Hillary Clinton Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Early Arkansas years=== [[File:HillaryRodhamBillClintonLittleRockHouse1adjusted.jpg|thumb|alt=A small, one-story brick-faced house with a small yard in front|Hillary and Bill Clinton lived in this house in the [[Hillcrest (Little Rock)|Hillcrest neighborhood]] of [[Little Rock]] while he was [[Attorney general of Arkansas]] from 1977 to 1979.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clinton |first=Bill |title=My Life |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf Publishing Group]] |year=2004 |title-link=My Life (Bill Clinton autobiography) }} p. 244.</ref>]] Rodham became the first director of a new [[legal aid]] clinic at the University of Arkansas School of Law.{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|pp=126–27}} During her time in Fayetteville, Rodham and several other women founded the city's first rape crisis center.{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|pp=126–27}} In 1974, Bill Clinton lost an Arkansas congressional race, facing incumbent Republican [[John Paul Hammerschmidt]].{{sfn|Gerth|Van Natta|2007|p=57}} Rodham and Bill Clinton bought a house in Fayetteville in the summer of 1975 and she agreed to marry him.{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|p=120}} The wedding took place on October 11, 1975, in a Methodist ceremony in their living room.{{sfn|Maraniss|1995|pp=121–22}} A story about the marriage in the ''[[Arkansas Gazette]]'' indicated that she decided to retain the name Hillary Rodham.{{sfn|Maraniss|1995|pp=121–22}}<ref name="pol-edu-83"/> Her motivation was threefold. She wanted to keep the couple's professional lives separate, avoid apparent conflicts of interest, and as she told a friend at the time, "it showed that I was still me".{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|p=157}} The decision upset both mothers, who were more traditional.<ref>Clinton 2003, pp. 91–92.</ref> In 1976, Rodham temporarily relocated to [[Indianapolis]] to [[1976 United States presidential election in Indiana#Hillary Clinton’s role in the Carter campaign|work as an Indiana state campaign organizer]] for the presidential campaign of [[Jimmy Carter]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/behind-closed-doors/2015/10/02/hillary-clinton-indiana-basketball-indianoplace-email/73218878/ |title='Indianoplace'? That's what Hillary Clinton called us |last=Groppe |first=Maureen |date=October 7, 2015 |website=indystar.com |publisher=[[Indy Star]] |access-date=December 29, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/08/30/jimmy-carter-makes-fund-raising-plea-for-hillary-clinton/ |title=Jimmy Carter makes fund raising plea for Hillary Clinton |last=Sheinin |first=Aaron Gould |date=August 30, 2016 |website=ajc.com |publisher=AJC |access-date=December 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230114531/http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/08/30/jimmy-carter-makes-fund-raising-plea-for-hillary-clinton/ |archive-date=December 30, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In November 1976, Bill Clinton was elected [[Arkansas attorney general]], and the couple moved to the state capital of [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]].{{sfn|Gerth|Van Natta|2007|p=57}} In February 1977, Rodham joined the venerable [[Rose Law Firm]], a bastion of Arkansan political and economic influence.<ref>Bernstein 2007, pp. 128, 103. The firm was called Rose, Nash, Williamson, Carroll, Clay & Giroir, but it simplified its name to Rose Law Firm in 1980.</ref> She specialized in [[patent infringement]] and intellectual property law<ref name="arkhc"/> while working ''[[pro bono]]'' in child advocacy.{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|p=133}} In 1977, Rodham cofounded [[Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families]], a state-level alliance with the Children's Defense Fund.<ref name="arkhc"/>{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|p=154}} Later in 1977, President Jimmy Carter (for whom Rodham had been the 1976 campaign director of field operations in Indiana){{sfn|Bernstein|2007|p=125}} appointed her to the board of directors of the [[Legal Services Corporation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7026 |title=Jimmy Carter: Nominations Submitted to the Senate, Week Ending Friday, December 16, 1977 |publisher=American Presidency Project |access-date=September 3, 2007}}</ref> She held that position from 1978 until the end of 1981.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=42598 |title=Ronald Reagan: Recess Appointment of Three Members of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation |date=January 22, 1982 |publisher=American Presidency Project |access-date=September 3, 2007}}</ref> From mid-1978 to mid-1980,{{efn|For the start date, see Brock 1996, p. 96. Secondary sources give inconsistent dates as to when her time as chair ended. Primary sources indicate that between about April 1980 and September 1980, Rodham was replaced as chair by [[F. William McCalpin]]. See Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1981, "[{{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=KWRBPOdZCdAC |page=145}} House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations]", U.S. House of Representatives, 1980. Rodham is still chair after having given birth "a few weeks ago"; Chelsea Clinton was born on February 27, 1980.}} she served as the first female chair of that board.<ref>Morris 1996, p. 225.</ref> Following her husband's November 1978 election as [[governor of Arkansas]], Rodham became that state's first lady in January 1979. She would hold that title for twelve nonconsecutive years (1979–81, 1983–92). Clinton appointed his wife to be the chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee the same year,<ref name="nyt012093mk">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/20/us/the-inauguration-the-first-couple-a-union-of-mind-and-ambition.html |title=The First Couple: A Union of Mind and Ambition |author=Kelly, Michael |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 20, 1993 |author-link=Michael Kelly (editor)}}</ref> in which role she secured federal funds to expand medical facilities in Arkansas's poorest areas without affecting doctors' fees.{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|p=147}} In 1979, Rodham became the first woman to be made a full partner in Rose Law Firm.{{sfn|Gerth|Van Natta|2007|p=60}} From 1978 until they entered the White House, she had a higher salary than her husband.{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|p=130}} During 1978 and 1979, while looking to supplement their income, Rodham engaged in the trading of [[Hillary Rodham cattle futures controversy|cattle futures contracts]];{{sfn|Gerth|Van Natta|2007|pp=66–67}} an initial $1,000 investment generated nearly $100,000 when she stopped trading after ten months.{{sfn|Gerth|Van Natta|2007|pp=73–76}} At this time, the couple began their ill-fated investment in the [[Whitewater Development Corporation]] real estate venture with [[Jim McDougal|Jim]] and [[Susan McDougal]].{{sfn|Gerth|Van Natta|2007|pp=66–67}} Both of these became [[#Scandals and investigations|subjects of controversy in the 1990s]]. On February 27, 1980, Rodham gave birth to the couple's only child, a daughter whom they named [[Chelsea Clinton|Chelsea]]. In November 1980, Bill Clinton was [[1980 Arkansas gubernatorial election|defeated in his bid for re-election]].{{sfn|Bernstein|2007|pp=159–160}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page