Political positions of Hillary Clinton Political positions of Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton, the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States in 2016, has taken positions on political issues while serving as First Lady of Arkansas (1979–81; 1983–92), First Lady of the United States (1993–2001); as U.S. Senator from New York (2001–2009); and serving as the United States Secretary of State (2009–2013). In accordance with longstanding custom, during her time as Secretary of State she largely avoided taking stances on most domestic political issues. In 2015, she announced her candidacy for the presidency. Clinton won the Democratic primaries and formally became the
Cultural and political image of Hillary Clinton Rodham Clinton" in work she did as First Lady of the state. Once she became First Lady of the United States in 1993, she publicly stated that she wanted to be known as "Hillary Rodham Clinton". (This announcement was parodied by the May 1993 film spoof "Hot Shots! Part Deux", in which all the female characters were given the middle name "Rodham"; see IMDB entry). As of 1993, she had not legally changed her name from Hillary Rodham. She authored five books and numerous articles as "Hillary Rodham Clinton", interspersed with a smaller number of articles authored as "Hillary Clinton".