Top 10 facts about Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton is one of the many popular American political figures who have made history for herself and country. Clinton is quite a popular figure in the world having been first lady and US Secretary of State under President Barack Obama. From the Arkansas State house to Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton has been a trailblazer for women in politics. These are the top 10 facts about Hillary that will take your breath away.
#10: First female nominee of a major US political party
Hillary Clinton
More than nine years after launching her first presidential bid, Hillary Clinton was formally nominated presidential nominee of the Democratic National Convention. Clinton’s success did not come lightly. She finally managed to clutch the top spot after an opening night marked by resistance from die-hard supporters of Democratic runner-up, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Clinton finally won the top coveted spot in the Democratic party after a pair of grueling primary contests stretching over two election cycles. Her first run for the presidency, announced in January 2007, ended in a bitter loss to then Senator Barack Obama in a Democratic primary that stretched into the summer of the election year.
#9: First “first lady” to ever win a public office seat.
Hillary Clinton
After subjecting Barack Obama to verbal abuse, Hillary Clinton was pacified with the job of the Secretary of State after losing the Democratic Presidential race bitterly to Barack Obama. Clinton’s party debate with Obama was arguably the most contested battle in decades for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination. But when the dust settled, Hillary called a truce and to somehow award her loyalty or possibly vaporize her aspirations of ever being a threat to him, Obama gladly tossed the position of the Secretary of State to the former First lady making Hillary Clinton the first former first lady to have held a public office and the only at the time of this post.
#8: She wanted to “wring Bill’s neck” after discovering his husband’s intimate relation with Monica Lewinsky.
Bill and Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton fell victim to the same scandal that has plagued big men in the past – sexual misconduct. The former President had an immoral affair with a 21-year-old college grad who was an intern in the office of the President’s Chief of Staff Leon Panetta.
In 1995, Monica Lewinsky, the lady in question, moved to Washington, D.C.. Monica had been able to land the unpaid internship with the help of a family connection.
Unbeknownst to Hillary Clinton, relation between Lewinsky and Bill happened quickly from that point, as it was the same year she began a relationship with the President that would last about two years and lead to an epoch-shaping scandal.
After denying the incident for months, some extracts from Hillary’s memoir revealed that his husband finally confirmed that the story was true.
According to Hillary, after asking persistently without any productive answer, her husband one day “just stood there saying over and over again, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I was trying to protect you and Chelsea’.”
Clinton claimed she felt like wringing the neck of her husband at that spot.
#7: She used a private email server while Secretary of State.
Hillary Clinton addresses the media on her use of a private mail server
Hillary Clinton set up an email server at her home in Chappaqua, New York instead of using the servers of the US government for all national transactions. Hillary reportedly used this home server which was home to the email address hdr22@clintonemail.com for her personal and work-related correspondence. And this was the norm for the four years she was in office as the Secretary of State. Hillary’s email server reportedly violated state department rules.
Later findings by a State department internal watchdog found out that Hillary clearly broke department rules when she used email for government business.
The highly critical report was released by the department’s inspector general and sent to Capitol Hill.
Opposition candidate, Donald Trump seized on this to step up attacks and lambast Clinton questioning the trustworthiness of Hillary Clinton.
#6: She was turned down by NASA because she was a female.
Hillary Clinton
It is not too surprising that Hillary Clinton has become an iconic figure in the campgaign agianst gender inequality since she has literally suffered at the edge of its sword. In her 2003 Memoir, Living History, Hillary Clinton said that around 1961 as a 14-year-old she wrote a letter to the NASA space agency. She expressed her interest in becoming an astronaut but received a letter back saying they didn’t accept girls onto their astronaut program, which left her ‘infuriated’.
#5: Hillary had her own office in the West Wing during her husband’s presidency.
Fewer women get the chance to be the first lady of their country but not everyone is given the liberty to set up their own office right at their husband’s side. Hillary Clinton was the only First Lady to have an office in the West Wing of the White House, working next to offices housed by President Bill Clinton’s senior staff.
#4: Hillary isn’t a born Democrat. She was once a Republican.
Hillary Clinton
It is interesting to note that the former First Lady and wife to a Democratic President was once a Republican. It is even more amazing to realize that Clinton has once become the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in an election where she lost to Republican Donald Trump. But how many know that Hillary was once a Republican and campaigned for Barry Goldwater in 1964? Clinton only switched parties in 1968 and went on to work for Democratic nominee George McGovern in 1972 and Jimmy Carter in 1976.
#3: She was code-named “Evergreen” by the US Secret Service.
US Secret Service patrols white house
The US Secret Service is the security agency tasked with protecting the President of the United States and his family.
First families get their Secret Service code names at the very beginning of a presidential campaign. Though the names are for security purposes, some stand out as particularly appropriate for the given president, first lady, or first child.
During her time as First Lady, she was given the codename Evergreen by the Secret Service. She still maintains the same condename during her campaigns for Presidency.
#2: She spent 25% of her time travelling as Secretary of State.
Hillary Clinton meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
During her time as the US Secretary of State, Hillary traveled to a whooping 112 countries, flew 1 million miles. That was about 25% of her time traveling. She did all this in just a 4-year term as the Secretary of State.
#1: Hillary Clinton was rumored to be a lesbian.
Hillary Clinton
President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House on a single charge of incitement of insurrection for his role in a riot by his supporters that left five dead and the Capitol ransacked, putting an indelible stain on his legacy with only a week left in his term.
US law makers historically voted 232-197 to remove the president from power. The vote makes Trump the only U.S. president to be impeached twice, a little more than a year since his first. It was supported by all Democrats and 10 Republicans, including Liz Cheney, the third-ranking GOP leader in the House.
Before the vote, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said “We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection”. She called Trump “a clear and present danger to this country that we all love.”
Which of the facts did you find amazing? Did we miss any fact worth mentioning? Don’t be shy – nail it down in the comment section below.