Michelle Markel - Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead

To the past and future leaders
of the fight for womens rights
M.M.
To the women who work to change
the world a little every day.
To the girls who make the change worth it.
L.P.

I n the 1950s, it was a mans world. Only boys could grow
up to have powerful jobs. Only boys had no ceilings on
their dreams.

Girls werent supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious.
Even though, deep inside, they may have felt that way.

But in the town of
Park Ridge, Illinois,

along came
Hillary,

wearing thick glasses
and a sailor dress,
acing tests,

upstaging boys in class,

and lining up sports events
to raise money for the poor.

Take that, 1950s!
Some girls are born to lead,
and some love politics...

... and public service.
Through her church, Hillary learned about the troubled world
beyond the green lawns and tree- lined streets of her town. Her youth
group met with poor black and Latino teenagers in the inner city.
They went to hear a stirring speech by Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Do the most good you can, Hillarys youth minister taught. Be
kind, work hard, aim high, her mother urged. They didnt tell her
she could only go so far just because she was a girl.

There is nothing more tragic than
to sleep through a revolution.

Hillarys hard work got her into a
prestigious East Coast womens college.
Many of her classmates were brilliant
prep school girls. But it was Hillary who
got elected student body president and was
chosen to give the first senior graduation
speech the school ever had.
At the ceremony, a senator discouraged
students from protesting about Americas
problems. Hillary was outraged.

Fear is always with us but we just
dont have time for it. Not now.

When it was her turn, she approached the microphone
and did a startling thing: she criticized him. Her classmates
applauded for seven thunderous minutes.

After college, Hillary entered law school so she could work for
justice. Most future lawyers were men, but that didnt scare her.

She trounced them in
debates, attended rallies,

and helped start a newspaper about
how laws could improve society.

That year the college was erupting
with violent demonstrations over civil
rights and a war in Vietnam.

When angry students and
professors met to discuss a strike,
who calmed everybody down?
Young Hillary, in her bell- bottoms,
sitting onstage, cool as can be.

On summer breaks, Hillary plunged into
action. She investigated the filthy camps of
migrant farm workers in Florida, where kids
couldnt go to school or get medical care.

She walked up and down dangerous blocks in Texas,
registering voters for the presidential election. One colleague
called her Fearless, and many friends thought so, too.

They thought Hillary would land a high- ranking job
in Washington, DC. But she didnt

not yet.

Instead, she went to Arkansas to be with Bill, her law
school sweetheart.
The two of them loved politics as much as they loved
each other. They decided to spend their lives and serve
America together.

When Bill ran and got elected to office,
Hillary did everything she could to help him.

She also became a mother,

worked at a top- notch law firm,

and advised groups dedicated
to children and the poor.

Hillary was a new breed,
a superwoman.

But sometimes it was hard, like when
she had to rush out of the courtroom to
call the babysitter about her sick child, or
when she heard the nasty things people said
about her looks, because she didnt take the
time to paint her toenails or style her hair.

And it was hard for Hillary, a few years
later, when she helped Bill campaign to
become president of the United States.

She wasnt frightened of the crowds
and cameras and reporters. But she
couldnt believe how people criticized
her in ways theyd never criticize a man.