Lawyer, first lady, United States senator. Born October 26, 1947, in Park Ridge, Illinois. The daughter of a prosperous fabric store owner, she graduated from Wellesley College (1969) and Yale University Law School (1973). In 1975 she married Bill Clinton, a fellow Yale Law School graduate. She practiced law while he became attorney general and then governor of Arkansas. During this time Rodham Clinton gained a national reputation for her contributions to issues of women's and children's rights and public education, through her publications, public advocacies, and court cases. In 1991, before most Americans had heard of her, The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in America.
During the 1992 presidential campaign, Rodham Clinton emerged as the dynamic and valued partner of her husband, and as president he named her to head the Task Force on National Health Reform (1993). Inevitably there were charges of everything from old-fashioned nepotism to new-fashioned feminism, and she became the butt of both good-natured humor and vicious accusations. Less partisan observers recognized her as simply an example of a new American woman. During the President's impeachment trial in 1998, Rodham Clinton earned praise for "standing by her man." In the summer of 1999, after much speculation, she formed an exploratory committee to prepare for a possible Senate bid in 2000, representing New York. In order to counteract attacks by her likely opponent, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Rodham Clinton spent time on "listening tours" of New York; in September the Clintons purchased a house in Chappaqua, a town in New York's Westchester County. Rodham Clinton formally entered the senatorial race in February 2000. After Giuliani withdrew from the Senate race in May 2000 to concentrate on his battle with prostate cancer, Clinton faced a tough race with Long Island U.S. Representative Rick Lazio. She won the Democratic nomination on May 16. On November 7, 2000, Rodham Clinton became the first sitting first lady to win elective office when she was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. She was sworn in at the opening of the 107th Congress on January 3, 2001. The Clintons have one daughter, Chelsea, who graduated from Stanford University in 2001. .