Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Big Dreams Long before Hillary Clinton was an important leader in the United States, she was a little girl with big dreams. Hillary Rodham was born in 1947. She grew up near Chicago, Illinois. She was the oldest of three children. Hillary became a top student and won awards as a Girl Scout. She also served on the student council in high school.

Hillary grew up at a time when many Americans believed that only men should be firefighters, soldiers, and politicians. Men were supposed to earn money and be the head of the household in most families. Women were often expected to stay home and care for children. Hillary's father believed many of these ideas. He also saw that Hillary was very smart. He wanted her to be able to follow her dreams. Her mother told Hillary she would have to be tough and stand up for herself.

When Hillary was thirteen, she wrote to NASA and asked what she needed to do to become an astronaut. NASA wrote her back and said there would not be any female astronauts. The news made Hillary want to follow her dreams even more.

Lawyer, Wife, and Mother In 1965, Hillary went to college in Massachusetts. The more she learned, the more she wanted to help protect people from unfair treatment. After college, she decided to go to law school at Yale University.

In 1971, Rodham met someone special. A young man with bushy hair kept looking at her in the library. She introduced herself to him. His name was Bill Clinton. One day he would be elected president of the United States. Bill and Hillary started dating. She liked that he was not scared by how smart she was. Both Hillary and Bill had big plans. She wanted to work as a lawyer in Washington, D. C. He wanted to go into politics in his home state of Arkansas. In 1974, Hillary moved to Arkansas to be with Bill. They were married in 1975.