Everybody thinks they know Hillary Clinton. But whether you support her or revile her, how much do you really know about this person who has been a huge figure in American politics for decades? In the interview, she described herself as the best known and least known person in America. In what we hope will be the first of several interviews, Chris Ryan got Hillary Clinton to reveal her thoughts about a number of topics, including her goals for our country on the eve of Independence Day; her middle class upbringing; a one and only blind date with a Dartmouth student when she was a student at Wellesley College; and her assessment about which president most influenced how she would lead the country.
Hillary Clinton opened up about her background. She shared that her mother left a life of poverty to become a house maid at age fourteen. That’s probably why her mother adored and valued education. Her father was the son of a factory worker who ran a small business. Her childhood home was comfortable but not extravagant. Hillary received a quality public school education, went to prestigious Wellesley College, and had to take out college loans to pay for Yale Law School. In her well attended speech at Dartmouth College on Friday, she mentioned that she visited the campus forty years ago on a blind date as part of a winter carnival. When Chris pressed her for more details about this pre-Bill Clinton date, she gave her famous laugh and artfully sidestepped the question by stating that it was a memorable experience but only one date.
She is genuinely proud of the progress that America has made in providing equality, freedom, and human rights–more than any other country in the world. Secretary Clinton believes that we have been given a great gift which requires constant effort to improve, to break down barriers of equality and to provide more economic opportunities. Her goal is for the economy and the government to work for everybody again. In the area of gender equality, Mrs. Clinton cited that women’s health issues continue to be a political football, equal pay concerns are still there, and the need for family leave and quality, affordable childcare continue to be important problems for women.
In closing, Hillary Clinton was asked which president most influenced how she would lead the country. Surprisingly, she gave credit to several Republicans–Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower for establishing our interstate highway system and Richard Nixon for creating the Environmental Protection Agency. However, Franklin Roosevelt received her vote for his efforts to bring the country through the Great Depression and his leadership in overcoming the difficulties of a two front war in World War II.
