Hillary Rodham Clinton is the junior U.S. Senator from New York, and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.
She is married to Bill Clinton — the 42nd President of the U.S. —and was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001.
A native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham attracted national attention in 1969 when she delivered a controversial address as the first student to speak at commencement at Wellesley.
Hillary Rodham Clinton began her career as a lawyer after graduating from Yale Law School in 1973, moving to Arkansas and marrying Bill Clinton in 1975, following her career as a Congressional legal counsel.
She was the First Lady of Arkansas from 1979-1981 and 1983-1992, was active in a number of organizations concerned with the welfare of children, and was on the board of Wal-Mart and several other corporations.
As First Lady of the United States, she took a prominent position in policy matters. Her major initiative, the Clinton health care plan, failed to gain approval by the U.S. Congress in 1994, but in 1997 she helped establish the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the Adoption and Safe Families Act.
Hillary Clinton also became the only First Lady to be subpoenaed before a federal grand jury as a consequence of her alleged role in the 1996 Whitewater scandal.
She was never charged with any wrongdoing in this or several other investigations during her husband's administration, though the state of her marriage to Bill Clinton was the subject of considerable public discussion following the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998.
Moving to New York, Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, the first time a first lady ran for public office, and becoming the first female senator from the Empire State.She initially supported the George W. Bush administration on some foreign policy issues, which included voting for the Iraq War Resolution. She has subsequently opposed the administration on its conduct of the Iraq War.
Hillary Clinton was re-elected by a wide margin in 2006. Long considered a polarizing figure in politics, she is the first woman in U.S. history with a strong chance of being elected president.
During 2007 she was consistently ranked as the front-runner in national polls, though as the 2008 primaries begin, she is in an unexpectedly tight race with Senator Barack Obama.
THE MARATHON
Barack Obama: 1,866
Hillary Clinton: 1,697
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Magic Number: 2,025
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NOTE: Above figures include superdelegates, which are estimates and subject to change
THE NOMINEE
John McCain: 1,331
THE VANQUISHED
Mike Huckabee: 267
Mitt Romney: 255
Ron Paul: 21
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Magic Number: 1,191
Total Delegates: 2,380
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