A Girl Named Hillary

Never Give Up

After eight years as first lady, Hillary became one of thirteen women in the U.S. Senate. Hillary was the first wife of a president to be elected to the Senate, and the first female senator from New York. She worked in the Senate for eight years before running for president in 2008 as the Democratic nominee. Hillary lost the first stage of the election, the primary, and Senator Barack Obama was chosen to run instead.

Soon after Obama was elected president, he asked her to be his Secretary of State. It would be Hillary’s job to help countries around the world try to solve problems. She fought for women’s rights and worked to improve the lives of people in poor countries that didn’t have food or access to medical care. In four years, Hillary visited 112 countries, more than any other Secretary of State in history.

Although Hillary always gives her all to everything she does, it doesn’t mean she always succeeds. She ran again for president of the United States in 2016 and didn’t win. Even though she lost the election, her nomination was still an enormous victory for women.

Hillary wanted young people to know the importance of believing in themselves. The message she focused on after her defeat was this: whether you’ve won or lost, never, ever give up. As she said, “To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”