However you voted in the 2016 US Presidential Election, you gotta hand it to Hillary Rodham Clinton for being the first woman to make such a huge play for the office on behalf of a major political party.. and very nearly succeed.
Even though she didn’t win (which some of us maintain was due to a ridiculous technicality), she still broke some serious glass ceilings and old molds for women and girls the whole nation (and the world) over.
And this isn’t new for Hillary Clinton either. She’s been a pioneer and fighter for women’s rights her entire career.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Hillary became an advocate for kids and families at the Children’s Defense Fund.
As First Lady of Arkansas, she helped start Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
As First Lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton led the U.S. delegation to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing 20 years ago in September 1995, where she famously proclaimed that “human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.”
She also advocated for the Family and Medical Leave Act, worked to increase funding for childcare, and helped start the National Campaign to End Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
As the Senator from New York, Hillary championed access to emergency contraception and voted in favor of strengthening a woman’s right to make her own health decisions. She also championed the Paycheck Fairness Act and co-sponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She fought for legislation to guarantee paid sick leave and paid parental leave for all federal employees.
And most recently, as Secretary of State, she took the fight even further to make women’s rights a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.
Believe what you want about her politics or her qualifications to be President of the United States. But there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind about her merit as a true Tough Cookie.
As Hillary Clinton’s office states loud and clear on their website, “She has been fighting for women and girls her entire career, and she’s just getting started.”
We’re very excited to see what she does next!
