First Lady, Senator, Vice President of the United States, presidential candidate, these are only some of the most important milestones in the remarkable life of Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, who was born on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois.
In 1965, she earned a degree in Political Science from the prestigious Wellesley College. Hillary Clinton has built her political career as a member of the Democratic Party but, ironically, during her first year in college, she was elected president of Wellesley Young Republicans. If you’d like to find out more about the life of this remarkable woman, read on and enjoy our findings!
Hillary Clinton Interesting Facts
1. Hillary Clinton and The Rat’s Ass Case
Hillary Clinton’s first appearance in court as a practicing lawyer was in defense of a canning factory, one of whose customers had discovered the rear part of a rat in his can of pork and beans. The man claimed he had since become so nauseous that he had to constantly spit in a napkin.
Miss Clinton, however, maintained that since the rat’s hind part had been sterilized, no physical harm had been caused to the plaintiff. Apparently, her plea was so convincing that the poor man only won nominal damages, an interesting Hillary Clinton fact.
2. Hillary was part of the jury that tried to impeach Nixon
Richard Nixon appeared in court in 1974 following the Watergate scandal. Hillary Clinton was part of the team of lawyers and paralegal assistants who prepared the documents for the trial.
This previous experience must have been of great use to her when she found herself on the other side of the barricade trying to defend her husband, Bill, in the impeachment trial against him following the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
3. When Lewinskygate broke out, Hillary Firmly stood by her man
On December 19, 1998, Clinton became the second American president to be impeached. Although Hillary Clinton later said in an interview that “Bill was a hard dog to keep on the porch”, back then she firmly stood by her husband in those difficult times for the family.
4. It took Clinton two years to accept Bill’s marriage proposal
Hillary and Bill’s relationship began in 1971 when both of them were studying law at Yale. Their affair blossomed that summer, and Bill was so infatuated with her beauty and intellect that he dropped all plans he’d made for the summer and moved in with Hillary. She, however, was far more cautious and reasonable. She thus decided to continue his internship at a local law firm.
Hillary graduated from Yale in 1973, and then Bill proposed to her for the first time. However, she was not sure if she wanted to tie the knot with him or continue following her professional path independently. Her doubts persisted well into 1975 when she finally said “Yes”, an interesting fact about Hillary Clinton.
5. Hillary and Bill – together in marriage, but apart in faith
Hillary’s parents were conservative and went to the United Methodist Church. Consequently, their daughter also adopted their strident political views as well as their Methodist faith. Bill, on the other hand, was raised in a Southern Baptist family. So, although sharing the same bed, the Clintons go to different churches.
6. In 1978, Hillary made a small fortune by trading in highly volatile commodities
The year was 1978, and young Hillary had stashed some 1,000 dollars away for a rainy day. However, she took an unprecedented risk buying commodities futures at the stock exchange. An interesting fact about Hillary Clinton is that she sold these for nearly $100,000 and made a small fortune of her own.
Rumors later spread that she might have taken an unfair advantage of her position as a lawyer to predict this lucky turn of events. However, these allegations were never proven and were subsequently dropped. Eventually, Hillary’s trading career ended at the beginning of the 1980s.
7. What do Salman Rushdie and Hillary Clinton have in common?
Salman Rushdie is a British literary critic, novelist, and essayist, who is most famous for his controversial literary work Satanic Verses, in which he gives his own interpretation on the human aspect of the life of Muslim prophet Mouhammad. As a result, Iran’s then supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a Fatwa on Rushdie, which is a kind of informal death sentence.
Similarly, Hilary Clinton’s graduation thesis, a critique of the tactics of radical community organizer Saul Alinsky, acquired an almost mythical status and was hidden from the public eye for good. To this day, it is not available to public access in the archive of Wesley College.
8. Hillary’s name can be found among those of the Grammy winners
In 1997, Hillary Clinton won a Grammy in the Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album category for the audio version of her book It Takes a Village. This fact about Hillary Clinton comes to suggest that she’s got a deep and audience-winning voice that certainly helped her build a successful career as a lawyer.
9. Hillary’s run 2016
Had Hillary Clinton succeeded in her run at the 2016 Presidential Elections, she would have become the first woman to be elected President of the United States. Unfortunately, her charisma and the efforts of her devoted campaigners fell short of achieving the great goal.
Although she lost to Republicans’ candidate and incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump, her campaign will forever be remembered for its openness and candid talk. Not surprisingly, Hillary won the popular vote in most of the American states.
10. Hillary’s codename was Evergreen
During the term in office of her husband, Bill, Secret Service gave Hillary the codename Evergreen. This is indicative of the strength of her character and her profound optimism. Under the current legislation of the United States, the Clintons will be under Secret Service’s protection for life.
Conclusion
Hillary Clinton is probably one of the most influential women of our time. Although she grew up in a conservative family, she was a democrat at heart. Hillary and Bill Clinton are probably America’s second most-loved Presidential couple after John and Jackie Kennedy.
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