Hilary Clinton 2016: What Can She Bring to the Presidency?
Hillary Rodham Clinton has been engaging with the media for over a week now only to promote her latest book "Hard Choices." And each time she appears, she gets asked the familiar question: "Will you run for president in 2016?" Clinton and her husband has neither confirmed nor denied if she will run.
Perhaps in the beginning of Hillary Clinton's political life, she was just the First Lady of the U.S. (FLOTUS) to former U.S. President Bill Clinton. During that time and up until now, Hillary has perhaps proven what she can do and bring to the office of the presidency.
In her aforementioned book, she discusses the crises and challenges that she faced during her four-years as U.S.'s 67th Secretary of State. And how that time and those experiences that she gained drove her view of the future. The former Secretary of State and former FLOTUS' experiences could prepare for her next wishful step back into the White House, but as Commander-In-Chief.
While Hillary Clinton was FLOTUS, her accomplishments included fighting for children's rights: Clinton advocated for the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. This program provided state support for children whose parents could not afford to cover them with health insurance. And Clinton played a leading role in the creation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act, US News reported.
Clinton as FLOTUS fought for women's and men's rights: she promoted and encouraged older women to seek mammograms for early detection of breast cancer; and she successfully sought to increase funding for research in prostate cancer at the National Institutes of Health.
And Clinton fought for the military: She worked with the investigation to review the illness of Gulf War Syndrome. This was reportedly affecting Veterans of the Gulf War. This is just to name a few of the things that Clinton accomplished as FLOTUS.
As Secretary of State from 2009-2013, Clinton broke records. She visited 112 countries with the intent to restore the U.S.'s deteriorating image and influence. Clinton's advocacy experience as FLOTUS extended itself to influencing an expanded role in global economic issues for the State Department, US News reported. Clinton cited that there was a need for a growing U.S. diplomatic presence, especially in places like Iraq.
Clinton opened the Global Hunger and Food Security program; she presided over U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to send an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan; she helped the president in making principal decisions about the U.S.'s position in regards to the revolution in Egypt; and she was involved in the decision making process to use military force in Libya, US News reported.
During her tenure as Secretary of State, Clinton broke flying records. She spent 351 days on the road, had traveled to 102 countries, and according to the State Department she flew almost a million miles (843,839 miles), Politico reported.
Clinton even broke Madeleine Albright's record; Albright traveled for a total of 98 days, Clinton traveled for 100. Clinton's last trip back in 2012 was described as: "France-Afghanistan-Japan-Mongolia-Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia-Egypt-Israel," Politico reported.
Clinton's current political poll numbers put her at a strong advantage for running as the President of the United States (POTUS). In the swing State of Ohio, Clinton leads against a number of potential GOP presidential candidates, MSNBC reported.
The poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, indicated that Clinton could win Ohio's vote against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 46 percent to 37 percent respectively; against Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 37 percent to 48 percent in Clinton's favor; and against Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul with 46 percent to 42 percent, MSNBC reported.
If Clinton is not going to run for POTUS, then why is she moving her offices from Washington, D.C. to New York? The new 19-office space that Clinton has leased for two years has nothing to do with her bid for 2016, The Wire reported. Clinton's spokesman Nick Merrill insisted that Clinton was simply relocating her staff from their previous location of Washington, D.C. The commute will provide Clinton with a 50-minute drive from her home in Chappaqua, New York, to the office.
In Clinton's book "Hard Choices," she talks about the act of making choices. Clinton says "All of us face hard choices in our lives" at the start of the book, which captures her years in the middle of world events.
"Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become."
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