Hillary Clinton wins Democratic nomination

StudyHall.Rocks
Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic Party nomination.
Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic Party nomination.
So, it’s done. Hillary Clinton is officially the first woman in history to become a major party nominee for president.

    During the Democratic National Convention today, she officially secured the delegates for the nomination. Clinton has spent years in public office. She ran for president in 2008 and was defeated in the primaries by Barack Obama, then a senator from Illinois.
    During Obama's first term, she served as secretary of state. Previously, she was a U.S. senator from New York and first lady during the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton.
    While Hillary Clinton is the first woman to secure a nomination for a major political party, others have declared themselves candidates: 

    Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1838-1927): In 1872, Woodhull, an Equal Rights Party candidate, went up against Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican, and Horace Greeley, a Democrat. Woodhull,an Ohioan, worked as a spiritual medium and fortuneteller, according to the The National Women’s History Museum. She ran on a platform supporting an eight-hour workday, graduated income tax, new divorce laws and social welfare programs. 

   Belva Lockwood (1830-1917): In 1884, Lockwood ran for president as another Equal Rights Party candidate. A lawyer, Lockwood outlined policy positions that ranged from family law to foreign affairs. While some women’s rights advocates thought her a showboat, Lockwood wanted her candidacy to help women win the right to vote. See the National Archives website.

   Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995): A Republican from Maine, Smith was the first woman elected to both the House and the Senate. She ran for the presidency in 1964 and is often referred to as the first “credible” woman candidate for the job. See her biography on the website for the Margaret Chase Smith library

   Shirley Chisholm: (1924-2005): In 1972, Chisholm, the first African-American woman to serve in Congress, tossed her hat into the ring for the Democratic nomination for president. While a long shot from the start, the New Yorker received 152 delegate votes or 10 percent of the total at the Democratic National Convention, according to the website for the U.S. House of Representatives. 

   Elizabeth Dole (1936- ): The wife of Kansas Republican Sen. Bob Dole, she was the first woman to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Senate. Both Doles ran for the presidency. Bob Dole challenged Bill Clinton in 1996; Elizabeth Dole vied for the Republican nomination in 2000. See a biography of Dole on the Elizabeth Dole Foundation website.

   Related:

   Why women will rock the vote

    If you would like to comment, give us a shout, or like us on Facebook and tell us what you think.