Hillary Clinton has officially announced her candidacy for the U.S. presidential race in 2016. A former lawyer and professor of law, Clinton arrived at the White House as the first lady when her husband Bill Clinton took office in 1993. She went on to become a senator for the state of New York, then made a bid for the democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential race, losing to Barack Obama, who would later name her secretary of state. Here is a look back at Clinton's life in politics.
Hillary Clinton's Path To The Presidential Race
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Hillary and Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, take a break during Bill's presidential campaign tour in February 1992. Bill Clinton was inaugurated as president in January 1993.
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Clinton greets friends at an academic procession before the 1992 graduation ceremony at Wellesley College, where she was the keynote speaker. Clinton had been the president of the student government at Wellesley before earning her law degree from Yale Law School in 1973.
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An official White House photo shows Hillary Clinton in her new role as first lady on January 21, 1993.
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U.S. President Bill Clinton gives a thumbs up to Hillary Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, after being sworn in for his second term as president on January 20, 1997.
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Hillary Clinton speaks at a White House conference on child care. She used her role as first lady to push for health care and public policy reform.
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Clinton celebrates her victory in the New York senate race on November 7, 2000. She would win a second senate term in 2006.
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Clinton appears behind Senator Barack Obama as they arrive for President George W. Bush's State of the Union address in January 2007. Obama defeated Clinton in the race for the Democratic Party's nomination for president.
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Hillary Clinton, standing alongside Bill and Chelsea, is sworn in as secretary of state on February 2, 2009, after her former presidential rival, Barack Obama, appointed her to the post.
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Clinton laughs with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a luncheon held in Merkel's honor at the State Department on June 7, 2011.
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checks messages as she flies to Tripoli, Libya, on a military plane in October 2011. The following year, Libya became the site of a critical challenge in Clinton's time in office after four Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Clinton faced criticism over her handling of the attack, although an inquiry found she was not at fault.
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Clinton receives a sash during her trip to Malawi, the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to the southeast African country. Speaking about her four years as secretary of state, Clinton said: "I think we have to go back to my beginning in January of 2009 to remember how poorly perceived the United States was, how badly damaged our reputation was, how our leadership was in question, how the economic crisis had really shaken people’s confidence in our government, our economic system, our country. Part of my job in the very beginning was to get around the world and restore confidence in American leadership."
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Clinton poses for a photograph with Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, at his home in Qunu on August 6, 2012.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Clinton at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 8, 2012. Her tenure as secretary of state ended in February 2013, when John Kerry took over the post.
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A screen grab from Clinton's video launching her bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, in which she cast herself as a representative of ordinary Americans. She is considered to be a frontrunner for the nomination.