Even though it is still 2014, the rumor mills for the 2016 presidential election are already cranking out speculative stories about who will run and what their chances of getting the nomination are. Right now, Hillary Clinton is without a doubt the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Her political network is one of, if not the, strongest in recent memory for a potential presidential candidate. Despite all of this, there are still some lingering questions about who she is. The public is also still deciding exactly what they think of her. It is important to take a look at the real Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Anyone who follows the general news or has any interest in history will be able to recognize the Clinton name. That is because of her husband, William Jefferson Clinton, who was the 42nd president of the United States, in office from 1993-2001. His administration oversaw the greatest peacetime expansion of the US economy; however, his administration also oversaw quite a bit of scandal that ranged from his sexual scandal with a White House secretary, Monica Lewinsky. Throughout Clinton’s presidency, Hillary was an integral part of the administration, sometimes even grappling with Vice President Albert Gore for power over the administration’s policy.
Her public profile saw both negative and positive reactions to the Lewinsky scandal. Some saw it as a disgrace to women all over the United States. Macon Sheppard ’15, said, “I was not personally around during the scandal, but I know that if I was, I think that the fact that Hillary did not leave Bill makes it seem okay for men to cheat on women, and that would go against my views of ardent gender equality in a world where men have always gotten the better of women.” Of course the other side of this argument is that Hillary Clinton’s loyalty to Bill during such a tumultuous time was admirable.

Right after Bill Clinton’s second term ended, Hillary immediately campaigned for and won a seat in the United States Senate for the Empire State. During this time, there was more criticism directed her way as political opponents declared her a “carpetbagger,” a reference to the northern Republican politicians that flocked down to the South and filled up their governmental seats right after the Civil War, because of the fact that Hillary had lived in Arkansas before, and her family just bought a house in New York so she could fulfill the residency requirement to run for Senate. After the initial criticism, she became an extremely experienced and stately politician in the US Senate. Her time spent actually forming legislation hardened her already glowing résumé.

Hillary had always had her eye on the presidency. She decided to run for the Democratic nomination in 2008, and initially, she was seen as the runaway favorite in a field that included the 2004 VP nominee and current national embarrassment, North Carolina senator John Edwards, a little known first-term senator from Illinois who had delivered a tremendous speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention; and the seven-term senator from Delaware, Joe Biden. The primary turned out to be the most interesting and exciting election in memory, as the first-term senator Barack Obama somehow used a message of hope and change to usurp the seasoned and experienced Hillary Clinton from the nomination.

President Obama had read all 800 plus pages of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s acclaimed book, Team of Rivals, and he knew that to have a successful administration, he would need to enlist all of his enemies from the primary to fill out cabinet spots to make sure his administration would be filled with the most qualified politicians. On the tarmac of a runway after winning the election, he made a call to Hillary Clinton to offer her the most prestigious position in the US government after Vice President. Clinton hesitantly accepted and became the Secretary of State for the administration. Her performance as Secretary of State has been both applauded and booed.

Terrence Dai ’15 said, “Benghazi was the biggest disgrace this country has seen since Pearl Harbor. I still cannot believe that one American died in a town in a country that literally had an anarchist government. Believe me, I like anarchy, but I can’t support it if Americans are harmed.” Dai’s views match those of many other Americans, especially Republicans, who say that Clinton botched the Benghazi scandal, in which the American diplomat to Libya was killed by terrorists who attacked the American embassy in Benghazi.

Other students, like Ian Furman ’15, support her performance. Furman said, “Hillary’s condemnation of Azerbaijan’s human rights abuses really inspired me because it shows that the world still cares about the common Azerbaijani.” Furman described a view more consistent with liberals who see Hillary as a champion of women’s and also human rights around the world.

Overall, Hillary Clinton is a very polarizing figure. Some like her and some do not. As Jake Erkskine ’15 said, “Americans have the right to decide.”
Other possible 2016 Democratic candidates include Delaware’s Joe Biden and New York’s Andrew Coumo. Republican candidates include Maryland’s John R. Bolton and New Jersey’s Chris Christie.