Hillary Clinton Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here’s a look at the life of Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic nominee for President. The first woman in American history to be nominated by a major party, Clinton is also a former secretary of state.
Personal
Birth date: October 26, 1947
Birth place: Chicago, Illinois
Birth name: Hillary Diane Rodham
Father: Hugh Rodham, a businessman
Mother: Dorothy (Howell) Rodham
Marriage: Bill Clinton (October 11, 1975-present)
Children: Chelsea
Education: Wellesley College, B.A., 1969; Yale University Law School, J.D., 1973
Religion: Methodist
Other Facts
Hillary and Bill Clinton met in the Yale Law Library in the early 1970s.
The first former First Lady to be elected to the US Senate and to hold a federal cabinet-level position.
Timeline
1964 – Works on the presidential campaign of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater.
1968 – Switches to the Democratic Party and campaigns for Eugene McCarthy.
1970 – Works as a summer intern for civil rights lawyer Marian Wright Edelman.
1973-1974 – Works as an attorney for the Children’s Defense Fund.
January 1974 – Begins working for John Doar, the special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, who oversees the inquiry into the possible impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
August 1974 – Moves to Arkansas to teach at the University of Arkansas School of Law.
1974-1977 – Director of Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Arkansas School of Law.
1974-1977 and 1979-1980 – Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.
1976-1992 – Attorney at Rose Law Firm, Little Rock, Arkansas. Is named partner in 1979.
1978 – President Jimmy Carter appoints Clinton to the board of directors of the Legal Services Corp., an organization that provides federal funds to legal-aid bureaus throughout the United States.
1978 – Bill Clinton is elected governor of Arkansas. Hillary Clinton continues to work at Rose Law Firm, making her the first First Lady of Arkansas to continue working while her husband is governor.
1979 – Governor Clinton appoints her chairperson of the Rural Health Advisory Committee, whose members deal with the issue of providing health care in isolated areas.
1979 – The Whitewater Development Corp. is formed by the Clintons and James and Susan McDougal.
1980 – Governor Clinton loses the 1980 gubernatorial election. He returns to office in 1982, and is reelected in 1984, 1986 and 1990.
1983 – Governor Clinton appoints his wife to head the Arkansas Education Standards Committee.
1988 and 1991 – Hillary Clinton is named one of the 100 most influential US lawyers by the National Law Journal.
1992 – Bill Clinton is elected president.
January 1993 – The president names Clinton to lead the Task Force on National Health Care Reform.
September 28, 1993 – Testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee in support of President Clinton’s health care package. The health care reform bill is later defeated by Congress.
February 6, 2000 – Announces her candidacy for the US Senate.
May 16, 2000 – Accepts the nomination of the New York State Democratic Party for the US Senate.
September 20, 2000 – Independent counsel Robert Ray announces that the evidence found in the Whitewater case is insufficient to prove that the Clintons knowingly participated in any criminal conduct.
November 7, 2000 – Is elected to the US Senate with 56% of the vote.
February 13, 2001 – Makes her first address on the floor of the Senate.
June 9, 2003 – Her memoir, “Living History,” is published. The book sells over 200,000 copies on its first day of release.
November 7, 2006 – Clinton is reelected for a second term.
January 20, 2007 – Announces she is creating an exploratory committee for the 2008 presidential race.
January 8, 2008 – Wins the New Hampshire Democratic primary with 39% of the vote.
June 7, 2008 – Suspends her presidential campaign and endorses Barack Obama.
August 27, 2008 – Clinton is formally nominated as a candidate for president at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. She receives 341 votes before interrupting the roll call to ask that Obama be nominated by acclamation.
January 21, 2009 – Is confirmed as secretary of state.
October 15, 2012 – During an interview with CNN, Clinton takes responsibility for the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. She claims as head of the State Department the security of more than 60,000 people in 275 posts is her responsibility.
December 15, 2012 – Sustains a concussion after becoming dehydrated and fainting.
December 30, 2012 – Is hospitalized after doctors discover a blood clot during a follow-up exam related to the concussion. Doctors announce on December 31 that the clot is located in between Clinton’s brain and skull, but they are confident she will make a full recovery.
January 2, 2013 – Is released from the hospital.
January 23, 2013 – Secretary Clinton testifies for more than five hours before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
February 1, 2013 – Resigns as secretary of state.
March 18, 2013 – Clinton announces that she supports marriage rights for same-sex couples. In the 2008 presidential primaries she supported civil unions and partner benefits, but not same-sex marriage.
March 2, 2015 – The New York Times reports that Clinton exclusively used a personal email account during her time as secretary of state. The account, fed through its own server, raises security and preservation concerns. The House committee investigating the attack on the US consulate in Libya discovered the personal account when the Department of State — through Clinton — provided those emails to the committee.
March 10, 2015 – During a press conference, Clinton says she used a private domain for her official work during her time at the State Department out of “convenience,” but admits in retrospect “it would have been better” to use multiple emails.
April 12, 2015 – Clinton officially announces a second bid for the White House. The initial word comes in an email to supporters from John Podesta, a longtime Clinton ally, then a video launched on YouTube and a newly minted Facebook page. Shortly after declaring her candidacy for president, she resigns from the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation’s board of directors, according to foundation officials.
August 11, 2015 – Clinton’s spokesman announces that she will turn over her private email server and a flash drive to Justice Department officials, as an ongoing probe into the handling of classified information continues. Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III notifies Congress that two of Clinton’s emails contained top secret materials.
October 22, 2015 – Clinton testifies for 11 hours before the congressional panel investigating the attacks on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, that led to the deaths of four Americans.
May 25, 2016 – A State Department Inspector General report states that Clinton failed to follow the rules or inform key department staff regarding her use of a private email server, according to a copy of the report obtained by CNN.
June 6, 2016 – According to CNN’s delegate and superdelegate count, Clinton has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination and will become the first woman in the history of the United States to lead the presidential ticket of a major political party.
July 5, 2016 – FBI Director James Comey states that he would not recommend charges against Clinton for her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state. However, Comey does note that Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless” handling classified information.
July 6, 2016 – US Attorney General Loretta Lynch makes it official that Clinton will not be charged for her use of a personal email server during her tenure as secretary of state.
July 22, 2016 – Names US Senator Tim Kaine as her vice-presidential running mate.
July 26, 2016 – Officially becomes the Democratic Party nominee for president.
October 28, 2016 – In a letter to Congress, Comey says the FBI is reviewing new emails related to Clinton’s time as secretary of state, according to a letter sent to eight congressional committee chairmen. The emails are discovered as part of an investigation into Anthony Weiner and were sent or received by Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
November 6, 2016 – Based on a review of the newly discovered emails, Comey tells lawmakers that the agency has not changed its opinion that Clinton should not face criminal charges.
November 8, 2016 – Loses her bid to become the first woman president of the United States.
September 12, 2017 – Her third memoir, “What Happened,” is published, which explores the events of the 2016 presidential election. She reflects on the FBI investigation into her private email server, Russian meddling, and fellow candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, as well as her marriage to Bill Clinton.
March 27, 2018 – The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismisses a wrongful death lawsuit against Clinton brought by the parents of two of the Americans killed in the Benghazi terror attack. The parents claimed that Islamic terrorists intercepted information from messages Clinton had sent using a private email server, which they then used to orchestrate and execute the attack, resulting in the death of their sons.
October 1, 2019 – “The Book of Gutsy Women,” co-written with her daughter, Chelsea, is published.
October 17, 2019 – In a podcast interview, Clinton suggests that the Russians are “grooming” a current Democratic presidential candidate to run as a third-party and champion their interests. The comment appears to be directed at Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has previously been accused of being boosted by Russia. In her response, Gabbard calls Clinton “the queen of warmongers,” and concluded, “It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.”
October 18, 2019 – The State Department releases details of an investigation saying that there was no “persuasive evidence” of widespread mishandling of classified information in the controversy surrounding Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.
January 22, 2020 – Gabbard files a defamation lawsuit against Clinton, alleging that she “lied” about Gabbard’s ties to Russia. The lawsuit is dropped May 27.
September 29, 2020 – Clinton’s podcast, “You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton,” launches via iHeartMedia, the company producing the series.
October 12, 2021 – “State of Terror,” co-written with novelist Louise Penny, is published.
March 22, 2022 – Announces that she has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.
September 9, 2022 – Apple TV premiers Clinton and her daughter Chelsea’s eight-episode documentary series, “Gutsy.”
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