When I was in fifth grade, I decided Hillary Clinton was my favorite First Lady and wrote my first ever “big kid report” on her. She was making her first run for president at the time, and I told anyone that would listen that if she would be the first woman president, I would be the second.
Clinton, of course, lost the nomination and is now making her second attempt at the presidency. In recent years, she has lost the trust of many Americans, and I can’t say I blame them. The scandal concerning her private email server when dealing with the aftermath of the Benghazi attack is enough to make anyone a bit wary of making her the supreme leader of our country.
While I, too, have my doubts, as a woman I can’t help but continue to admire Clinton for her undeniable grit and perseverance.
She took on her role as first lady when her husband was elected in 1993, and used the platform it gave her to promote family-related policies and women’s rights on a global scale. Unlike the first ladies before her, Clinton embraced the political side of the job and used it as a way to spark her career as a politician at the federal level.
As a politician, she has been a woman playing a man’s game throughout her entire career. When she first became a senator in 2001, she was one of only 13 women in the Senate. When President Obama chose her as Secretary of State, she became only the third woman to hold the position. In her presidential bids, she has fought against men for nominations time and time again. Despite constantly being in a testosterone-soaked environment, she has held strong and proved herself plenty capable to hold her own at the policy table.
She has also held strong against the media. In a society where women are obsessively critiqued on their looks, she faces constant criticism on everything from her haircut to the color of her pantsuit to how she has aged. The constant scrutiny and the pressure of the spotlight that comes with being in the public eye has never publicly affected her. The ever-vigilant cameras never got the satisfaction of seeing her break down.
Now, as the eyes of America are on her again, she fights what has been referred to as a “witch hunt” against her due to the email controversy while campaigning for president. Against all odds, she is winning the primary race to the Democratic nomination, which she looks to secure soon.
Hillary Clinton’s strength in the face of adversity, determination and refusal to let men tell her what she can do is inspiring to women around the world. Despite what we may think of the ethics of her email usage, she is an incredibly accomplished woman that can easily serve as a role model for girls and boys alike.
Since the fifth grade, my ambitions have changed, and I no longer plan on running for president myself. However, I hope in my lifetime I can see a woman in office. If America decides Clinton is the woman for the job, so be it. If not, we still need to give her the respect she deserves as a woman who has thrived in a society set on dragging her down.
