When Hillary officially earned enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee for president, the internet lit up with articles praising this great milestone, this outstanding achievement. But, what kind of milestones are we talking about here? First words? First steps? Something more? Let’s breakdown 4 milestones that Hillary has achieved by crossing that threshold of delegates.
1. First Woman to Win a Major Party Nomination
Yes, this is historic, whether we think she is the kind of woman that should go down in history or not. No woman in the history of the United States has won a major party nomination to be president. However, the woman who truly set the stage for Hillary Clinton’s nomination was Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be nominated to be the vice-presidential candidate of a major party. She was Walter Mondale’s VP when he lost to Ronald Reagan in 1984. Hillary is also not the first woman to EVER with a presidential nomination. In 1872, Victoria Woodhull was the Presidential Nominee for the Equal Rights Party and even this year, Jill Stein is the nominee for the Green Party.
2. First Former First Lady to Win a Party Nomination
Our country has an illustrious history of beautiful, poised and intellectual First Ladies, ranging from Martha Washington to Eleanor Roosevelt to Laura Bush. However, Hillary Clinton is the first woman to go from the First Lady Position and attempt to win the White House. Other First Ladies have devoted their lives to service, including the Bush family’s extensive work with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literary. In 1997, a Gallup poll reported that only 56% of people had a favorable opinion of Hillary as First Lady. A June 2016 Quinnipiac poll found that only 37% of people had a favorable opinion of her.
3. First person to run for president while under admitted FBI Investigation
Hillary Clinton and her emails, which she claims did not break any rules, have been the subject of an FBI investigation during the tenure of her 2016 campaign. Whether she wants to brag about it or not, Hillary does break barriers by becoming the first person, and woman, to run for president while being actively investigated by the FBI for breaking a law. Let’s not forget that that law was broken, repeatedly, while she was serving as Secretary of State. A recent Fox News report also found that, despite her protestations, some of the information that Hillary sent WAS marked classified at the time she sent it.
4. First College Republican to Win Democratic Nomination
Hillary Clinton is an inspiration to so many of us College Republicans on campus. If we stick to it as well, perhaps we can be president! Wait, she switched parties? It’s a little known fact that Hillary Clinton was the president of her Young Republicans group at Wellesley College. She was also a Goldwater Girl in the 1960s, supporting Presidential Candidate, Republican Barry Goldwater. Now, she’s claiming she’s the antithesis of a Republican and running in the same party as a declared Socialist.
That’s right, ladies and gentleman. Hillary certainly has achieved some major milestones, but not all of them are ones she should be proud of. The world is watching her closely, and you can be sure that Future Female Leaders will be keeping you up to date with her latest scandals and missteps every step of the way.
