Biography of
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 26, 1947, daughter of Dorothy Rodham and the late Hugh Rodham. She and her two younger brothers grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, as part of a close-knit family. After graduating from Wellesley College in 1969, Hillary enrolled in Yale Law School, where she developed her strong concern for protecting the interests of children and families, and met Bill Clinton, a fellow student.
Hillary married Bill Clinton in 1975. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980. While her husband served as governor of Arkansas, Hillary founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, introduced Arkansas' Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth, and worked tirelessly on behalf of children and families, all while practicing law in Little Rock.
Upon taking office in 1993, President Clinton made health care reform one of the highest priorities of his Administration. He asked the First Lady to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, and she continues to be a leading advocate for improving health care quality and providing health insurance for uninsured and underinsured. Her deep commitment to children had led the First Lady to champion an ambitious effort to increase immunizations for preschool-age children, push for an expansion of childrenšs health insurance coverage, advocate for innovative prenatal care, and raise awareness of the impact of tobacco on children.
In 1996, the First Lady authored It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us, a nation call for all sectors of society to take responsibility for our children. In her book, the First Lady emphasizes that while parents are the most important influence in their childrenšs lives, society also plays an important role primary responsibility for rearing their children, ultimately children will thrive only if all of society provides for them. In addition, since 1995, the First Lady has penned a weekly syndicated newspaper column, "Talking It Over". In this column, she draws upon her experience as First Lady and on her observations of women, children, and families she has met across the country and around the world.
In 1997, the First Lady, along with the President, hosted two important conferences on children's issues. The First Lady played a strong role at the White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning, where experts highlighted the critical importance of children's earliest years to their later success. The White House Conference on Child Care drew attention to the struggles our nation's working parents face in finding child care they can afford, trust and rely on. The conference played an important role in developing the President's historic child care initiative-- the largest investment in child care in our nation's history--to make child care better, safer, and more affordable for America's working families.
The First Lady has also worked tirelessly to reform our nation's foster care system and promote adoption. Through meetings with adoptive families and children in foster care, writings and speeches, the First Lady has focused on making it easier for children to move from foster care to permanent homes, and is increasing the number of adoptions. The First Lady played an important role in legislative reform, and was central to the passage of the Adoption and Safe Family Act in 1977.
In addition to her work at home, the First Lady serves as a goodwill ambassador for the United States during her visits abroad. From Europe to Asia, Africa to Latin America, the First Lady takes her message of human rights, health care, and economic empowerment for women across the globe. On these trips, the First Lady advocates for human rights, highlights microcredit loans as a means to empower both individuals and communities, and promotes international health care with an emphasis on family planning and child care.
Like her predecessors, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton brings to the role of First Lady of the United States her own special talents, experience, style and interests.
Graduation 1998
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Harvard Medical Web
Created: June 4, 1998