manner. This is an issue that I have spent a good deal of time on in the past year because I believe so strongly that we are all more secure when children and adults around the world are taught math and science instead of hate. The bill we are voting on today includes authorization for an International Youth Opportunity Fund, which will provide resources to build schools in Muslim countries. The legislation also acknowledges that the U.S. has a vested interest in committing to a long-term, sustainable investment in education around the globe. Some of this language is modeled on legislation that I introduced in September, The Education for All Act of 2004, and I believe it takes us a small step towards eliminating madrassas and replacing them with schools that provide a real education to all children [19]."

On April 9, 2005, Senator Clinton addressed the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s Hubert Humphrey Dinner in Minneapolis. During her speech, Senator Clinton outlined her support for free markets and a government that balances power between its various independent branches.

"One of the great geniuses of our founders was also how keenly they understood human nature. They knew if one person, one group acquired too much power it would be dangerous for democracy. You have to keep competing power centers to keep an eye on each other. When you have independent branches of government, a free market economy and a free press then you do have protection against abuse of power [20]."

During her speech to the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s Hubert Humphrey Dinner in Minneapolis on April 9, 2005, Senator Clinton pledged her support for working families.

"We have our work cut out for us and so we fight on. We fight for the parents who get up everyday meeting their responsibilities to their children and to their own parents who are getting older and sometimes need care too. We fight for the mother who worries what she’ll do if her child runs a fever some night and she knows she can’t afford to call a doctor. We fight for the dad who works two jobs to earn the income he used to bring home with one. Who never gets to sit down for a family meal anymore, who misses all those softball games, those little league and soccer games. And we fight for the high school senior who has worked so hard and now sees the cost of college slipping out of sight [21]."

In a speech to the Harvard Medical School on June 4, 1998, Mrs. Clinton outlined her support for universal health care. "There are 41 million people without health insurance. Who will take care of these people in the future? How will we pay for their care? How will we pay for the extra costs that come when someone is not treated for a chronic disease or turned away from the emergency room? The job of health care reform cannot be done when access to care depends on skin color or the neighborhood they live in or the amount of money in their wallet. Let’s continue to work toward universal affordable, quality health care [22]."

In her address to the Democratic National Convention on August 14, 2000, Mrs. Clinton asserted that it is fiscally responsible for the United States government to stay out of debt. She stressed her support for the social programs, Social Security and Medicare, that were established during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt.

"We’ll never accomplish what we need to do for our children if we burden them with a debt they didn’t create. Franklin Roosevelt said that Americans of his generation had a rendezvous with destiny. Well, I think our generation has a rendezvous with responsibility. It’s time to protect the next generation by using our budget surplus to pay down the national debt, save Social Security, modernize Medicare with a prescription drug benefit, & provide targeted tax cuts to the families who need them most."

On February 13, 2005, at the Munich Conference on Security Policy, Senator Clinton outlined her support for a strong United Nations. "My first observation is simple but it must govern all that we do: The United Nations is an indispensable organization to all of us - despite its flaws and inefficiencies. This means quite simply, that everyone here today, and governments everywhere, must decide that our global interests are best served by strengthening the U.N., by reforming it, by cleaning up its obvious bureaucratic and managerial shortcomings, and by improving its responsiveness to crises, from humanitarian to political."

"At its founding in San Francisco sixty years ago, fifty members signed the Charter. Today, the U.N. has 191 members, and, quite frankly, many of them sometimes act against the interests of a stronger U.N., whether consciously or not, with alarming regularity. Since the U.N. is not, in the final analysis, an independent hierarchical organization, like for example a sports team or a corporation, but no more - or less - than a collection of its members, the U.N. becomes progressively weakened by such action. Ironically, "the U.N." - an abstraction that everyone from journalists to those of us in this room use in common discussions - is often blamed for the actions (or inactions) of its members.[23]"

In a speech on January 24, 2005, to the New York State Family Planning Providers, Senator Clinton outlined her stance on legalized abortion. "When I spoke to the conference on women in Beijing in 1995 -- ten years ago this year -- I spoke out against any government interfering with the reproductive rights and decisions of women and families. So we have a lot of experience from around the world that is a cautionary tale about what happens when a government substitutes its opinion for an individual's. There is no reason why government cannot do more to educate and inform and provide assistance so that the choice guaranteed under our constitution either does not ever have to be exercised or only in very rare circumstances."

Senator Clinton praised the role of moral values in preventing unwanted pregnancies while supporting continued research into the most effective means of preventing these pregnancies. "Research shows that the primary reason that teenage girls abstain is because of their religious and moral values. We should embrace this -- and support programs that reinforce the idea that abstinence at a young age is not just the smart thing to do, it is the right thing to do. But we should also recognize what works and what doesn't work, and to be fair, the jury is still out on the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs. I don't think this debate should be about ideology, it should be about facts and evidence."

On December 7, 2003, in an interview with John Roberts of CBS News, Senator Clinton expressed her opposition to gay marriage while affirming her support for civil unions. "I think that the vast majority of Americans find [gay marriage] to be something they can't agree with. But I think most Americans are fair. And if they believe that people in committed relationships want to share their lives and, not only that, have the same rights that I do in my marriage, to decide who I want to inherit my property or visit me in a hospital, I think that most Americans would think that that's fair and that should be done." [24]

In the same interview, Senator Clinton expressed opposition to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. "I think that would be a terrible step backwards. It would be the first time we've ever amended the Constitution to deny rights to people. And I think that should be left to the states. You know, I find it hard to believe in one program [health care] I'm agreeing with Newt Gingrich, now I'm about to agree with Dick Cheney. But I think Vice President Cheney's position on gay marriage is the right one."

Clinton is a prolific author. As First Lady, she wrote 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.

Her 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.

Other books released by Clinton as First Lady include An Invitation to the White House and Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets.

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.

In 1979, Hillary [then Rodham] Clinton's trades in cattle futures contracts generated criticism regarding conflict of interest. Her initial $1,000 investment generated $100,000 (a 10,000% return) [25]by the time she ceased trading ten months later. Chicago Mercantile Exchange records indicated that $40,000 of her profits came from larger trades ordered by someone else and shifted to her account, according to Leo Melamed, the former chair of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Her lawyer and friend, James Blair, an experienced futures trader, directed her trading. According to records, the commodities broker that facilitated the trades allowed Clinton to maintain her positions even though she did not have enough money in her account to cover her activity. He reportedly did so because her friend Blair was a good client. The firm was later fined for violating Chicago Mercantile Exchange rules governing margin trading. However, Melamed concluded that Clinton had not broken any rules.

Blair was outside counsel to Tyson Foods. While Hillary Clinton said she made the decisions, Blair made most of the trades. Her situation was not unique for 1979, when large profits and losses were common in the volatile futures market.

Clinton had maintained the name "Hillary Rodham" after marrying Bill Clinton. In 1980 Bill Clinton was defeated for reelection as governor of Arkansas. In 1982, during his successful campaign to regain the office, Hillary Rodham changed her last name to Clinton and was known as Hillary Clinton. [26]. When Bill Clinton won the presidential election in 1992, the new first lady changed her name to Hillary Rodham Clinton [27]. Some have claimed that Clinton changed her name for political reasons.

When Mrs. Clinton was involved in drafting health care legislation, critics called it inappropriate for a first lady to play a central role in matters of public policy. Supporters, by contrast, argued she was no different than other White House advisors. [28]

Her role as an active partner at Rose Law Firm would later become a critical factor during the Whitewater scandal, while her husband was President. While in Arkansas, the Clintons were partners with Jim and Susan McDougal in a real estate venture known as Whitewater. The McDougals also operated a savings and loan that retained Hillary Clinton's legal services at Rose Law Firm. When the McDougals' savings and loan failed in 1994, Federal investigators subpoenaed her legal billing records for auditing purposes. After an extensive, two-year search, Hillary Clinton's records were found in the First Lady's book room on the third floor of the White House and delivered to investigators in 1996. The mysterious appearance of the billing records sparked intense interest and another investigation about how they surfaced and where they had been. Shortly after the discovery of the records, Hillary Clinton made history -- she became the only First Lady ever called to testify before a Grand Jury inquiry.

Hillary Clinton testified before a grand jury on January 26, 1996 in the Whitewater scandal proceedings, initiated primarily by independent counsel Ken Starr, when billing records from Mrs. Clinton's former law practice, which had been the subject of various investigative subpoenas for two years, were discovered in the White House.[29] The investigations did not result in charges against Mrs. Clinton. Starr spent an estimated $40 million investigating President and Mrs. Clinton during the scandal.

The Whitewater investigation examined the suicide of Vince Foster. Critics of the Clintons had alleged that Foster's death was not a suicide and that it was connected to Whitewater. Starr's investigation, as well as investigations by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Park Police, concluded that Foster's death was a suicide.

The McDougals were jailed as a result of the federal investigations. Webster Hubbell from Arkansas, who also played a key role, pled guilty to felony charges of lying to federal investigators about Hillary's role in both Whitewater and the savings and loan failure. However, despite years of investigations during Clinton's presidency, neither President Clinton nor Mrs. Clinton were charged with any criminal activity. According to reports, the Clintons lost their financial investment in the Whitewater business projects.

Senator Clinton's 1996 book, It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us immediately rankled opponents, who claimed that all it takes is a family to raise a child. [30] Years later, Republican Senator Rick Santorum would title a book It Takes a Family in direct contrast to Clinton's. [31]. Clinton's supporters assert that detractors, who may not even have read the book, are rejecting the widely accepted truth that children rely on safe neighborhoods, good teachers, readily available health-care, and many other facets of "The Village" to be raised properly [32].

In 2000, two months after Hillary's election, President Clinton pardoned four residents of the New Square Hasidic enclave in Rockland County, New York, who had been convicted of defrauding the federal government; the New Square community had voted over 99 to 1 in favor of Mrs. Clinton, raising allegations of conflict of interest. A federal investigation launched by critics of the pardon cleared both Clintons of any illegal activity.

Senator Clinton came under criticism in 2004 after commenting on Mahatma Gandhi during a Democratic fund-raiser, saying that Gandhi was someone "who ran a gas station down in Saint Louis". Many took Clinton's words as stereotyping South Asians living in the United States. Clinton later apologized, stating she was making "a lame attempt at humor" and "admired the work and life of Mahatma Gandhi and had spoken publicly about that many times."[33] Michelle Naef, administrator of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence said she didn't think Clinton was trying to demean Mahatma Gandhi and credited both Clintons as long having supported the Gandhi message. However, Naef felt Hillary Clinton's remarks were offensive and could be "incredibly harmful".[34]

Senator Clinton's former finance director, David Rosen, was indicted on January 7 2005 on campaign finance charges related to a fund-raising event produced by Peter F. Paul. Paul, who was convicted on stock fraud charges after being extradited from Brazil, claims he spent $1.2 million (his numbers varied as the investigation into how he handled his other money progressed) to produce the "Hollywood tribute to honor President Clinton" event, which was both a tribute to honor President Clinton and to assist in raising funds for Senator Clinton's 2000 campaign. The Justice Department indictment charged Rosen with filing false reports with the Federal Election Commission by reporting only $400,000 in contributions, and fraudulent invoices. On May 27, 2005, the jury acquitted Rosen on all counts. [35]

Senator Clinton has a well-established national image that makes her future political aspirations a popular and highly controversial topic among media pundits, bloggers, and the public at large. In particular, she has been frequently discussed as a possible presidential candidate in 2008. For her part, Clinton has denied any Presidential ambitions, though in American politics such statements are often far from absolute.

Clinton is considered by some to be the only viable female potential candidate for the presidency in recent memory. The last female candidate for a major national office was Geraldine Ferraro for Vice President, running with Walter Mondale against Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in 1984 and losing in a landslide. Yet the Clinton political machine is considered by many to give Hillary an advantage.

Following the 2004 election cycle, Clinton began what critics saw as a movement to the political center, even aligning with Contract with America architect and former adversary Newt Gingrich in expressing a desire for health care reform. 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 90s. With this failure as a backdrop, her relationship with Gingrich is surprising. Many conservatives believe that these actions are an election ploy, though left-wing groups such as media watchdog Media Matters have offered evidence questioning whether there has been any shift in her positions at all. [36] [37]

After months of speculation, Clinton herself announced in November 2004 that she would run for a second term in the Senate in 2006. Confirming this in an article in The New York Times, her advisors and Congressional allies admit that this will further complicate an already contentious situation. One Congressional ally remarked that if Mrs. Clinton was perceived as a viable candidate for the 2008 nomination, "the whole Republican apparatus" would focus its attention on knocking her out of the Senate race in 2006 or at least damaging her politically. This proved to be an accurate prediction in February 2005, when 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." Meanwhile, neither Rudy Giuliani not Governor George Pataki has shown an interest in opposing Clinton in the Senate race. Possible Republican candidates include lawyer Ed Cox and Westchester District Attorney Jeannine Pirro.

In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted on May 26, 2005, when 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 the more recent poll, 55 percent of respondents held a favorable view of Senator Clinton, while 39 percent held an unfavorable view of her [38].

The public fascination with Clinton's role as first lady even extended to her personal appearance: Clinton's experiments with different hairstyles were documented at hillaryshair.com, now defunct, which was one of the more popular websites in the early days of the World Wide Web. [39]

• Andersen, Christopher. Bill and Hillary: The Marriage ISBN 0688167551
• Blumenthal, Sidney. The Clinton Wars. ISBN 0374125023
• Brock, David. The Seduction of Hillary Rodham. ISBN 0684834510
• Clinton, Bill. My Life. ISBN 0375414576
• Clinton, Hillary Rodham. It Takes a Village. ISBN 0684825457
• Clinton, Hillary Rodham. Living History. ISBN 0743222245
• Estrich, Susan. The Case for Hillary Clinton. ISBN 0060839880
• Conason, Joe and Lyons, Gene. The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton. ISBN 0684834510
• Klein, Edward, The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President. ISBN 1595230068
• Morris, Dick. Rewriting History. ISBN 0060736682
• Olson, Barbara, Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Regnery Publishing, 2001 (updated). ISBN 0895261979.
• Olson, Barbara, "The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House". ISBN 0895261677

• Senator Clinton's official web site
• FriendsOfHillary.com: Official 2006 Senate campaign website
• Biography of First Lady Clinton

• 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

• 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

• HillPAC - Presidential Race Exploratory Committee