Hillary Clinton would be lost and that her accomplishments would be viewed in light of someone else. In 1974, Bill Clinton lost an Arkansas congressional race, facing incumbent Republican Hammersmith. Rodham and Bill Clinton bought a house in Fayetteville in the summer of 1975 and she finally agreed to marry him. The wedding took place on October 11, 1975, in a Methodist ceremony in their living room. A story about the marriage in the "Arkansas Gazette" indicated that she decided to retain the name Hillary Rodham. Her motivation was threefold. She wanted to keep the couple's professional lives separate, avoid apparent conflicts
Hillary Clinton "Newsweek" found that discussion of gender's role in the campaign had moved into the national political discourse. "Newsweek" editor Jon Meacham summed the relationship between Clinton and the American public by saying that the New Hampshire events "brought an odd truth to light: though Hillary Rodham Clinton has been on the periphery or in the middle of national life for decades ... she is one of the most recognizable but least understood figures in American politics." Once she became Secretary of State, Clinton's image seemed to improve dramatically among the American public and become one of a respected world figure.